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however, circumcision was instituted as a sealing ordinance, a badge of membership, and a seal
of the righteousness of faith.
b. In the transaction with Abraham the particularistic Old Testament administration of the
covenant had its beginning, and it becomes perfectly evident that man is a party in the
covenant and must respond to the promises of God by faith. The great central fact emphasized
in Scripture, is that Abraham believed God and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. God
appears unto Abraham again and again, repeating His promises, in order to engender faith in
his heart and to prompt its activity. The greatness of his faith was apparent in his believing
against hope, in his trusting in the promise even when its fulfilment seemed to be a physical
impossibility.
c. The spiritual blessings of the covenant of grace become far more apparent in the covenant
with Abraham than they were before. The best Scriptural exposition of the Abrahamic covenant
is contained in Rom. 3 and 4, and Gal. 3. In connection with the narrative found in Genesis
these chapters teach that Abraham received in the covenant justification, including the
forgiveness of sins and adoption into the very family of God, and also the gifts of the Spirit unto
sanctification and eternal glory.
d. The covenant with Abraham already included a symbolical element. On the one hand it had
reference to temporal blessings, such as the land of Canaan, a numerous offspring, protection
against and victory over the enemies; and on the other, it referred to spiritual blessings. It
should be borne in mind, however, that the former were not co-ordinate with, but subordinate
to, the latter. These temporal blessings did not constitute an end in themselves, but served to
symbolize and typify spiritual and heavenly things. The spiritual promises were not realized in
the natural descendants of Abraham as such, but only in those who followed in the footsteps of
Abraham.
e. In view of this establishment of the covenant of grace with Abraham, he is sometimes
considered as the head of the covenant of grace. But the word “head” is rather ambiguous, and
therefore liable to misunderstanding. Abraham cannot be called the representative head of the
covenant of grace, just as Adam was of the covenant of works, for (1) the Abrahamic covenant
did not include the believers that preceded him and who were yet in the covenant of grace, and
(2) he could not accept the promises for us nor believe in our stead, thereby exempting us from
these duties. If there is a representative head in the covenant of grace, it can only be Christ (cf.
Bavinck, Geref. Dogm. III, pp. 239,241); but, strictly speaking, we can consider Him as the Head
only on the assumption that the covenant of redemption and the covenant of grace are one.
Abraham can be called the head of the covenant only in the sense that it was formally
established with him, and that he received the promise of its continuance in the line of his