To truly internalize this truth is to dwell in the tension of the already and not yet—the reality that salvation is both a present reality and a future fulfillment. The cross, as the divine act of alien procurement, not only initiates but also consummates our heavenly inheritance. It assures believers that their eternal identity is not a fragile hope but an inevitable outcome of God's eternal purpose. Although difficult to articulate amid human finiteness, these insights lead the soul toward that ultimate beatific vision, where assurance is transformed into sight, and the grace of the covenant becomes an eternal present—an eternal now—where divine grace and human salvation coalesce in perfect harmony. Therefore, contemplating this covenantal structure invites a personal yet scholarly ascent: acknowledging the gap between human fragility and divine unchangeability. It encourages a doxological attitude—one of praise and worship—that reflects Jonathan Edwards’s exploration of human freedom and divine sovereignty in *Freedom of the Will*. Embracing this truth requires humility: recognizing that divine grace’s sovereignty liberates believers from the tyranny of self-determination and self-reliance. The cross, positioned as the central point (axis mundi) of this divine economy, avoids any teleological process aimed solely at producing subjective feelings or effects. Instead, it retroactively and proleptically actualizes the fullness (pleroma) of salvation's efficacy in the original divine saving act. In this act, God's divine initiative (opus alienum), which Luther often referred to as an extrinsic work, eclipses any human potential or effort. The divine act of salvation is foreign to human capacity and surpasses all endogenous possibilities. This framework presents an ontological dialectic: the righteousness or justice of salvation (justitia forensis)—visible and manifested in history (diachronic in tempore)—and its ultimate fulfillment in eternity (synchronic in aeternitate). Such a view affirms the believer's true identity (identitas eschatologica), not through autonomous striving or self-reliance, but through the anticipatory (proleptic) intrusion of divine powers (potestates) into the present moment—the existential now—signifying that salvation is rooted in God's eternal plan rather than human initiative. This theological paradigm demands a form of kenosis—a self-emptying—of human reliance on self and a radical humility (apophasis) regarding human understanding of the divine powers (dynamis ton mellonton aionon—the powers of the age to come, as described in Hebrews 6:5). What might appear as mere intellectual knowledge or understanding is, in truth, a process of divestment—an abandoning of human presumptions—acknowledging that finite human faculties are insufficient to truly grasp or claim ownership of divine eternal realities. The assurance of salvation, within this covenantal framework, is not merely a psychological feeling of certainty but a spiritual security rooted in the covenantal relationship itself (foederalis securitas). It is based on the exercise of faith and understanding (exercitium intellectus) that recognizes God as the Savior—the unconditioned foundation of all being—echoing Westminster Confession's emphasis on the perseverance of saints as rooted in divine faithfulness (XVII). Drawing from Calvin’s *Institutes* (III, ii, 7), this assurance is also the result of the Spirit’s internal testimony (testimonium Spiritus Sancti internum), which illuminates the unbreakable chain of divine predestination—the "golden chain" of Romans 8:29-30—where predestination, calling, justification, and glorification are united in an eternal, inseparable unity. These divine acts are not separated by time but are part of an eternal present, unaffected by the flux of history. Deep within the depths of covenantal theology, your personal reflection reveals the fundamental assumption of divine sovereignty: the covenant of grace (pactum gratiae). This divine agreement does not rest on a reactive response to human needs or actions but is rooted in God's eternal decree (decretum salutis). This decree, which determines salvation from eternity, is unchangeable and not contingent upon human effort or circumstances; instead, it flows from God's own unalterable will (aseitic volition). The spirit of this covenant—referred to as the spiritus—imbued with grace (charis), surpasses simple legal or formalistic notions of law. Rather, it embodies the hypostatic infusion of divine grace, acting as the divine breath (pneuma) that energizes and sustains the elect. Salvation, in this context, is not a matter of human achievement or external causality but an extrinsic procurement (aliena procuratio)—a divine act originating outside human effort, emphasizing the unmerited and sovereign grace of God.