The "covenant of works" (also known as the "covenant of life" or the "covenant of creation") refers to the original commandment given by the LORD God to Adam, the ancestor and head of the human race, when he created him. This is recorded in Genesis 2:15-17: "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." The command is given in the context of creating Adam and placing him in the garden of Eden "to work it and keep it" (what is called the cultural mandate). The command involves permission ("You may surely eat of every tree of the garden") and prohibition ("but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat"). Obedience or otherwise to the command wi...