“In love, the triune God chose the elect in Christ (Eph. 1:4). The Father so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son (John 3:16). Christ demonstrated His love for His Father by obeying His commands (John 14:31). In love, Christ offered His obedience and laid down His life for His bride (John 15:9; Rom. 5:8; 2 Cor. 5:14). All of these expressions of love occurs within the context of a covenant, whether in the pactum salutis or in its historical execution in the covenant of grace. Just as a watch does not function apart from its gears, union with Christ does not function apart from the gears of imputation. And just as the housing of the timepiece holds the watch face and gears together, imputation and union with Christ cannot function apart from the context of covenant, that which binds the one and the many” (J.V. Fesko, The Trinity and the Covenant of Redemption, 302).