Again, I suspect we will be at odds in regard to the "unconditional covenant". For I firmly believe that the Covenant of Grace is unconditional.. based upon the immutable and infallible promise of God to save all who were elected to salvation. This promise was made with Abraham as a believer and to his "seed", which is Christ (Gal 3:16) and those who are "in Christ" (Gal 3:29). To posit that anyone is an "heir of the promise" requires the prerequisite of being a "son", one who has been adopted by grace through Christ (Gal 4:7). Therefore, I cannot "treat" anyone, regardless of birth as a "child of the promise" unless they give evidence of being "in Christ", displaying "fruit of the Spirit", etc.
One cannot be a "child of the promise" yet not united to Christ by faith. It's a contradiction of terms and contrary to all that the Scripture teaches.
Pilgrim,
You have a fallacy of reason. Here is your argument:
P1: The covenant is unconditional P2: To posit that anyone is an “heir of the promise” requires the prerequisite of being a “son”… Conclusion: Therefore, I cannot “treat” anyone, regardless of birth as a “child of the promise” unless they give evidence of being “in Christ”….
Your conclusion goes way beyond the scope of the premises. You have two propositions in your first two premises, which I agree with. However, your conclusion has not logically been defended by your argument. Your conclusion that we are not to treat anyone who has not made a profession of faith as being a child of promise remains dogma without support. It may be correct, but saying so doesn’t make it so.
Maybe you might tell me what God meant by saying that an infant could break covenant if the parent did not have him circumcised. In other words, as I stated before: As with Scripture, I affirm (with you) that all Israel was not Israel and all the church is not the church. Nonetheless, if an infant was not circumcised he was to be considered a covenant breaker. Accordingly, if he were circumcised was he not then to have been considered a covenant keeper? And if a covenant keeper, one for whom Christ died yet still needed to be converted…
