After a summer re-model, the seminary bookstore is back online, which makes it again possible to order copies of Baptism, Election, and the Covenant of Grace more easily. Click on the image for your copy. It’s $1.50 plus shipping. You can also . . . Continue reading →
Recently I had a question asking whether “covenant theology” is so-called “replacement theology.” Those dispensational critics of Reformed covenant theology who accuse it of teaching that the New Covenant church has “replaced” Israel do not understand historic Reformed covenant theology. They are imputing . . . Continue reading →
William Evans has responded to my critique. In reply I want to ponder what he means by “extrinsic covenantalism” and to try to achieve a measure of clarity by defining our terms. “extrinsic covenantalism” is is new terminology for me. His paradigm . . . Continue reading →
I. SUMMARY In a post (HT: Aquila Report) dated Friday 9 August, Bill Evans raises the question whether there is in Reformed theology what he calls “pervasive covenantalism” or an over emphasis or imbalanced emphasis in Reformed theology on covenant. He points to . . . Continue reading →
As a follow-on to the post on the covenant of works, Ginger asks, You said: “Several have said that their status as a national people and their tenure in the land was affected by their obedience or disobedience. This view, however, has . . . Continue reading →
Ginger writes: …I have been trying to wrap my mind around the covenant of works given to Adam and how and if it was fulfilled by Christ, the last Adam. …How did Christ fulfill or abolish the covenant of works given to . . . Continue reading →
The Law—considered as a national covenant, by which their continued possession of the land of Canaan, and of all their privileges under the Theocracy, was left to depend on their external obedience to it,— might be called a national Covenant of Works, . . . Continue reading →
Wendy writes, I remain confused as to why God in being ‘more generous’ has actually also made it ‘more ambiguous’. Wheras under the Old Covenant the command (and its benefits) were explicit, under the New they must be deduced by inference…. I . . . Continue reading →
Taylor asks the question on the PB. My reply below: There are resources on covenant theology here. I would especially encourage you to read this collection of quotations from older writers on CT. There is a brief history here. My own views . . . Continue reading →
For most of 2,000 years the Christian church was universally agreed that there is one way of salvation, that the history of redemption was essentially unified. In the post-apostolic church this consensus began to develop very early in the 2nd century in . . . Continue reading →
It’s not unusual for evangelicals, which movements have been heavily influenced by Anabaptist theology, piety, and practice since the early 19th century. In that case we would not expect them to be aware of the categories “covenant of works” and “covenant of . . . Continue reading →
I.I.XV. In the covenant of works, man is considered as working, and the reward to be given as of debt; and therefore man’s glorying is not excluded, but he may glory as a faithful servant may do upon the right discharge of . . . Continue reading →
For the [Mosiac] covenant was a legal covenant solemnly agreed, by which the people were obligated to present, by their own strength, perfect obedience to the Law (Matthew 22). Since the Law is the eternal rule of righteousness in the divine mind . . . Continue reading →
We heard a sermon from Genesis 17 this morning, and I couldn’t help but draw some conclusions relative to the current discussion about infant baptism that is ongoing at Together For the Gospel and at Between Two Worlds. Of course this is . . . Continue reading →
This is part 2 of a two-part review of Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum, Kingdom Through Covenant (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012). The review is written by Harrison Perkins. He grew up in the south and attended college in Alabama. He began . . . Continue reading →
With this post we begin a two-part review of Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum, Kingdom Through Covenant (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012). § It is difficult to know what the best way to review such a large book is (778 pages plus . . . Continue reading →
For those just getting started in covenant theology I recommend: R. Scott Clark, “A Brief History of Covenant Theology.” Audio: What Is Covenant Theology And What Are The Implications For The Church And Family? Mike Brown and Zach Keele, Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology . . . Continue reading →
Here’s a recent sermon preached in my home congregation, the Escondido United Reformed Church, on Hebrews 6:4–20: Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and . . . Continue reading →
But here arises a new question, how can it be that he who has once made such a progress should afterwards fall away? For God, it may be said, calls none effectually but the elect, and Paul testifies that they are really . . . Continue reading →
Why is the redemption or reconciliation of humanity with God presented to us in the form of a covenant, indeed a covenant of grace? A: God compares the means of our salvation to a covenant, indeed an eternal covenant, so that we . . . Continue reading →