“The Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).
Federal Visionists love these verses because they point out that God only forbade Adam from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They allege that the tree of life was not forbidden. Therefore, in the pre-fall covenant, access to the tree of life was given as a gift from God. It did not have to be earned, but it could be lost through sin.
Thus, Federal Visionists argue for a covenantal paradigm in which the blessings of the covenant were given immediately, rather than having to be earned, yet those blessings could be lost through sin. Obviously, this covenantal paradigm is sub-Reformed because it does not correspond with any paradigm from the Ancient Near Eastern treaties.
The Reformed faith has always insisted that the pre-fall covenant was a covenant of merit. Although unstated in the text, we assume that God forbade Adam from eating of the tree of life until he earned it by perfect obedience. Why else would all branches of the Reformation call this the Covenant of Works?
Furthermore, unless we restrict ourselves to the inspired covenantal paradigms of Hittite treaties, then we depart from the Reformed faith.
