I am the person whom when befouled by the filth and mud of crimes you cleansed with the blood of Jesus Christ, you enlightened by the Spirit, you restored to a holy life, and made the heir, fellow, and partaker of eternal happiness. What more could I have ever asked of you since you have given me all things with Christ?… Since you took pity on the falls of your weak and foolish creature, through your prophet you indicated that you did not wish the death of the sinner but that he be converted and live. You wish to receive back the wretched sinner not just once but seven times seventy should that be needed, if he repents and returns to your flock. See, here I am, condemning, hating, revoking, renouncing whatever I did against your dignity and your holy will. I protest that I will order my whole life in a better way. So I ask you, good Father, seeing that you have so encouraged me through Jesus Christ our Lord, that you will to bestow on me such strength as may suffice. I am your work, both as regards my natural constitution and as regards this new spiritual regeneration. Therefore I beg you not to despise me–may that which cannot be done through my merits (I can find no good in them), be done through the merits of Jesus Christ and through your holy name, to which be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Theology Terms Tuesday (a little late) – Second Adam.
September 9, 2009 at 10:31 am | Posted in Covenant Theology, Theological Terms | Leave a CommentTags: Covenant, Second Adam
Second Adam –
When God created man, He chose for Adam to represent his posterity as “federal head” in the covenant of works. Hosea 6:7 speaks of a covenant which Adam broke, and Romans 5:12-19implies that there was a covenant involved with Adam because he represents the human race. Isaiah 24:5 speaks of an everlasting covenant which is universal because it applies to the entire “earth”; this would also seem to be a reference to a covenant made with all mankind.
Jesus Christ took man’s place, fulfilling the covenant of works which Adam failed at, and thus Adam is an antitype of Christ. I Corinthians 15:45 speaks of Jesus as the “last Adam.”
Theology Terms Tuesday on Thursday – Covenant Theology Vs. New Covenant Theology.
July 9, 2009 at 3:04 am | Posted in Covenant Theology, Theological Terms | 2 Comments
From the Reformation Theology Site:
NCT is pretty much an in-house debate among (reformed) baptists and, the idea or system, I believe, has its roots in a reaction to legalism in some Reformed Baptist circles. Here are a couple of views they hold in contrast to Covenant Theology:
1) NCT rejects the covenant of works,
2) NCT rejects the active obedience of Christ. That is Christ’s full obedience to all the prescriptions of the divine law…making available a perfect righteousness before the law that is imputed or reckoned to those who put their trust in him.
3) NCT embraces only the passive obedience of Christ: Christ’s willing obedience in bearing all the sanctions imposed by that law against his people because of their transgression being the ground of God’s justification of sinners (Rom. 5:9), by which divine act they are pardoned.
4) So they (NCT) rejects the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to sinners being related to his having fulfilled the law. Rather the righteouenss he imputes to sinners is simply from the fact that he is God. So the emphasis is on his death and not on his life.
Wheras a covenant theologian would affirm Christ lived the life we should have lived and died the death we deserve, the NCT theologican would only subscribe the the second half of that statement. They would reject the idea that Christ fulfilled the covenant of works from our side. In our view (CT) this significantly downplays the necessity and importance of the incarnation.
Note: Whlie the above represent many within the NCT camp, I understand that it does not describe all streams of thought in NCT. Apparently some have moved closer to CT in these areas and differ only in that Christ having fulfilled the law makes the moral law no longer binding on the believer.
Theology Terms Tuesdays on Thursday – Covenant Theology.
April 22, 2009 at 11:18 pm | Posted in Covenant Theology | Leave a Comment
Covenant Theology (or Federal theology) is a prominent feature in Protestant theology, especially in the Presbyterian and Reformed churches, and a similar form is found in Methodism and Reformed Baptist churches. This article primarily concerns Covenant Theology as held by the Presbyterian and Reformed churches, which use the covenant concept as an organizing principle for Christian theology and view the history of redemption under the framework of three overarching theological covenants: the Covenant of Redemption, the Covenant of Works, and the Covenant of Grace. These three are called “theological covenants” because although not explicitly presented as covenants, they are, according to covenant theologians, implicit in the Bible.
In brief, Covenant Theology teaches that God has established two great covenants with mankind and a covenant within the Godhead to deal with how the other two relate. The first covenant in logical order, usually called the Covenant of Redemption, is the agreement within the Godhead that the Father would appoint his son Jesus to give up his life for mankind and that Jesus would do so (cf. Titus 1:1-3).
The second, called the Covenant of Works, was made in the Garden of Eden between God and Adam and promised life for obedience and death for disobedience. Adam disobeyed God and broke the covenant, and so the third covenant was made between God and all of mankind, who also fell with Adam according to Romans 5:12-21.
This third covenant, the Covenant of Grace, promised eternal blessing for belief in Christ and obedience to God’s word. It is thus seen as the basis for all biblical covenants that God made individually with Noah, Abraham, and David, nationally with O.T. Israel as a people, and universally with man in the New Covenant. These individual covenants are called the “biblical covenants” because they are explicitly described as such in the Bible.
Media – Covenant Theology, by Bruce Ware
Some GREAT Resources for YOU.
December 1, 2008 at 5:01 am | Posted in Covenant Theology, Gospel, Practical Theology, Reading, Sanctification, Soteriology, Theology | Leave a CommentTags: Atonement, Biblical Parenthood, Conference Media
Vos – Biblical Theology.
July 31, 2008 at 11:13 am | Posted in Biblical Theology, Covenant Theology, Reading | 2 CommentsTags: Biblical Thology, Covenant Theology, Geerhardus Vos, Knowing God, Making God Known
God’s self-revelation to us was not made for a primarily intellectual purpose. It is not to be overlooked, of course, that the truly pious mind may through an intellectual contemplation of the divine perfections glorify God. This would be just as truly religious as the intensest occupation of the will in the service of God. But it would not be the full-orbed religion at which, as a whole, revelation aims. It is true, the Gospel teaches that to know God is life eternal. But the concept of ‘knowledge’ here is not to be understood in its Hellenic sense, but in the Shemitic sense. According to the former, ‘to know’ means to mirror the reality of a thing in one’s consciousness. The Shemitic and Biblical idea is to have the reality of something practically interwoven with the inner experience of life. Hence ‘to know’ can stand in the Biblical idiom for ‘to love’, ‘to single out in love’. Because God desires to be known after this fashion, He has caused His revelation to take place in the milieu of the historical life of a people. The circle of revelation is not a school, but a ‘covenant’. To speak of revelation as an ‘education’ of humanity is a rationalistic and utterly un-scriptural way of speaking. All that God disclosed of Himself has come in response to the practical religious needs of His people as these emerged in the course of history.
Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology p. 8-9ish.
To Be Clothed in the Righteousness of Christ.
July 15, 2008 at 11:28 am | Posted in Covenant Theology, Gospel, Sanctification, Soteriology | Leave a CommentTags: Erskine, Grace, Mercy, Righteousness, Sin
Of First Importance put up this quote that I thought was noteworthy:
“It is a great sin to think any sin little; but it is a greater sin to think the righteousness of Christ is not above all sin. Our disobedience is the disobedience of man; but Christ’s obedience is the obedience of God: therefore, our believing in Christ doth please God better than if we had continued in innocency, and never sinned. The least sin is unpardonable without this obedience and righteousness of Christ; and the greatest is pardonable by it. Therefore, O seek in to Christ, to be clothed upon with this righteousness.”
- Ralph Erskine, “And Walking in Him, Opened,” in The Works of Ralph Erskine, p. 332, vol. 24.
Quotable Quotes, True Love – A.W. Pink
July 10, 2008 at 3:42 am | Posted in Covenant Theology, Gospel, Love | Leave a CommentTags: A.W. Pink, Summer of Love, True Love
Love is the Queen of the Christian graces. It is a holy disposition given to us when we are born again by God. It is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. True spiritual love is characterized by meekness and gentleness, yet it is vastly superior to the courtesies and kindnesses of the flesh.
We must be careful not to confuse human sentimentality, carnal pleasantries, human amiability and affability with true spiritual love. The love God commands, first to Himself and then to others, is not human love. It is not the indulgent, self-seeking love which is in us by nature. If we indulgently allow our children to grow up with little or, no Scriptural discipline, Proverbs plainly says we do not love them, regardless of the human sentimentality and affection we may feel for them. Love is not a sentimental pampering of one another with a loose indifference as to our walk and obedience before the Lord. Glossing over one another’s faults to ingratiate ourselves in their esteem is not spiritual love.
The true nature of Christian love is a righteous principle which seeks the highest good of others. It is a powerful desire to promote their welfare. The exercise of love is to be in strict conformity to the revealed will of God. We must love in the truth. Love among the brethren is far more than an agreeable society where views are the same. It is loving them for what we see of Christ in them, loving them for Christ’s sake.
The Lord Jesus Himself is our example. He was not only thoughtful, gentle, self-sacrificing and patient, but He also corrected His mother, used a whip in the Temple, Severely scolded His doubting disciples, and denounced hypocrites. True spiritual love is above all faithful to God and uncompromising towards all that is evil. We cannot declare, ‘Peace and Safety’ when in reality there is spiritual decay and ruin!
True spiritual love is very difficult to exercise because it is not our natural love. By nature we would rather love sentimentally and engender good feelings. Also many times true spiritual love is not received in love, but is hated as the Pharisees hated it. We must pray that God will fill us with His love and enable us to exercise it without dissimulation toward all.
-A.W. Pink
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
