Schouls on the Covenant of Grace, Part III

Schouls essentially affirms the former position: covenant as objective reality, but requiring personal appropriation. He reasons:
- The covenant of grace is conditional, demanding of us repentance and faith. Its membership is not therefore limited to the elect.
- The "internal holiness" position leads to unacceptable qualifications of the covenant: some are said to be in the covenant in an external way, or under its influence but not really in it. As Schouls says, "Either they are in or they are not in."
- We should follow Calvin (in his comments on Genesis 17:7) in seeing the promise as given to all in the covenant, but needing to be ratified by faith:

Here, then, a twofold class of sons presents itself to us, in the Church; for since the whole body of the people is gathered together into the fold of God, by one and the same voice, all without exception, are, in this respect, accounted children; the name of the Church is applicable in common to all: but in the innermost sanctuary of God, none others are reckoned the sons of God, than they in whom the promise is ratified by faith.

- The covenant can be likened to a marriage, which we can despise and reject.

I think Schouls is right in his conclusion:

We believe this to be main-line Reformed. We believe this ... stresses squarely what should be: faith and repentance... Without faith it is not possible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) and unless a man is born again, which is made evident in his repentance, he cannot even see the kingdom of God, let alone enter it (John 3:3). This is true, also of covenant children.