Theological term
Unilateral Covenant
2 sermons · All terms
The Covenant Ceremony With Abraham
Genesis 15 records the covenant ceremony by which God confirmed his promises of seed and land to Abram — not with a bilateral oath, but with a unilateral, self-maledictory act in which God alone passed between the divided animals. The sermon traces Abraham's justification by faith alone in verse 6, examines the ancient covenant-ratification ritual as a type of Christ bearing the covenant curse, and shows that the smoking oven and burning torch passing through the pieces preaches the substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The application presses believers to rest their assurance not in their own covenant faithfulness but in the faithfulness of the God who swore by himself and sealed that oath in the blood of his Son.
Free Grace Baptist Church - March 13, 2019 Bible Study
Genesis 15 presents the Abrahamic covenant in two movements: the reiteration of God's promise of seed and land to a childless and landless Abram (vv. 1–6), and the solemn ratification of that covenant through a self-maledictory oath ceremony (vv. 7–17). Verse 6 — 'he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness' — is expounded as the locus classicus of justification by faith alone, with faith understood as the empty instrument that receives an alien righteousness imputed from Christ, not a meritorious work brought to God. The unilateral passing of the divine presence between the animal pieces is shown to anticipate Calvary, where Christ became the curse for covenant-breakers, sealing in blood what God swore to Abraham.