Unconditional

A main factor in sanctification is the unconditionality of the New Covenant. This is a main theme in scripture. In the next few sections we explore the unconditional nature of salvation and how God has done it.

We have already seen that the Old Covenant was weak because of man. God looked and there was no man to help and so His own arm brought forth salvation. This salvation cannot be based in any way upon man, or it would not be secure. If any aspect was based on human performance it would not be eternally safe.

Starting back with Abraham, God promised an unconditional covenant of salvation to be fulfilled by Christ. He said, “By Myself I have sworn…” (Gen 22:16). Then, when Abraham cut the covenant in Genesis 15, God alone walked through the sacrifices, not Abraham. It was not a covenant of two equal parties, but of a divine unbreakable oath by God to His servant Abraham.

Paul develops this theme in Galatians 3, saying that if God confirmed this to Abraham by a promise, the law, which came 430 years later, cannot disannul the promise and make it of no effect. This shows again that salvation is by promise, which means not of works. If it is by promise, then it is not by law, which means it is unconditional.