Paul: The Abrahamic Covenant Shows Us the Way of Salvation

In the Abrahamic Covenant, we see the pattern of how a believer receives salvation from YHVH. Let’s allow the Apostle Paul to walk us through the Abrahamic Covenant and explain the salvific aspects of it.

In Romans 4, Paul correlates the faith Abraham had in YHVH with that which the redeemed believer must have in Yeshua. Abraham had faith in YHVH, who was Yeshua in his preincarnate state (1 Cor 10:4), even as one now, in order to be made righteous (i.e., obtain right-standing before YHVH) must have faith in the resurrected Yeshua. The Abrahamic Covenant shows us how to obtain initial righteousness or right-standing before YHVH. Abraham’s faith was imputed to him for righteousness (Gen 15:6; Rom 4:3, 22; Jas 2:23).

Another way to say this, according to Paul, is, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom YHVH will not impute sin [i.e., YHVH grants them salvation]” (Rom  4:7–8). Sin is the transgression of YHVH’s Torah-law (1 John 3:4). The wages of sin is death (Rom 7:23). Therefore, according to Paul, the Abrahamic Covenant shows us how to be saved from the wages of sin, which is death, and how to obtain right-standing before YHVH or enter into covenantal relationship with him.

Paul cites David as one who understood the salvific or redemptive implications of the Abrahamic Covenant (Rom 4:6). As a result, Abraham has become the father of the faithful or “the father of us all” (Rom 4:16).

Paul goes on to say in Romans 5 that being justified to Elohim (the Father) by Yeshua’s (the Son’s) blood, we are no longer Elohim’s enemies (because of the sins we have committed against him, which have separated us from him), and we shall be saved from his eventual wrath or judgment against sin. As a result, Yeshua’s death and subsequent resurrection brings us peace or reconciliation with Elohim, joy in this world and eternal life in the world to come (Romans 5:1, 9-11).

This is the same teaching Paul brings to the Believers in Galatia where he reiterates what he said in Romans  4:3 (both the letters of Romans and Galatians were written about the same time: A.D. 55-56). In Galatians  3:6 (as we have already noted), Paul states that, “Abraham believed YHVH and it was counted to him for righteousness.” In the next verse, Paul states that those who have faith as Abraham did are not only the children of Abraham, but that they are also the true children of YHVH (also Rom 9:8, 11).

Paul then goes on to state that this truth is the basis of the gospel message; that is, salvation is by faith in YHVH. This message, the basic salvific or redemptive message of the Abrahamic Covenant, is the same gospel message the Testimony of Yeshua teaches. Paul states that this same gospel message was preached beforehand to Abraham that in him all nations (through Yeshua, Abraham’s Seed) would be blessed (Gal 3:8).

Have you ever thought of the Abrahamic Covenant in terms of the gospel message before? Yet Paul relates the two together. Did you ever hear that message preached before in the past churches you attended? Yet there it is in black and white in the letter to the Galatians.

In Galatians 3:10-13, Paul states that one cannot be saved through a legalistic observance of YHVH’s Torah-commandments. The Mosaic Covenant IS NOT the covenant of salvation. It never was intended to be. It is the covenant that shows one how to walk in righteousness after one has already been saved.

To believe that one can be saved through the Mosaic Covenant is to twist the Word of Elohim to make it say something that it was never intended to say. This is what the Judaizers in Paul’s day believed — that one is saved by one’s works such as circumcision and keeping the Torah (Acts 15:1 and 5 compared to verse 11). This was a prevailing religious ideology among many of the Jews of the first-century. They thought they could be saved by keeping the laws of the Mosaic Covenant. This false concept is what the apostles were addressing at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 where we read that certain men of the sect of the Pharisees taught that except you be circumcised and keep the law of Moses you cannot be saved (Acts 15:1, 5). The rich young ruler believed that keeping the terms of the Mosaic Covenant would lead to eternal life as well, and Yeshua discreetly showed him that there was no salvation outside of a spiritual relationship with the Messiah (Matt 19:16–22).

Paul opposed the view that salvation could come through the Mosaic Covenant as a result of one’s own works because it was unscriptural and a false gospel. In fact, in Galatians 1:6, he calls this view “another gospel” and in the next verse addresses those (legalists or “Judaizers”) who would “pervert the gospel” (verse 8) and even doubly curses them (verses 8-9). Paul becomes so adamant against the false teaching that one can be saved by the works of the Torah-law as outlined in the Mosaic Covenant and the prevalent teaching of his day that circumcision was a prerequisite for salvation that he even stated that those who teach this should “go the whole way and castrate themselves” as David Stern translates Galatians 5:12 in his Complete Jewish Bible.

Paul is in no way denouncing the validity of Torah-law obedience, rather he vociferously upholds it on numerous occasions throughout his writings (See my teaching articles on our website entitled, What Was Paul’s View of Torah? and Paul: An Orthodox, Torah-Obedient, Messianic Jewish Rabbi) showing that he lived and taught Torah-law obedience until his death.

So in Galatians, Paul is simply stating that one is not saved through the provisions of the Mosaic Covenant, but through those of the Abrahamic Covenant. What Paul is saying in Galatians 3:10-13 is that Yeshua’s death on the cross paid the price that redeemed us for our violation or penalty of breaking YHVH’s Torah commandments (For a more complete discussion of this subject see my teaching articles entitled: What Does the Term “Under the Law” Mean? and What Does the Term “Works of the Law” Mean?) so that the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant might come upon those who are the children of Abraham through faith in Yeshua (verse 14,16). These children are the true heirs of the promises YHVH made to Abraham (verses 14-18,29).

Next we will look analyze Abraham’s vision in Genesis 15 of the smoking furnace and how that relates to the Messiah and our salvation.