RAIDING THE LOST ARK
Recovering the gospel of the covenant king
By Jonty Rhodes
IVP. 184 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 1 783 590 124
Written in a popular but informed way, this book is inspired by Jim Packer’s claim that the gospel, the Word and the reality of God are not properly understood until viewed within a covenantal frame.
He begins by affirming that a covenant is an agreement between God and human beings where God promises blessings if the conditions are kept and threatens curses where they are broken. He then distinguishes, in a classic Reformed manner, between the covenant of works and the covenant(s) of grace. The former was given at creation: perfect obedience would bring the blessings of eternal life, secured in paradise in the presence of God. The failure of the primal couple lost each of these blessings and rendered them subject to physical death and eternal, conscious, torment, were it not for God’s promise and their faith in his word. Tragically, he notes, where they went, we go too: guilt, grime and the grave are our lot.
