The burden of the October 1, 2021, editorial was that the Christian school is a demand of the covenant. The burden of this editorial is that the form of the Christian school must be governed by the covenantal principles of Christian education. When I speak of the form of the Christian school, I mean how the school is structured and arranged. As parents join together for the rearing and instruction of their covenant seed, their joining together will necessarily have some form of organization. The burden of this editorial is that whatever form of the Christian school the parents decide upon, that form must be governed by the covenantal principles of Christian education.

The Meaning and Essence of the
Covenantal Principles

There are covenantal principles of Christian education. These principles are certain truths of scripture that form the basis upon which Christian education rests. Before listing these covenantal principles, let us see the meaning and the essence of these principles.

First, the meaning of these principles is that they are the foundation of Christian education. Christian education needs a foundation. Christian education cannot be established without a foundation. Christian education cannot be maintained without a foundation. Christian education without a foundation will inevitably crumble and fall. Christian education must stand upon a solid foundation.

There are many reasons that Christian education needs a foundation. For example, it needs a foundation because of the children who are being instructed. The children are the covenant seed that God has given to his people. As the covenant seed, the children belong to God, even as many of them as he has called. The fact that the children belong to God also means that the children do not belong to the parents, or to the church, or to other believers, or to the school, but to God. When God gives his elect children to parents, he does not give the children away to the parents. Rather, he makes the parents to be the stewards of his children, who remain the children of God. “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward” (Ps. 127:3). God gives the children as gifts to the parents because it pleases God to govern his children by the parents’ hand (Lord’s Day 39, in Confessions and Church Order, 129). For parents, who know that they are filled with weakness and vanity, it is a great comfort of the gospel to know that their children belong to God. Just as the believer confesses that his only comfort in life and in death is that he is not his own but belongs to his faithful savior Jesus Christ, so the parent confesses that his only comfort in rearing his children is that they are not his own but belong to their faithful savior Jesus Christ. Because of who these children are as the children of God, their education and rearing must rest upon a solid—and even divine—foundation.

Or, for another example, Christian education needs a solid foundation because of what this Christian education must accomplish. Christian education must accomplish the spiritual rearing of the covenant seed so that they are equipped to serve God in this world. The children must be trained to spiritual maturity. The children must be reared in the fear of the Lord. The children must be equipped spiritually, intellectually, physically, and from every point of view to serve their God in whatever vocation he has determined for them. Such tasks are humanly impossible. What parent is sufficient for this calling? What teacher, who stands in the parent’s place, is sufficient for this calling? Without a foundation for this Christian education, the parents and teachers would despair of their calling. But when Christian education rests on a solid—and even divine—foundation, then the parents and the teachers who stand in their place have the confidence that the rearing of the covenant seed belongs to God. According to his everlasting covenant mercies and by the means that he has appointed, God will see to the covenant rearing of his own covenant seed.

The meaning of the covenantal principles is that they are the foundation and basis upon which Christian education stands.

Second, the essence of the covenantal principles of Christian education is that these principles all arise out of scripture. The principles are God’s truth as that truth is revealed in the holy scriptures. When the Christian school is established upon these principles, the Christian school rests upon God’s own word and upon God himself.

The fact that the principles of Christian education are the principles of God’s word also means that they are not of man. The principles are not the latest education theories that may be popular in the educational world, even if those theories happen to be sound. Nor are the principles the latest practices that may be popular in the educational world, even if those practices may be truly useful for education. The principles are not the invention of man, they are not the discovery of man, and they do not proceed from the will of man. The principles do not depend upon man, nor do they ask for man’s approval and endorsement. Rather, the principles are eternal and abiding principles. They are the truth as that truth is revealed in the Bible.

The fact that these principles are the truth of scripture is an application of the great truth that scripture is the only rule of faith and life for the believer and his seed. God determines for the believer what his family must believe and how they must live. God reveals in the scriptures what his will for the believer and his family is. Therefore, scripture as the rule of faith and life also serves as the foundation of the Christian school.

The fact that the covenantal principles of Christian education arise out of the word of God is a tremendous encouragement to the parents as they work with other believers to establish a school. The foundation of the school is not their own weakness and folly but the word of God. The education of their covenant seed does not rest upon the impotence of man but upon the omnipotent God. The basis of the school is divine, being God’s own word and God’s own truth. The parent even can take courage that God himself lays the foundation of the school, God himself builds the school, and God himself rears the covenant seed in the school. Oh, yes, let the parents labor with other parents, let them be diligent, let them take up the demands of the covenant with zeal. But let all of their labor be the labor of the gospel and the labor of freedom and the labor of gratitude as they rest in the divine foundation of God’s own truth.

Covenantal Principles of Christian Education

Having seen the meaning and the essence of the covenantal principles of Christian education, let us list those principles. The following is a quotation from the constitution of the Association for Covenantal Reformed Education, in West Michigan, which association runs the K–12 school, Grace Reformed Protestant School. Article 2 of that constitution is entitled “Basis,” and it summarizes well the covenantal principles of Christian education.

ARTICLE 2—BASIS

1. The basis of the Association for Covenantal Reformed Education shall be the Scriptures as set forth in the Old and New Testament, which are the inspired and infallible Word of God, faithfully translated and preserved for us in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, the doctrine of which is confessed in the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dordtrecht. The basis for the administration, instruction, and discipline in Grace Reformed Protestant School shall likewise be these Scriptures.
2. Our sovereign, Triune, covenant God establishes his covenant of grace with believers and their elect seed, whom he has chosen in Jesus Christ from all eternity and formed as a people unto himself in time. God’s covenant is gracious, unconditional, and unilateral in every respect, including in its establishment, maintenance, and perfection; as well as in its fellowship, friendship, and communion, which are the essence of God’s covenant with his people. God calls and sovereignly causes his covenant friends and servants to live a thankful life of love to his glory and praise in all spheres of life, in the midst of and over against a sinful world. The covenant education of the covenant seed prepares them to live in life-long covenant service to their covenant God in their God-given station and vocation.
3. God calls parents to rear their covenant seed in the fear of his name, which the parents also promise to do in their baptismal vows. In fulfillment of their calling, the parents may seek the help of like-minded Christian teachers to stand in their place in order to bring God’s Word to bear on all the subjects in the curriculum. The school is thus parental and is one means by which covenant parents see to the training of their covenant seed.
4. God calls parents to cooperate in the rearing of their covenant seed as every man looks not only on his own things but also on the things of others. In the good Christian school, the parents of spiritual Israel join together to teach God’s words diligently unto their children, and to show to all the children of the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

In that article the covenantal principles of Christian education are set forth, all of which arise out of God’s word and are the truth of God’s word.

There is the principle of God’s covenant, which he establishes with believers and their elect seed: “Our sovereign, Triune, covenant God establishes his covenant of grace with believers and their elect seed.” “I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee” (Gen. 17:7).

There is the principle that God’s covenant and membership in God’s covenant are determined by his eternal decree of election in Christ: “God establishes his covenant of grace with believers and their elect seed, whom he has chosen in Jesus Christ from all eternity and formed as a people unto himself in time.” “Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed” (Rom. 9:6–8).

There is the principle that the essence of God’s covenant is fellowship, friendship, and communion between God and his people in Jesus Christ: “As well as in its fellowship, friendship, and communion, which are the essence of God’s covenant with his people.” “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant” (Ps. 25:14).

There is the principle that God’s covenant is entirely unconditional and is not in any sense dependent upon the works of man: “God’s covenant is gracious, unconditional, and unilateral in every respect.” “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth” (Rom. 9:11).

There is the principle that man’s part in the covenant is not that of being a party over against God but that of serving God in a life of gratitude: “God calls and sovereignly causes his covenant friends and servants to live a thankful life of love to his glory and praise in all spheres of life.” “When Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect” (Gen. 17:1).

There is the principle that believers and their seed do not go out of this world or flee from this world in an Anabaptist world-flight but that they live as God’s servants in the midst of this world: “God calls and sovereignly causes his covenant friends and servants to live a thankful life…in the midst of…a sinful world.” “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 5:14–16).

There is the principle of the antithesis in the covenant, so that although believers and their seed are in the world, they are not of the world but stand against the world as God’s party in the world: “God calls and sovereignly causes his covenant friends and servants to live a thankful life…over against a sinful world.” “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:15–16).

There is the principle of the covenant seeds’ station and calling and occupation from God, so that they are to be instructed in the earthly facts of mathematics and history and language and the sciences and all things so that they may serve God in whatever calling he gives them: “The covenant education of the covenant seed prepares them to live in life-long covenant service to their covenant God in their God-given station and vocation.” “Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening” (Ps. 104:23).

There is the principle that the education of the covenant seed must be done in the light of the scriptures, so that they not only learn the earthly facts of the curriculum, but they also learn to see them in the light of the scriptures: “In order to bring God’s Word to bear on all the subjects in the curriculum.” “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge” (Ps. 19:1–2).

There is the principle that the parents of the covenant seed are obligated by God to rear their covenant seed in his fear: “God calls parents to rear their covenant seed in the fear of his name, which the parents also promise to do in their baptismal vows.” “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6).

There is the principle that a Christian school teacher stands in the place of the parents and represents the parents in the rearing of the seed, imparting the instruction that the parents are not able to impart: “In fulfillment of their calling, the parents may seek the help of like-minded Christian teachers to stand in their place in order to bring God’s Word to bear on all the subjects in the curriculum.” “God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom” (1 Kings 4:29, 32–34). “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding” (Prov. 4:1).

There is the principle that the school is parental, not a parochial school or a state school: “The school is thus parental and is one means by which covenant parents see to the training of their covenant seed.” “Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deut. 6:7).

There is the principle that covenant parents cooperate together in the rearing of their covenant seed, not in isolation from one another but laboring together in their calling: “God calls parents to cooperate in the rearing of their covenant seed as every man looks not only on his own things but also on the things of others.” “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deut. 6:4–7).

What great treasures of Christian education God has given to his people in his word! What a solid foundation for a Christian school! Established upon these principles, the Christian school is well-founded by God himself. These principles mean that God himself sees to the rearing and covenant education of his own covenant seed.

Advance and Development

The covenantal principles of Christian education as set forth in the above constitution also reflect an advance and development in the believer’s understanding of the covenant. The schools of the Reformed Protestant Churches (RPC) have been born out of the same reformation that God has worked in the churches of the Reformed Protestant denomination. The same doctrine of unconditional covenant fellowship that brought forth the Reformed Protestant denomination has also brought forth the schools of the RPC. Through the all-out war in the controversy over the doctrine of unconditional fellowship, God has brought the parents of the RPC to understand the truth of the unconditional covenant more clearly. This advance in understanding as a result of the controversy is reflected in especially two places in the constitution.

First, the constitution explicitly states that fellowship with God in God’s covenant is gracious, unconditional, and unilateral. It had become something of a formula in the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC) that God’s covenant is unconditional in its establishment, in its maintenance, and in its perfection. This formula meant to teach that God graciously establishes his covenant with man without any condition or cooperation of man; that God graciously maintains his covenant with man without any condition or cooperation of man; and that God graciously perfects his covenant with man without any condition or cooperation of man. While this formula itself is good, the denomination failed to live up to this formula in her actual theology. The denomination teaches that in the realm of man’s experience of God’s covenant fellowship, there are conditions and prerequisites for fellowship. She teaches and allows that communion with God is conditional. She teaches and allows that for man to experience justification and remission of sins, man must perform the prerequisite of repenting and believing. Man’s activity precedes God’s activity in such a way that God’s activity waits upon man’s activity. All of this makes fellowship with God in God’s covenant a matter of conditions and prerequisites. All of this has been documented and demonstrated in previous issues of Sword and Shield, and, indeed, elsewhere in this issue.

The constitution of the Association for Covenantal Reformed Education returns to the old paths of unconditional covenant fellowship. “God’s covenant is gracious, unconditional, and unilateral in every respect, including in its establishment, maintenance, and perfection; as well as in its fellowship, friendship, and communion, which are the essence of God’s covenant with his people.” By this, the constitution teaches that God graciously enters into fellowship with his people without any condition or cooperation of man, and that God’s people enjoy this fellowship without any condition or cooperation on their part. In every respect, including the vital respect of fellowship and communion, the covenant is gracious, unconditional, and unilateral.

Second, the constitution affirms that man’s thankful life of obedience and good works in God’s covenant is sovereignly accomplished by God himself. Throughout the controversy, the Protestant Reformed Churches showed a curious fear of God’s sovereignty causing and accomplishing man’s obedience. Whether in reaction against Mr. Neil Meyer’s statement that God provides man’s obedience, or in reaction against Rev. Nathan Langerak’s statement (and later mine) that man did not build the ark but God did, or in reaction to my sermon that the command of God’s law serves to expose the inability of fallen man to obey that law, the Protestant Reformed denomination has loudly accused us that we have been making man a stock and a block and that we have been denying the real spiritual activity of man. The accusation is empty air, as has also been demonstrated at length before. The reason for the accusation is the PRC’s teaching of conditional fellowship. If one is going to have real prerequisites for fellowship, then man had better be able to operate as a party over against God. If man’s obedience is truly a condition for his fellowship, then God had better not provide and accomplish man’s obedience himself but must leave it to man.

The constitution of the Association for Covenantal Reformed Education returns to the old paths of teaching that God causes the obedience of his people, not by making them stocks and blocks, but by giving them what he calls them to do. “God calls and sovereignly causes his covenant friends and servants to live a thankful life of love to his glory and praise in all spheres of life, in the midst of and over against a sinful world.” In the “sovereignly causes” of the constitution, Reformed Protestant parents affirm that God accomplishes the obedience of believers and their seed. This is the gospel of freedom for parents and their children that sends them forth to their obedience as joyful sons and daughters and not as hopeless slaves and mercenaries.

God preserved his church through the reformation of his church this year, and God has now caused his people to set forth their conviction of his truth in this constitution. By this advance and development of doctrinal understanding that God has given in the constitution, the constitution of the Association for Covenantal Reformed Education has become one of the foundational documents of the reformation. As one searches through the official documents for a record of the reformation, one would not only look to various Acts of Synod and Acts of Separation, but also to the constitution of the Association for Covenantal Reformed Education.

The Form of the Christian School

The form of the Christian school that parents establish together for the rearing of their covenant seed must be governed by the covenantal principles of Christian education. When covenant parents join together for the instruction of their children, their joining together will have some kind of arrangement and organization. That arrangement and that form must be governed by the covenantal principles of Christian education.

These covenantal principles of Christian education are also the freedom of the parents as they form their school. The parents are not bound by the will of man. They are not bound by the preferences of men. They are not bound by the traditions of men. They are bound by the word of God alone, and this is great freedom.

It is here that I must admit that I find it hard to imagine any other form for the Christian school than that to which we have become accustomed. That form includes the establishment of an association of like-minded parents, the adoption of a constitution, and the election of a board to operate the school on behalf of the association. That form includes the building or renting of a brick and mortar school to which the parents bundle up their children and send them. That form includes the hiring of teachers to instruct and rear the children on behalf of the parents. What other form could best meet the covenantal principles? When parents cooperate to educate their children, they must organize themselves somehow, mustn’t they? What would this organization look like other than an association? And parents must have some common basis for their organization, mustn’t they? What would the statement of this common basis look like other than a constitution? And their organization must have a body to carry out the operations, mustn’t they? What would this body be other than a board? And parents must bring their children together to be instructed by competent teachers, mustn’t they? How would this be done other than in some building with the teachers that have been hired? I freely admit that I do not see how parents could join together for the education of their children without an association, a constitution, a board, some sort of building, and teachers. 

However, the fact remains that no parent or group of parents are bound by the limitations of my imagination. My imagination does not and may not govern the form of the Christian school. My imagination is one of the things of man that is flimsy and foolish and that perishes. Rather, parents are governed by the covenantal principles of Christian education in the rearing of their covenant seed. That is, parents are governed by the truths of the word of God in the rearing of their covenant seed. They are free to follow those principles in the formation and establishment of whatever form of school meets those principles. Their school must be parental, covenantal, and the cooperation of parents together. Their school must be a school and not something less than or other than an institution in which their children and the children of their fellow parents are prepared for their God-given station and vocation. Their school must rest on the covenantal principles of Christian education, and then it is a good Christian school, whatever its form.

The covenantal principles of Christian education also guide parents in those places where they cannot yet form a Christian school, either because of size limitations or because of government interference or a host of other reasons. The covenantal principles of Christian education give those parents a solid basis upon which to stand as they seek the establishment of a school. Perhaps the form of their endeavor for now is that of cooperation and joining together in working toward a school. Perhaps the form of their endeavor for now includes looking for what help they can receive from like-minded believers in other parts of North America. The covenantal principles will keep those believers together in their endeavor. Let those parents not conclude that they do not need a school and that they are satisfied without one. Rather, let those parents take hold of the principles. Better, let those covenantal principles take hold of the parents, and let the parents labor together for the establishment of a good Christian school.

The covenantal principles of Christian education also guide parents in those places where they can and do have a Christian school. The covenantal principles are what has brought those parents together and what has given them their school. Let the parents now see to it that their school is indeed founded upon the covenantal principles of Christian education and that it remains upon them. Let those parents not conclude that the work is finished in the establishment of the school. Rather, let those covenantal principles take hold of the parents, and let the parents labor together for the maintaining of a good Christian school.

A brief lesson from history must yet be noted. Next time, Lord willing.