A Question of Foundations

I have often wondered if the debate going on between the confessionally reformed and the federal vision camps- I do make a distinction, though it is not meant as a slight, but rather one of denotation- is in fact a secondary or consequent- though valid and necessary- argument and that the real battle is over a theology containing a works/merit and faith/grace paradigm and one that rejects a works/merit paradigm wholly in favor of a single covenant model of faith/grace. Thus it often seems that the subliminal war over the epistemological foundations for the theological enterprise at large is largely between the camps of Kline and Shepherd. And that being so, though we are often told that the debate is about what the gospel is it seems rather that it is actually about what lense we acquire to read the text in order to actually define the gospel.
Any thoughts or insight is not only welcomed but sought, though perhaps no one will ever read this anyway.