My Covenant View, Creator/Creature Distinction

I have often verbally explained my covenant view to people but I have never done so in written form. The following will be a short explanation of why I hold to my view.

Creator/creature Distinction
A person doesn’t have to go far in the Bible to begin to find support for this belief. In the very first verse of God’s word we read “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. In this verse we see a very important distinction that we would do well to mark and remember.

In the opening verse of God’s revelation to man we see the Creator, and we also see the things He made [the creation]. The Bible teaches us that there is only one God and that this God is infinitely greater than His creation. Only God is infinite in His Being. God alone is: independent, eternal [past and future], all-knowing, all-seeing, everywhere present, all-wise, and all-powerful.

God’s [Creator] thoughts and ways are infinitely higher then that of man’s [creature][Isa 55]. Not only is man’s mind on a lower plane than God’s, because God is the Infinite Creator and man is the finite creature, but we see that man has an additional dilemma that separates his thinking from that of the God who made him.

Because of the first man’s sin and rebellion men are born with sin’s corruption blinding and distorting their thinking. Sin’s ruling power is broken when a man is converted and is regenerated by God’s Spirit, but sin’s power is not completely removed from man until the day he is glorified. Even the most sanctified Christian will have this war raging within him, between his old and new natures. With these truths in mind we need to walk in humility, remembering that we are mere creatures, we are not God. God’s shoes fit God alone, we should never assume that our puny feet could even begin to try them on for size. As we read God’s word we need to keep these very important truths constantly in mind.

In Deut 29:29 we read “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law”. There are some truths that God tells us about that are secrets ‘to us’. It’s like your mom and dad telling you ‘that’ they got you something very special for your birthday but then won’t tell you what they got you. They told you that there is a secret [their getting you a present] but they won’t tell exactly what that secret is [for this you will have to wait and see]. God tells us that He has predestined who will ultimately be saved and who will be lost. God has chosen for Himself a people [a specific number] who He has chosen to redeem out of sin and rebellion. God has sent His Son into the world to save these people, and God has sent His Spirit into the world to give the people whom He has chosen ‘new’ life, life from above, so that they may trust Him and cling to Him all their days.

God tells us that He has chosen a people, and God has ‘revealed’ to us a way that we as creatures can identify these people, this way is called baptism. But God has not told us how we, as creatures, may infallibly know who are of the ‘secret’ elect. As a matter of fact God has specifically told us not to try to find out His secrets but to spend our time wisely on the things that He has revealed to us.


Jesus spoke about the second birth but then went on to say that all those who were born of the Spirit were something analogous, to the moving of the wind, no one knowing where it comes from or where it is going [John 3]. In other words Jesus is telling us that the working of the Holy Spirit, in mens hearts, is something that men cannot read with infallibility, it falls into the realm of the“secrets things”.

It is a sad reality that often time Christian’s will focus their minds on where God tells them not to, and then neglect focusing their attention on the very areas where their Lord does command them to. I know that it is unintentional but whenever someone wants to try to define a person as a Christian by trying to make sure that they are “elect” or “regenerate” they have taken a responsibility that is far above their abilities, a job that only the Holy Spirit is able to perform.

I was debating with a dear brother in the Lord, over infant baptism and he said to me, “the difference between you guys and us is that we demand faith before we baptize.” My response to him was, “no, you demand the profession of faith.” What I meant was that is no matter how hard we may try to delve into man’s inner being we will never be able to see [infallibly, as God does] whether that person’s faith is saving and enduring. Waiting for a person to reach 16, 18 or even 21 is no guarantee that they are going to endure to the end. I have seen men older than this accept the message of the gospel, endure for a time, joyfully [as in Jesus parable of the sower], and then fall away. Their older age was no fool proof safe guard.