Quote:
Originally Posted by Contra_Mundum  Randy,
Did Esau receive the sign of the covenant of grace, i.e. circumcision? If no, then here is the "all or nothing" you seem to insist upon. You do not say Esau had any part of the administration of the CoG.
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I do not think you agree that he did, as our side confesses. Do you not adhere, then, to two covenants made with Abraham? Have you not said here in this forum that Esau was a full party to the "land covenant", a kind of symbolical national-identity compact that served as a kind of "message-to-the-world" regarding the coming Messiah?
I, along with mainstream CTs, do not agree with that bifurcation of covenant intent. We agree that the CoG was made "with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the elect as his seed" (WLC 31). Which CoG is trans-temporal, trans-covenantal with respect to the "differently administered" eras of that covenant, externally speaking. So, even Moses is but one administration of the one CoG, though it may have accidents that echo the first Works Covenant administration. |
What is the sign of the Covenant of Grace? I am not sure you can say that the Covenant of Circumcision (and that is what Stephen calls it) is the sign of the Covenant of Grace. There were clearly men who were members of the Covenant of Grace who were not a member of Abrahams family. And they didn't receive the sign.
Do me a favor Bruce... To understand our position a little better pick up the book. I am still working this out. But I do believe the administering (and that is my word) Covenants administer more than just one. You can call them
accidents if you want. That would be the way your system handles it.