WLC 20

[Ploutos]

I've been spending a bit of time each morning working my way through the Larger Catechism. In yesterday's reading, I was struck by the phrase in question 20 - "personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience".

Does this mean that Adam and Eve would have remained under the Covenant of Works indefinitely? That, in theory, after 5 years or 100 millennia of perfect obedience and resistance to any temptation, they still would have been capable of falling?

 

[Contra_Mundum]

The notion of "probation" is introduced in order to acknowledge that there was something to look forward to from the covenant of works: a state of confirmed righteousness, similar to the angelic, similar to (even the same) the glory that awaits us as consequence of the covenant of grace.

Righteous life is still incumbent on entities in their glory, forever. However, conditions and testing being unnecessary our covenant relation is not then suspended on performance.

Thus, we say that Adam's probation was bound to end, either in success or failure. It was the latter.

 

[CathH]

I took it to mean that (up to the end of the presumed probation period) their obedience had to be continuous, moment by moment without any lapse.

So personal obedience would be contrasted with something produced by a substitute or representative. Perfect as to its quality.

What I'm less sure about is whether "man" in WLC20 really means "mankind" in general or just "the man" Adam. "Man" in the question of WLC21 is equivalent to "our first parents ... they" in the answer. Most of the answer of WLC20 would also apply to "our first parents/they." But the covenant of life was presumably made with "him" meaning Adam rather than Adam and Eve?