John Calvin Commentary Genesis 17:9

"And God said unto Abraham, And as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations." — Genesis 17:9 (ASV)

You shall keep my covenant. As formerly, covenants were not only committed to public records but were also usually engraved in brass or sculptured on stones, so that their memory might be more fully recorded and more highly celebrated; so in this instance, God inscribes His covenant in the flesh of Abraham.

For circumcision was like a solemn memorial of that adoption by which the family of Abraham had been elected to be God's special people. The pious had previously possessed other ceremonies which confirmed to them the certainty of God's grace; but now the Lord attests the new covenant with a new kind of symbol.

But the reason why He allowed the human race to be without this testimony of His grace for so many ages is hidden from us, except that we see it was instituted at the time when He chose a certain nation for Himself; which itself depends on His secret counsel.

Moreover, although it would perhaps be more suitable for instruction if we were to give a summary of what is to be said concerning circumcision, I will still follow the order of the text, which I think is more appropriate for the role of an interpreter. First, since Moses calls circumcision the covenant of God, we infer from this that the promise of grace was included in it.

For if it had been only a mark or token of external profession among men, the name "covenant" would by no means be suitable, because a covenant is not confirmed otherwise than as faith responds to it.

It is common to all sacraments to have God's word joined to them, by which He testifies that He is favorable to us and calls us to the hope of salvation. Indeed, a sacrament is nothing other than a visible word, or a sculpture and image of God's grace, which the word more fully illustrates.

If, then, there is a mutual relation between the word and faith, it follows that the intended purpose and use of sacraments is to help, promote, and confirm faith.

But those who deny that sacraments are supports to faith, or that they aid the word in strengthening faith, must necessarily erase the name "covenant." This is because either God there offers Himself as a Promiser in mockery and falsely, or else faith there finds that on which it may support itself and from which it may confirm its own assurance.

And although we must maintain the distinction between the word and the sign, let us nevertheless know that as soon as the sign itself meets our eyes, the word ought to sound in our ears.

Therefore, while Abraham is commanded here to keep the covenant, God does not command him the mere use of the ceremony, but chiefly intends that he should regard the purpose. And certainly, since the promise is the very soul of the sign, whenever it is torn away from the sign, nothing remains but a lifeless and empty phantom.

This is the reason why we say that sacraments are abolished by the Papists: because, with God's voice having become extinct, nothing remains with them except the remainder of mute figures.

Truly frivolous is their boast that their magical exorcisms stand in the place of the word. For nothing can be called a covenant except what we perceive to be clearly revealed, so that it may build up our faith; these actors, who by gesture alone or by a confused murmuring play as if on pipes, have nothing like this.

We now consider how the covenant is rightly kept: namely, when the word precedes, and we embrace the sign as a testimony and pledge of grace. For as God binds Himself to keep the promise given to us, so the consent of faith and obedience is demanded from us. What follows further on this subject is noteworthy.

Between Me and you. By this we are taught that a sacrament does not relate only to external confession, but is an intervening pledge between God and the human conscience. And therefore, whoever is not directed to God through the sacraments profanes their use.

But by the figure of metonymy, the name "covenant" is transferred to circumcision, which is so joined with the word that it could not be separated from it.