Covenant Theology

One Great Difference Between A Covenantal Piety And The American Conversionist Alternative

by on April 24, 2018 | 26 Comments

Make no mistake. No one comes to new life and true faith apart from the sovereign, gracious, mysterious, wonderful work of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit who hovered over the face of the deep (Gen 1:2) also gives new life to dead (Eph 2:1–4) sinners. You must be born again (or from above). The mistake comes when we identify that fact with a particular experience of praying a prayer, walking the aisle, or making a decision for Christ. We should all rejoice when someone is brought to new life, even if through irregular means (e.g., a Billy Graham Crusade or the like). It is not our business to tell the sovereign, free Holy Spirit where and when he may work. It is our business, however, to pay attention to what he has told us, in Scripture, to do and say and he tells us to pay attention to the “revealed things” which are “for us and for our children forever” (Deut 29:29). Scripture tells us that the Spirit ordinarily operates through the preaching of the gospel. Continue reading →

Social Media Testifies To The Covenant Of Works

by on April 7, 2018 | 3 Comments

In Colossians 2:8 Paul warned the Colossians Christians not to be taken captive by unbelieving ways of thinking (philosophies) nor by “the stoicheia (στοιχεῖα) of the world.” The noun stoicheia is usually translated with something like “elemental principles” or the like. That . . . Continue reading →

Baptists And Federal Visionists Together?

by on March 8, 2018 | 28 Comments

Let us define our terms. A Baptist is someone who believes that baptism is only validly administered to professing believers. He denies that the infant children of believers are the proper subjects of baptism. A Federal Visionist is someone who, among other . . . Continue reading →

Resources On The Role Of Abraham In Redemptive History

by on February 22, 2018

Moses Was Not Abraham Abraham Was Not Moses Is Abraham “A” Father Or “Our” Father? (1) Is Abraham “A” Father Or “Our” Father? (2) Is Abraham “A” Father Or “Our” Father? (3) Abraham Was A Spiritual, Gracious Covenant The Abrahamic Covenant Unifies . . . Continue reading →

Engaging With 1689

by on February 6, 2018 | 55 Comments

Recently I had opportunity to engage in a friendly dialogue with some Baptist academics over the merits of the project proposed in Recovering the Reformed Confession. That project is, as they say, wending through the publication process. Because of space limitations I was unable to do a couple of things, namely, to engage more fully with some of the texts and approaches to Baptist covenant theology (as distinct from Reformed covenant theology). Continue reading →

Does Covenant Theology Change Our Doctrine Of Predestination?

by on August 4, 2017 | 2 Comments
Baptism, Election & the Covenant of Grace

HB reader Keith asks, Succinctly, what is covenant theology on the following: Predestination Security of the believer? Hi Keith, The short answer is that the covenant theology that we confess does not fundamentally change our doctrine of predestination, which says that all . . . Continue reading →

The Reformed Churches Confess Infant Baptism

by on July 15, 2017 | 98 Comments

Some years back I published a book review in the pages of Modern Reformation magazine. Some responded with a letter to the editor complaining that I had distinguished between the Reformed churches and the Baptist churches. My revised response is below. § . . . Continue reading →

Our Secular Life Is A Covenant Of Works

by on June 22, 2017 | 7 Comments

It is vital for Christians to understand that, for their standing with God (justification) and their gracious and gradual conformity to Christ (sanctification), i.e., for their salvation from the wrath to come and their deliverance from the bondage of sin, they are . . . Continue reading →

Believer, You Are Being Graciously Sanctified

by on June 20, 2017 | 2 Comments

An HB reader writes to ask “in what senses are we under the covenant of works?” I reply Christians are in no sense under the covenant of works for our standing with God or for our salvation. Our justification and our sanctification . . . Continue reading →

Did The Covenant Of Grace Begin In The New Covenant?

by on June 14, 2017 | 32 Comments

One frequently reads that the only real differences between Particular Baptists and the Reformed is over baptism. That claim, however, misses some fundamental differences. Baptists withhold the rite of covenant initiation from the children of believers on the ground that the New . . . Continue reading →

Sola Scriptura Contra The Anabaptists In 1523–24

by on April 26, 2017 | 4 Comments

In his second disputation with Balthasar Hubmair, in 1523, Huldrych Zwingli well articulated the formal principle of the Reformation: “For in all controversies concerning faith and religion, the divine Scripture alone ought to be our measure and rule rather than oral tradition.” . . . Continue reading →

What Advantage Has The Jew? Much In Every Way.

by on April 18, 2017 | 3 Comments

A correspondent to the HB writes to ask, “According to Paul, who are Abraham’s children?” In one way or another, I get this question frequently. Most American evangelicals have been taught some version of Dispensational theology or are otherwise influenced by it . . . Continue reading →

Talking Covenant Theology With Theology Gals

by on April 17, 2017

Coleen and Ashley host a Reformed theology podcast aimed primarily at other women. In this episode they wanted to talk about covenant theology and related issues (e.g., Dispensationalism, baptism). Here’s the episode (with resources and show notes). Here’s the HB archival version. . . . Continue reading →

Was Herman Witsius A Federal Visionist?

by on April 1, 2017 | 10 Comments

One of the distinctive errors of the self-described Federal Vision theology is the doctrine that, in baptism, all the benefits of the covenant of grace are conferred temporarily and conditionally.1 Thus, they claim, there is such a thing as a “covenantal” (temporary, . . . Continue reading →