Because you have obeyed Me…
Genesis 22:15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Had Adam stood, I wonder if God would have said something like, “because you have obeyed me…”. What difference would there have been?
March 25, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Well for starters, people could no longer question that Adam was in a merit-based covenant of works.
Of course, they still would.
They’d probably say that Adam simply had faith that gave rise to works, and so he was blessed through faith alone.
March 26, 2008 at 10:30 am
Why not? Was Abraham in a covenant of works?
Merit means “earning”, and no where anywhere do the scriptures warrant the idea that God wanted His people to *earn* anything from Him.
The only thing man *earns* from God is death. Romans 6:23 Life is always given as a matter of grace. Proverbs 3:21-22
March 26, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Well, if man earns death, then the question is, how did man earn death?
Well, that goes back to Adam’s disobedience, right? So Adam earned death from God by works, or rather lack thereof.
If he had obeyed, he would have earned life.
Thanks for the helpful reminder that Adam did in fact earn death for us all, since that also proves that it was a covenant of works.
Abraham was not in a covenant of works, though his children were. Abraham was given a royal grant on the basis of merit. But notice that what is granted to him is not eternal salvation based on merit, but temporal blessings for him and his offspring, even the whole world.
E
March 26, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Non sequitur. If life was already given as a matter of grace (and it was), then he couldn’t earn it. He already had it. And the glory promised to him was his inheritance. No one earns their inheritance. It is a matter of pure grace.
March 31, 2008 at 7:42 pm
No, he didn’t have life. He had something like life, but he didn’t have glorified, eschatological, true life. Come on.