It is really very simple. Abraham had sons born to him from Hagar and Sarah. Ishmael is Abrahams son but according to Romans 9 (and other olaces) he is not the heir of the covenant given to Abraham. That covenant is for the offspring of Abrahams son Isaac and then through Jacob (renamed Israel). It is not for Abrahams other sons. It is not for Isaacs sons other than Jacob (not Esau). And so forth.
You speak about the covenant of grace. While we are saved by grace through faith, just where in the Bible did Jehovah cut a covenant of grace with sinful man, be he Jew or Gentile? Covenant theologians like yourself go to great lengths to explain the nature of covenants, how one is cut, how one is ratified but they fail to show in a covenant of grace just where the Bible teaches it and who the two parties of the covenant are.
Thomas,
This is a good question;
just where in the Bible did Jehovah cut a covenant of grace with sinful man, be he Jew or Gentile?
Big question..I will offer a short answer first.
[QUOTEGenesis 15
1After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying,
Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. 2And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
4And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5And he brought him forth abroad, and said,
Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
7And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
8And he said, LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
10And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
12And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
16But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
17And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
18In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
][/QUOTE]
When the theologians speak of ...cutting a covenant.....an animal was cut or divided in half, and those who would be in covenant would pass through the divided animal....
God put Abraham to sleep and passed through Himself...verse 18 gives the explanation...God made covenant with Abraham.
Thomas....God's covenant is progressively revealed.It existed before the world was created. It is revealed in time, and shown to some men by God.