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{The Application
Application for the Ungodly
Confirm and Complete All by Solemn Covenant}
Give yourselves to the Lord as His servants and bind yourselves to Him as His Covenant Servants. “Who is this who pledged His heart to approach me?” (Jeremiah 30:21). “One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’; Another will call himself by the name of Jacob; Another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ And name himself by the name of Israel” (Isaiah 44:5 NKJV).
Upon your entering into covenant with God, the covenant of God is assured to you. God gives you and every person leave to put his own name into the covenant grant [by closing with Christ]. If your name is not found there at last, it will be your own fault. If your name is not there, there will be nothing found in the whole covenant that belongs to you. If it is there, all is yours. If you have come into the bond of the covenant, you will have your share in the blessings of the covenant. “Their nobles shall be from among them, And their governor shall come from their midst; Then I will cause him to draw near, And he shall approach Me; For who is this who pledged his heart to approach Me? says the Lord. ‘You shall be My people, And I will be your God’” (Jeremiah 30:21–22 NKJV). Engage to me and I will stand engaged to you. “Today you have proclaimed the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice. Also today the Lord has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments” (Deuteronomy 26:17–18). Observe it: On the same day that they declared the Lord to be their God, the Lord proclaimed them to be His special people. On the same day that the people promised to keep the commandments of the Lord, the Lord declared that He would keep His promise to them.
There is a twofold covenanting with God: in profession, entering our names; and in reality, engaging our hearts. The former is done in baptism by all who are baptized; by receiving the seal of the covenant, they are visibly, or in profession, entered into the covenant. The latter [covenanting in reality] is [also] twofold:
The first part of covenanting with God in reality is done by all those who have sincerely closed with God in Christ as described above. Those who have chosen the Lord, embarked with Christ, and surrendered up and given themselves to the Lord, are all committed people and have covenanted with Him in actual fact.
The second part of covenanting with God in reality is to formally, or expressly, state and acknowledge our covenant with Him. We bind ourselves to the Lord by solemn vow or promise to stand to our choice and so on. And this may be either only inward in the soul or outward as expressed by words, lifting up the hand, placing our signature, or the like. And by how much more we express our solemn covenanting with God, by that much more perceptibly and strongly this [expressed] covenant is likely to [help] hold our hearts to Him.
Now what I wish to persuade you to is this solemn and express covenanting with God.235 Providence has recently brought to my hand the advice of a dear friend and faithful laborer in the Word of the Lord about this matter. He included an excellent example composed for the help of weaker Christians. It is well accommodated to all of the significant points of our baptismal covenant236 and it has found great acceptance by many precious Christians. It is with much zeal and great hope of good success in establishing souls in holiness and comfort that I commend it, not only to young converts, but also to more mature Christians who have not experienced this or a similar course.
In order to help you put this matter into practice, I will first give you these few directions:
235The editor wishes to most strongly and emphatically encourage the reader who has not already done so to make a formal personal covenant with God in some fashion similar to what Alleine is describing. The editor suggests that this is a command of God: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules” (Psalm 119:105–106 ESV). Such a personal covenant may be long or short, simple or complex, depending on the person. Writing it will help one clearly compose his or her thoughts. Most are kept private; one was found on a book flyleaf that was glued to the cover. However, it really should be accessible so one might review it later. Encryption or creative hiding places may be helpful. One should be careful not to rashly bind oneself beyond what the Word requires. Personal covenanting is spiritually helpful and common sense supports it; it is basically saying, “Yes, Sir!” in response to God’s most holy, righteous, and beneficial commands.
236Many denominations have prescribed or suggested formal vows, which are taken by those being baptized and by the parents of infants.
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