What Is the Abrahamic Covenant? — Genesis 12:3
Hult, Adolf (1869-1943); Bible Primer, God’s Covenant with Abraham; image from Wikimedia Commons.
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To understand the Abrahamic covenant properly, we need to take a moment to consider God’s covenant of grace. We first find the unconditional covenant of grace in Genesis 3:15 where God promises that a savior will come who will crush the head of the serpent (i.e. Satan). In the covenant of grace, people are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone because of Christ’s perfect keeping of the law and his perfect and complete sacrifice once and for all for sin (Rom. 5:12–21; Heb. 7:27; 10:14).
God’s covenant of grace is more fully revealed in the Abrahamic covenant. What is the Abrahamic covenant, and why is every Christian the offspring of Abraham?
The Abrahamic covenant is unconditional and permanent.
In the book of Genesis, we read about God’s promise to Abraham (Abram):
“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3)
And [the LORD] brought [Abraham] outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. (Gen. 15:5-6)
In Genesis 15:7-21, God even seals his promise to Abraham in a covenant ritual that was common practice in the Ancient Near East at that time:
What is so amazing about this particular covenant, however, is that God, the Lord of the covenant, assumed the full obligations to fulfill his promise symbolized in this covenant ritual by walking alone through the severed animals. He manifests his presence in a smoking fire pot and flaming torch and passes between the carcasses. (Michael G. Brown and Zach Keele, Sacred Bond; Covenant Theology Explored [2nd Ed.], p. 79)
The covenant God made with Abraham is unconditional and permanent. God fulfilled his promise to Abraham by sending his only begotten Son Jesus to be born in the flesh from a descendant of Abraham (Matt. 1:1–17; Luke 3:23–38; Gal. 3:16).
While Christ was born in the flesh as a descendant of Abraham, salvation comes by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone.
The Pharisees mistakenly thought that being physically descended from Abraham would give them an advantage in being accepted by God, but John the Baptist refuted this belief, stating:
“And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.” (Matt. 3:9)
Just as Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6), so also every believer is saved through faith, which is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). Abraham wasn’t saved by his own obedience, but instead by the obedience of the Savior, Christ Jesus, who would be the perfect once-for-all sacrifice for sin:
“God made us heirs, not because of our obedience to the law, but because of Christ’s obedience, which is imputed to us freely of his grace. He is the one Mediator of the one covenant of grace as it is administered in both the Abrahamic and new covenants.” (Brown and Keele, Sacred Bond, p. 75)
Every Christian is an heir according to God’s promise to Abraham.
All who receive Christ as their Savior through God’s gift of faith to them are the true heirs of Abraham and have all rights and privileges thereof. As the apostle Paul states,
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Gal. 3:7-9)
Abraham believed God would keep his promise, “and if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:29).
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Digging deeper: If you would like to learn more about the eight significant covenants in the Bible, check out Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology Explored (Second Edition) by Michael G. Brown and Zach Keele.