Understanding Covenant Theology #5

Since I’m having a tough time getting back to this to wrap up this series on Covenant Theology, I thought I should at least provide my readers with a link to some good materials on the subject.

Nathan Pitchford has written an excellent little book called “What the Bible Says About The People of God”, which is essentially a work that accomplishes exactly what I am attempting to do with this series on Covenant Theology.  It outlines the basic tenets of Covenant Theology using simple statements that are easy to understand, and then follows these statements with copious Bible verses showing how these tenets are arrived at.

Follow this link to Monergism Books and when you get there look for the “Online PDF version” link just under the advertisement for Nathan’s book.  

This little book is an excelent resource and I am thankful that Nathan and Monergism Books have made it available at no cost online.  But not only do I recommend purchasing the book, I recommend taking advantage of the bulk purchase offer and get some to give to your friends.

Here is the link:

http://www.monergismbooks.com/What-the-Bible-Says-about-THE-PEOPLE-OF-GOD-p-17332.html

Understanding Covenant Theology #3

What is the Bible all about?  That is, what is its overall message and theme? 

We could say that the Bible is the story of Christ, or we could say that it is the story of redemption, or we could say it is the story of grace; we could give each of these as our answer and be correct in each case. 

The Bible, BOTH OLD TESTAMENT AND NEW, is the story of Christ, the gracious redeemer.   

This is important for us to understand, for some of us have been taught, either directly or by implication, that the Old Testament is about Israel, and the New Testament is about the Church.  Or it might have been said this way, “The Old Testament is about Moses and the Law, and the New Testament is about Jesus and grace”, pitting Israel against the Church, Moses against Jesus, and Law against Grace.  This idea, that the Old Testament and the New Testament stand in opposition to one another, comes from that system of doctrine known as DISPENSATIONALISM.

But listen, friends, if you take a closer look at scripture, you’ll see that Moses, the Law, and Israel works in concert WITH Jesus, grace, and the Church in bringing about God’s plan.  This is what the system of doctrine known as COVENANT THEOLOGY teaches.

For example, Moses declares the authority of Jesus when he (Moses) prophecies:

Deuteronomy 18:15 (KJV) The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; 

And we see that the Law was not an enemy of grace at all, but an helper to it:

Galatians 3:24 (KJV) Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

And we see that the Church and Israel were more alike than they were different in that they are both called “the people of God,” (NOT the peoples of God), with Israel being called “the church” in a certain place and the Church being called “the Israel of God” in a certain other place:

Acts 7:37-38 (KJV) ³⁷ This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. ³⁸ This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

Galatians 6:16 (KJV) And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Further, notice in the following passage how Moses is said to prefer the suffering of the people of God and the reproach of Christ to the riches of Egypt:

Hebrews 11:24-26 (KJV) ²⁴ By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; ²⁵ Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; ²⁶ Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Do you see how “Christ” and “the people of God” are used as if they were almost the same thing?  And that is speaking of an OLD TESTAMENT EVENT! 

Do you see the continuity yet?  Let’s keep going.

Did you notice that phrase in the verse from Hebrews that is quoted above:  “the people of God”?

DISPENSATIONALISTS tell us that there are TWO peoples of God – the Church, and Israel.

But it is clear that COVENANT THEOLOGY gets it right by pointing out that there is only one people of God, as scripture makes abundantly clear:

Ephesians 2:11-22 (KJV) ¹¹ Wherefore remember, that ye beingin time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; ¹² That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; ¹⁵ Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; ¹⁶ And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: ¹⁷ And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. ¹⁹ Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; ²⁰ And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; ²¹ In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: ²² In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

We could provide more scripture proofs, but this should suffice for the present.  We must note this ONE people of God in this age is the CHURCH, and the “Church age” continues throughout the remainder of human history:

Ephesians 3:21 (KJV) Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

DISPENSATIONALISTS tell us that the “Church age” will end some day, and God’s people will go back to Moses’ Law.  This is in direct contradiction of the plain teaching of scripture, and I might add that dispensationalists like to boast that their interpretation of scripture represents the “normal and plainest meaning of the scripture”. 

Well now, this post has not gone the way I had planned.  It is not as short as I would have liked, but it is important to established the importance of understanding continuity in the Bible before I can go on to explain the Covenant of Redemption , and other issues I raised in my last post. 

We will endeavor to proceed to those issues in the next installment.

Marraige for Robots in Dallas

From the Dallas News:  Dallas Area Pastor Issues Sex Challenge (link provided below). 

God may have rested on the seventh day, but the Rev. Ed Young wants married couples to have sex all week long.  Once a day. Beginning this Sunday.

I cannot think of a better example of what happens when a depraved, weak human mind tries to do God’s work without God’s words.  Scripture does not minimize the holy marriage relationship down to mechanical prescriptions such as “have sex some number of days.”

 What are we?  Robots?

In fact, nothing could be more harmful to a marriage than to substitute animal desires for sacrificial commitment. 

This pastor goes on to say: 

…the embracing of sex is about nurturing and strengthening marriages.  Sex is like Super Glue. It’s a spiritual thing, an emotional thing.

If sex is a spiritual thing, I guess we should start spending our Sundays in Las Vegas.  Of course, people who know their Bibles and some religious history will immediately recognize in this the philosophy of pagan religions with their groves where one could achieve contact with the spirit world through the ecstasies of bodily pleasures aided by the temple prostitutes.  This is nothing more than Baal worship in the name of Jesus.

But wait!  “Pastor Young is not promoting prostitution or anything like that but is promoting monogamous relationships.”  Okay, fine, he is not outrightly promoting such things as mentioned, but how is he “promoting” monogamous relationships when he equates the health of a given relationship with a strong sex drive?  Isn’t it more likely that a hyper-active sex drive will result in adultery or variant behaviours that may destroy the relationship?  Isn’t adultery the leading cause of divorce?  Shouldn’t we be learning restraint rather than fueling the flame of the disastrous fire that already burns in nature?

I, like many others, wonder what the motivation of this absurd ”pastor” can be.  My gut reaction to such nonsense amounts to “stupid, stupid, stupid!”  But maybe it’s not stupidity at all, but on the contrary, a very clever maneuver by a brilliant manipulator, as Jim Dale has it figured:

Jim Dale of Coppell said he figures the pastor is trying to create more buzz for his five-church mega-ministry. “Draw ‘em in, no matter what or how,” wrote the Coppell resident in a posting on dallasnews.com. “Sex? You betcha. That’ll pack the pews (or theater seats).” Mr. Dale, author of a book about individual relationships with God, said he has attended Fellowship Church a few times. And he offered some praise: “I’ve got to hand it to them, they are brilliant marketers.”

In view of the continuing desire of “church” to get along with the depraved world, I predict that divorces within churches will not decrease, but will plateau at the current level, as they have in the wider society due to couples simply living together without getting married.

As long as people think that sex satisfies their spiritual needs, they have no hope for a deep abiding relationship with either God or mankind.  

Marriage is the perfect institute whereby sexual desires are not only expressed, but they are also controlled.  The Bible says that married couples are to “render due benevolence” within the context of mutual love and patience.  A normal couple will have sex thousands of times over the course of a lifetime together without ever being commanded to “do it” by some self-important preacher.  But what today’s sex-obsessed religious leaders don’t seem to understand is that sex does NOT satisfy man’s deepest needs and desires, and that it is possible for couples to be completely happy in a relationship that minimizes sex.

But hay, who am I?  I don’t pastor a MEGA-CHURCH, and have a MEGA-EGO.  All I have is the unmerited grace of God, who has chosen to give me a wife of almost 32 years, and a relationship that has endured every temptation that Satan can dish out.  Who am I to say how a relationship works?

There are two things the old folks never talked about:  1) divorce, and 2) sex.  Do you think that’s a coincidence?  No, it’s not a coincidence, because in their day, divorce was the unspeakable destruction of a family and was to be avoided at every possible cost; and relationships were to never be reduced to the animal sex act.  And in spite of that, if you’ll notice, the old folks had no problem making babies and staying committed to each other.  We ought to think about that.  We ought to think about that.  Really, we ought to think about that.

Link:  http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-sexweek_12met.ART0.State.Edition1.4a9d7c4.html

Ingrid Wants An Old Fashioned Church – And So Do I

Ingrid at Slice of Loadicea shares my frustration with the contemporary church. She said it in a letter. Here is a portion:

To Whom it May Concern:

I’m looking for a good Christian church. I don’t want to sing songs off a wall, the same five notes, over and over and over and over again while I am lightheaded from standing so long. There’s a record of the hymns of God’s people that spans 2000 years. Why are we so arrogant as to think we don’t need those wonderful songs any longer? Have we gone through more suffering, more affliction, more pain for Jesus than those who wrote these enduring hymns? Does a semi-secular song writer in Nashville with a multi-million dollar music contract have more to say to us about God and the Christian life than the 17th-century hymn writer who lost four children and his wife during the 30 years War?

I don’t want to have my eardrums bashed in by the three kids in the “worship band” who can’t be bothered to bathe, shave, dress or comb their hair on Sunday morning. If it’s really all about the God that Scripture describes as ineffably holy, shouldn’t that be reflected in attitude and dress for those who serve in church music?

I don’t want a vampy “praise and worship” leader who is flaunting her wares at every male within view as she does her worship moves on “stage”. If we are to worship God in spirit and in truth, as Scripture tells us, than what’s all the flesh about? Can we no longer discern the difference?

I don’t want to see people in beach attire with their backsides peeping out of their shorts because they think that God isn’t worth their best efforts at dressing. “God doesn’t care about clothes, only man”, they say. But the real reason is that it’s just plain easier to cruise into church in jeans or whatever is still lying on the floor from the night before. Dressing up for worship of the Lord would cost them something, however little, and they don’t want to pay it.

I also don’t want to see all the variations on lovers’ back rubs where Chuck and Sue take turns massaging each other’s neck and shoulders during the sermon so everyone behind them is completely distracted. Behavior affects other people. Are Christians so self-absorbed that they never think about the people behind them trying to hear the message?

From http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/?p=448

What Does “Sovereign God” Mean?

“Sovereign God” represents our view of who God is.  God is the Sovereign of the Universe.  He is not weak and effeminate.  He does not seek permission from man to execute his will.  He has no obligations to man whatsoever.  No one can say to Him “what doest thou?”  He does as He pleases.  He doesn’t just know the future, but He has in fact decreed the future.  Nothing can happen that He has not determined, from the dropping of one hair from my head, to the Grand Finally of the world.  God can save whom He wishes to save, and damn those He wishes to damn.  Man can not be saved unless God saves him, and if he is saved, he is saved on God’s terms and in God’s time.  Man can not command God’s Spirit to indwell him, and neither can man resist, though he may try, the determined power of God’s Spirit coming in to the heart.  God leaves nothing to chance.  God saves those He loves without any possibility of failure, and those He does not favor, He leaves in sin to their own desires.  Whatever God does is good - because He is God.  God is answerable only to God and none other – neither man, nor angels, nor gods, nor creation, nor philosophy, nor futility can make Him accountable to them.  God is justified in condemning sinners, and infinitely merciful in saving some of them.  But He is not obligated to save one of them.  If God let the entire human race go to Hell, He would be justified.  It is because of man’s wicked pride that he demands his own notion of “fairness” from the Creator of creatures.  Some people have said, “I will not serve a God like that.”  But that is the God you are serving, whether you want to or not.  Man’s effort to make God into a controllable, subservient, subordinate, frustrated, weepy-eyed, genie in a bottle is futile.  God has determined the end from the beginning, and everything in between the end and the beginning is merely the means by which He has predetermined to execute His sovereign will.

The knowledge of God’s Sovereignty should frighten us.  I know that it is not popular today to fear God, but that’s exactly what the Bible tells us to do – FEAR GOD.  We imagine Him to be our homeboy, a dude, our pal, a good-ole-boy that likes us just the way we are.  But nothing could be farther from the truth.  God is Holy.  God is the Almighty.  Jesus is the Lord God Omnipotent.  He demands of us a life of repentance and faith.  Let us fear, lest any of us should seem to come short of it.  We must not live in a high-minded conceit, trusting in some shallow profession of faith; but we must earnestly seek assurance that God has favored us with new birth, shedding the love of God abroad in our hearts, causing us to love Him and His law, His people, His ways, and His word.  Those of us that have been blessed with the assurance of God’s working in us may bask in the sweetness of His love, and we may glorify Him, being the objects of His unmerited favor, having nothing in ourselves by which we may boast.  But for those have no working of God in their souls, tribulation, wrath, and vengeance to every creature that loves not God.  Cry against Him, curse Him, defy Him, all unbelievers – and you will build your indictment and seal your judgement on that terrible day!

Soli Deo Gloria!  To God Be The Glory!

    

The Decree of God

Here is my summary of Chapter 3, “The Decree of God”, from the 1689 London Baptist Confession.  You can see the text of the confession on the Confession of Faith page on this web site.

God does not learn things – on the contrary, He decrees things.  One of the basic attributes of God is His omniscience (all-knowing).  If God knows everything, past present and future, then it follows that He can not learn anything.  God knows what He knows, not because He learned what would happen, but because He decreed what would happen. 

Nothing happens that was not decreed by God.  Nothing.  The events of time are not left to blind chance, and neither is the Kingdom of God built by blind chance.  It’s all by design and has a purpose.

Does that make God a sinner?  After all, if everything is decreed, that means that evil and sin is also decreed.   While it is true that God decreed evil and sin to come to pass, we must be careful to know that while God created man with the potential for sin, He did not cause him to sin.  God created Satan, but He did not make him sin.  It can even be said that God created evil, but He did not create sin.  Sin came into the world by the disobedience of Adam, who sinned by his own free choice.  

Yet this was all planned and decreed to happen for a purpose.  The purpose of evil and sin is to make redemption necessary for man to worship God, which worship is to the Glory of God.  Only a redeemed sinner can worship God with a greater heart of praise than the angels.   

Acts 15:18  Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever.  Amen.

God Requires the Death Penalty for Murderers

 The State of New Jersey has officially abolished the death penalty.  Make no mistake about it: this represents an end to justice in murder cases and an invitation to God’s judgment.

The Bible makes it clear that God commanded that murderers be put to death.

“And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” (Gen 4:10) 

“Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” (Gen 9:6) 

“then thou shalt give life for life,”  (Ex 21:23) 

“And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.” (Lev 24:17) 

“And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death.” (Lev 24:21) 

“And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.”  (Num 35:16) 

“And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.”  (Num 35:17)  

“Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.”  (Num 35:18)  

“And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.(Dty 19:21) 

“At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death;” (Dty 17:6)

“Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.”  (Num 35:31) 

Some people think that the New Testament, and specifically the sermon on the mount, does away with the death penalty requirement of the Old Testament.  But the sermon on the mount was clearly a treatise on personal relationships and had nothing to do with the carrying out of civil justice in this present evil world.  Indeed, the New Testament continues the Old Testament appeal to justice as we can see from the following New Testament scriptures:

 ”Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder,”  (Mat 19:18)  

“Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal 5:21) 

“Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,” (1 Tim 1:9) 

“But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he [police, law enforcer] beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.”  (Rom 13:4) 

In view of the State of New Jersey’s willingness to ignore God’s word, is there any reason that we should expect God’s blessing and protection on us?  If God destroyed the sinful people of His own chosen nation during the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, we have no reason to expect that He will spare His judgment on this sinful generation either.

 

“For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no sacrifice for sin, but a certain looking for of judgment and fiery indignation…” (Heb 10:26-27)

 

Justice demands the death penalty.  A murderer has no right to breath air, eat food, see the sunrise, feel comfort, enjoy sleep, or become “model citizens”; for their victims shall never have the same opportunities.  The equitable payment for death is death.  To do otherwise makes justice arbitrary and mocks God’s commandments.

A Brief Commentary on the False gospel of Prosperity

Recently, someone implied that I, and others like me, that are opposed to what is known as the “prosperity gospel”, paint the Christian as someone that “should be broke, depressed and tore up”.  Of course, I did not intend any such thing. 

What my protestor missed is that the life of faith is not about whether one “should be broke, depressed and tore up”, but rather it is about contentment – regardless of riches or poverty. Contentment can not be bought. As the Apostle Paul said, “I have learned that whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

Let’s make no bones about it – the prosperity gospel crowd preaches a false gospel wherein money satisfies, not Christ. The Bible says “they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition”, and again “he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent”.

As John Piper says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him”. The ultimate goal of every true believer is to find our peace in Him, and not in things. We must name fasle prophets and denounce their lies. Men and women that preach prosperity instead of repentance from sin and faith toward Christ preach a false gospel.  We should be greatly concerned about the damage the lying prophets are doing to the name of Christ and to the souls of their followers.

Edited in on 27 NOV 07:  The dialog can be found here:  http://acnn.wordpress.com/2007/11/09/mega-church%e2%80%99s-wealth/