When God alone walked between the torn pieces, He was preaching predestination.
In the ancient world, covenants were sealed with blood. Animals were cut in half, and the two parties would walk together between the pieces. It was a solemn oath, saying in effect: “May I become like these slain animals if I break this covenant.” Both sides pledged themselves under the curse of death.
But in Genesis 15, Abram never walked through. After he laid the animals out, he fell into a deep sleep. Then, “a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces” (Genesis 15:17). God alone walked the path. He bound Himself to fulfill the promise.
“So then it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God who has mercy.” (Romans 9:16)
This was God displaying a glorious truth: salvation rests entirely on His initiative, His promise, His decree. Abram contributed nothing. The covenant stood because God swore by Himself.
And this points directly to Christ. On the cross, He bore the covenant curse, suffering the death symbolized in those torn animals, so that His chosen people would inherit the blessing. God’s choice was not based on Abram’s performance, or foreseen faith, but on His sovereign grace. Paul declares the same truth: “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).
Predestination is God’s covenant to His people. The elect are secure because God Himself bore the curse and sealed the promise. If salvation depended on man’s cooperation, it would collapse. But because it rests on God’s unbreakable oath, it stands forever.
Our response is worship. Election strips away boasting and leaves us bowing in gratitude: “Those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:30). The chain cannot be broken.
Our salvation is as secure as God’s own oath.
Semper Reformanda
Some object that God’s covenant requires man’s cooperation, or that election depends on foreseen faith. But if that were true, Abram would have walked through the pieces. He did not. God walked alone. The Bible leaves no room for conditional election: “It does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God who has mercy” (Romans 9:16). God’s choice is the cause of faith, not the other way around (Acts 13:48; Ephesians 2:8–9). To add human cooperation undoes the very message of Genesis 15.
Truth That Withstands
Predestination is God’s oath. In the covenant with Abram, He showed that salvation would rest on His faithfulness, not man’s. In Christ, He bore the covenant curse and secured the blessing. Our salvation is anchored in God’s eternal decree and finished in His Son. Nothing can undo it.
Short link: reformlet.com/abram