According to the doctrine of the
unconditional covenant, the membership of the visible church, the members of
the covenant community, and the physical children of godly parents are
distinguished and differentiated by eternal, sovereign predestination, election
and reprobation. This is the teaching of Romans 9. This chapter is not mainly
about predestination, even though it is the classic passage on predestination
in the Bible. Rather, it is the explanation of the covenant problem. The
problem was this: How could so many children of Abraham perish in unbelief and
disobedience in view of Jehovah’s covenant promise to Abraham, “I will be the
God of your seed”? Indeed, in view of the promise, how could even one child of
Abraham perish?
The explanation is that there was
a twofold seed of Abraham: “children of the flesh” and “children of the promise”
(v. 8). God counted only the children of the promise for the seed of Abraham in
His covenant promise. God’s eternal, sovereign, gracious election: “the purpose
of God according to election” (v. 11).
Not al the physical children
alike of godly parents are in covenant relation with God, whether by gracious
promise or by a work of grace in their hearts that unites them to Christ. Some
are merely in the sphere of the covenant.
Against this distinction between
being in the covenant and being in the sphere of the covenant, the theologians
of covenantal universalism object, just as the “liberated” Reformed objected
before them. In reality, their objection is against Paul and the Holy Spirit,
for the apostle makes exactly this distinction in Romans 9:6. “They are not all
Israel, which are of Israel.” Some physical children of Abraham were “Israel.”
There elect in Christ, redeemed, objects of the promise, united to Christ by
the Holy Spirit, and covenant friends of God.
The others were merely “of
Israel.” They were part of the manifestation of Israel in history. In every
possible physical, earthly way they were related to Israel. They were
flesh-and-blood offspring of Israel. But they were not Israel. They never were
Israel. They were not elect, redeemed, objects of the promise, united to
Christ, and covenant friends of God. And the reason they were not Israel was
not that they failed to fulfill the conditions, whereas Israel did fulfill the
conditions. If that were the case, covenant salvation would have been by works.
But the reason was God’s reprobation of them, whereas He elected Israel.
Israel/ of Israel!
The sovereign God makes the same
distinction between two kinds of physical children of godly parents today.
Covenant/ sphere of covenant!
There is only one alternative to
this explanation of the covenant problem. That is the teaching that the
gracious promise comes to all alike conditionally,
but some fail to fulfill the conditions. In this case, the word of promise is
of none effect in many. Or, to put it in the language preferred by covenantal
universalism, all alike are conditionally
united to Christ, but some fail to perform the conditions and fall away. In
this case, covenant grace is resistible in many.
This is the denial of sovereign
grace – in the sphere of the covenant.
Then, as regards His saving work
in the sphere of the covenant, it cannot be said of God, “Of Him, and through
Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory forever” (Rom. 11:36).
Rather, we must say, “Of Him and of those
who fulfill the conditions; through Him and
through those who fulfill the conditions, are all things, in the sphere of
the covenant: to Him and to those who
fulfill the conditions be the glory of covenant salvation forever.”
As covenantal universalism robs
God of His glory in the covenant, so it strips every member of the covenant of
assurance. All alike are united to Christ, and all alike can fall away into
perdition. So I must live, according to this God-dishonoring, soul-destroying
covenant theology: “I am united to Christ by faith today; I may fall away to
hell tomorrow.”
In the conditional covenant, the
prevailing mood is terror.
The unconditional covenant of
particular grace has a different message. To every one united to Christ by
faith – every one who believes the gospel from the heart – it promises,
unconditionally, that He who has begun the good work in him will perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6).
In the unconditional covenant of
grace – particular grace – we have assurance.
Prof. David J. Engelsma
The Covenant of God and the
Children of Believers, pp. 207-209
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