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Review Articleness, and etemallife; and that the realization of the covenant witha person means his salvation in time and eternity.Why does Lillback not face the problem ofthe contradictionbetween Calvin's theology ofgracious salvation grounded in andflowing from the decree ofelection and Calvin ~s alleged covenantdoctrine of salvation by God's promise and by the sinner's ownworks? Why does Lillback not explain how a conditional covenantdoes not implyconditional salvation as defended by Rome, Erasmus,and Pighius, but condemned by Calvin?Lillback toys with the problem on the rare occasion. Havingquoted Calvin on baptism, Lillback makes an important admission:"The mutual covenant promises divine benefits on the onehand, and human obedience on the other." Whether this statementis intendedas a description ofCalvin'sown thinking orofLillback'sown view makes no difference. The statement is true. It is theteaching ofJeremiah 31 :33: '"But this shall be the covenant that Iwill make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith theLORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in theirhearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people:'That the covenant promise includes both divine benefits andhuman obedience is decisive against the doctrine ofa conditionalcovenant. The doctrine of a conditional covenant makes man'sgodly activity, works, and obedience a condition that man mustfulfill in order for the covenant to be established, maintained, orperfected. But Jeremiah 31 :33 makes a man's godly activity,works, and obedience part of the divine promise. A man'sobedience to the law, that is, love for God and the neighbor, isGod's gift to him by promise. Obedience to God is not a conditionupon which the covenant depends, but a benefit of the covenant.Godliness oflife and deed is not a work ofthe sinner alongside thework of God contributing to the establishment, maintenance, orperfection ofthe covenant~but itselfthe grace and salvation ofthecovenant. The covenant is a covenant ofgrace, not a covenant ofgrace and works. And since obedience is promisedto all those withwhom God makes His covenant, the covenant promise is obviouslyparticular, not general. God did not promise obedience to everyIsraelite in the Old Testament. He does not promise obedience toNovember, 200 I 49