VIEWED AS FLOWING THOROUGH THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT.
[Though differing widely from the general drift of this paper, I insert it as the communication of a dear brother I respect, only subjoining a paper upon the same question, which contains, in my opinion, a view more subject to the Word of God.—ED.]
BY GRACE, I understand (taking the term in its widest signification, Ephes. 2:5,5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Ephesians 2:5)) that indefectible security, acceptance, favor, and friendship with Jehovah, which is contra-distinguished from the state of alienation, helplessness and condemnation in which we are born.
The Abrahamic covenant or promise is the channel through which this grace flows to us. Since the fall of man, no human being ever was, is, or can be, translated into a state of grace otherwise than through this covenant, which, though tardily and gradually developed, has been in operation from the time of Abel downwards.
The truth is, that not the substance only of the Gospel, but also the Jewish Channel through which it flows to us, are stumbling blocks to this day. A promise made to an obscure Jewish family, is to this day deemed too unimposing a medium, too unattractive a prelude, too foolish a proceeding, too weak a foundation, for such results as the regeneration of individuals and the restoration of a world! Nevertheless, through this weak covenant, the earth shall be renewed. (Acts 3:2121Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:21).) Through this foolish promise we are made partakers of thee divine nature. (2 Peter 1:44Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:4).) he who adorns the new Jerusalem and the new creation with thee cognizance and crest of the family of Abraham, writes the charter of human salvation in Jewish characters, and subscribes it with the Jewish name. Thus it is done to the pedigree of the man whom the king delighteth to honor. The honor poured upon the Jewish name, (Is. 51:6; 66:22.Jer. 31:36,36If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. (Jeremiah 31:36)) which is honor ascribed to Jesus, (Heb. 2:1616For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. (Hebrews 2:16). Rom. 9:5,5Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 9:5)) renders very intelligible our interest in the Jewish promise.
The Jewish or Abrahamic promise is identical (Gal. 3:14-1714That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 15Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. (Galatians 3:14‑17). Eph. 3:66That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: (Ephesians 3:6)) with the new covenant spoken of by the prophets, (Jer.31:31. Ezek. 36. Hosea 2. Zech. 8.,) &e., which new covenant the Holy Ghost, speaking by Zacharias, declares to be included in the oath which Ile swore unto our father Abraham. (Luke 1:68-7568Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 69And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; 70As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: 71That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 73The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 74That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 75In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. (Luke 1:68‑75). This covenant is called the NEW covenant from its amaranthine nature, and in contra-distinction to that which decays and waxes old, (Hob. 8:13,) for which reason it is also called the EVERLASTING covenant. (Heb. 13:2020Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, (Hebrews 13:20).) It is called the NEW covenant, though the more ancient of the two; (Gal. 3:1717And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. (Galatians 3:17);) also from its posteriority (as to its general operation) to the Sinai covenant, and with especial reference to Judah and Israel, to whom, as all the prophets testify, it yet remains to be fulfilled; which especial reference, however, does not diminish its extensiveness or inclusiveness in regard to human salvation.
As the Abrahamic promise is identical with the new covenant, so is the new covenant also identical with the New Testament. (Heb. 9:15; 12:2415And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:15)
24And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:24). Thus, the true nature of the Abrahamic promise begins to appear. Thus, it begins to rise increasingly in magnitude and importance upon our view. The new covenant, henceforth the New TESTAMENT, supposes the death of the divine TESTATOR. (Gen. 22:22And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. (Genesis 22:2). Heb. 11:1919Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. (Hebrews 11:19).) The death of the Testator is so linked with the Testament, that the one would be incomplete without the other. (Heb. 9:1616For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. (Hebrews 9:16).) The offering of the death of Christ is always linked by the Holy Ghost with the grace-giving Testament. (Hob. 10:14-18.) When Jehovah says, “I will put my laws in their hearts," &c., He virtually appeals to the covenant. “I do this for my beloved Son, His death, righteousness, and atonement." This was made known to, and understood by, the ancient saints with more or less clearness, from Abel to Zacharias, (whose song satisfactorily marks the coherence and consistency of the divine plan;) and, therefore, they were perpetually reminded that without shedding of blood there is no remission. (Heb. 9:2222And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22).) By means of death they which are called receive the promise. (Heb. 9:1515And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:15).)
He who declares himself the TESTATOR, forbids us by that very appellation to dream of grace attainable through Himself, otherwise than as through the Testament, the yea and amen with which the Testament is marked. (2 Cor. 1:2020For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. (2 Corinthians 1:20).) Not through the Testator irrespectively of the Testament—not through the blood of Christ irrespectively of the covenant—but in the New Testament, in His blood,
From what has been said, it appears—and we should steadily bear it in mind—that the words "promise," (whether used in the singular or plural number,) "new covenant," and "New Testament," are convertible terms, signifying, as far as salvation is concerned, the same thing.
It also appears that the Abrahamic covenant is stamped with the peculiar character of CONDITIONALITY. Conditional covenants on the part of God, always result in failure on the part of man. "A mediator is not a mediator of one: but God is one." (Gal. 3.) This passage, the context being taken into consideration, refers to the unconditionally of the covenant of grace. "God is one;” that is, God is the SOLE covenanting party in THIS covenant; the other party, man, receives all by grace. It is the grace of the promise which is here asserted, in contra-distinction to the conditional requirements of the law.
As conditional covenants then always end in failure on the part of man. As the foregone dispensations, the types; the doctrines, the prophecies, the narratives of Scripture, all bear upon the subject of man's utter depravity, and show his need of grace, so, the grace which we need is brought to us by the Abrahamic covenant, in the shape of a new, righteous, holy nature, (Ephes. 4:2424And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Ephesians 4:24))fearing, (Jer. 32:40,40And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. (Jeremiah 32:40)) knowing, (Jer. 31:34,34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:34)) loving, (Rom. 5:5,5And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. (Romans 5:5)) serving and honoring God, hating sin, and delighting in the perfection of the divine law. (Rom. 7:2222For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: (Romans 7:22).) This new nature the inseparable accompaniment of salvation, (John 3:3,3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)) and the immediate source of all that God approves in the creature—is, as I have said, the effect of the operation of the covenant of life in the individual in whom it is found. (Ezek. 36:2626A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26).) This covenant being confirmed by the blood of Christ, is the book of life, (Rev. 20:12,12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12)) the great charter of human salvation; neither is there salvation in any other.
By GLORY, I understand that beatitude and perfection, free from all mixture of alloy, which Jehovah Himself delights in. Terrestrial glory was exemplified in Adam before the fall, and shall be yet exhibited more securely and permanently in those yet to be born in future dispensations. (1 Cor. 15:40, 4140There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. (1 Corinthians 15:40‑41).) Celestial glory, shining through the veil that is spread over all nations, has been exhibited to encourage our faith, on various occasions, since the fall.
Both the one and the other, celestial and terrestrial glory, are included in the Abrahamic promises. The promise “I will be their God," spoken by Jehovah Himself of Abraham's seed, (Gen. 17:8,8And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. (Genesis 17:8)) more than includes all revelations made to any subsequent saint.
As the promises were made to Abraham and his seed, (which seed strictly and primarily is Christ, Gal. 3.,) as that which belongs to Him in the way of right, flows from Him to us in the way of grace, as we receive the promises in the right of our HUSBAND,—it is proper here to assert the universality of the spousal relation between the Redeemer and the whole of the redeemed family, whether in heaven or on earth, in future dispensations. (Is. 54:5; 62:4, 5. Hosea 2:1616And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali. (Hosea 2:16))Great distinctions indeed may here be insisted on; which distinctions, however, though true in the main, may nevertheless, while we are yet in the flesh, be insisted on too much.
Grace, grace is the great foundation from which the whole building springs, whether we consider the heavenly or the earthly superstructures in the new creation. Let us see to it then that we are built upon, and that we do not swerve from, the great, the only ESSENTIAL point of difference, the solid foundation, the general landing place from natural perdition; I mean the grace of God which brings salvation. So shall all the rest be added unto us; so shall celestial glory be scoured to us; and THIS shall be best explained by the luster of its own brightness.