issue 195 march 2013 christ, our new covenant high...

help him get home alive. He made it and to the dismay of his parents, he became an Augustinian monk and quickly developed a deep awareness of his own fallenness and need for grace. He viewed God primarily as judge and was constantly confessing his sin. Eventually, he was sent off to become a doctor of theology where he lectured first on the Psalms, then Romans, Hebrews, and Galatians.

Luther’s initial problems with the Roman Catholic Church arose due to his pastoral concern. The Roman Catholic Church had become corrupt doctrinally and morally. Perhaps the greatest illustration of this was the selling of indulgences to reduce time in purgatory. John Tetzel was a famous preacher of indulgences. He would say things like, “Don’t you hear the voices of your wailing dead parents and others, who say, ‘Have mercy on me, because we are in severe punishment and pain. From this

In our last article on “Christ, Our New Covenant High Priest,” we compared a statement by John MacArthur with a statement from the Westminster Confes-sion of Faith on the same subject. Let me repeat part of each quotation.

One of the key theological themes in Hebrews is that all believers now have di-rect access to God under the New Covenant and, therefore may approach the throne of God boldly (4:16; 10:22) … believers under the covenant of law did not have direct access to the presence of God (9:8), but were shut out of the Holy of Holies.1

Compare that statement with the following statement from the Westminster Confession of Faith.

1 John MacArthur, Author and General Editor, The MacArthur Study Bible (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1997), 1895.

I s su e 19 5 M a rc h 2 013

… It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace … Hebrews 13:9

Christ, Our New Covenant High Priest—Part 2John G. Reisinger

Today we are living in the land of Protestantism without the Reformation, as Bonhoeffer put it. Most Protestants have ceased protesting long ago. Sadly, most Protestants are also ignorant of our Reformation forbearers. I want to seek to remedy that in part through a look at the spirituality of Martin Luther. Lest anyone accuse me of exalting men, let me point out that Luther was a fallen man. I disagree with him on many issues (his treatment of the Jews later in life, his treatment of some rebellious peasants, his views on church/state relations, baptism, and communion). Having said that, I still believe there is much to learn about the Christian life from him.

Martin Luther was born in 1483. Later in life, on his way home from law school he ran into a terrible storm. He fell from his horse and prayed to St. Anne (the patron saint of miners—at this point he didn’t know any better). He prayed and vowed to become a monk if she would just

Luther’s Spirituality—Part 1 of 2A. Blake White

Reisinger—Continued on page 2

White—Continued on page 13

In This IssueChrist, Our New Covenant High Priest ― Part 2

John G. Reisinger

1

Luther's Spirituality ― Part 1 of 2

A. Blake White1

God, Humans and Responsibility: Three Famous Texts

Steve West

3

The Cross and the Lord's Day ― Part 3

Steve Carpenter

5

New Covenant Theology ― So What?

A. Blake White

7

March 2013 Issue 195Sound of Grace is a publication of Sovereign Grace New Covenant Ministries, a tax exempt 501(c)3 corporation. Contributions to Sound of Grace are deductible under section 170 of the Code.

Sound of Grace is published 10 times a year. The subscription price is shown below. This is a paper unashamedly committed to the truth of God’s sovereign grace and New Covenant Theology. We invite all who love these same truths to pray for us and help us financially.

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Reisinger—Continued from page 1


The liberty which Christ hath purchased for believers under the gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law; and in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin, from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation; as also in their free access to God, and their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a child-like love and willing mind. All which were common also to believ-ers under the law; … 2

The first half of the statement in The Westminster Confession of Faith listing the blessings of believers “liv-ing under the gospel” is an excellent and accurate summary of what the New Testament teaches. It sounds like all of these blessings are unique to New Covenant “believers living under the gospel”; however, that is not what the Confession means. The Confes-sion then upends everything it has just stated by insisting “All which were common also to believers under the law.” The Confession is insisting that both Old and New Covenant believers have all of the same blessings includ-ing “free access to God.” Not only is there not a stitch of textual evidence for that statement, but the statement clearly contradicts Paul’s theology in Ephesians and Hebrews of New Cov-enant access to God. That statement is what covenant theology calls “a good and necessary consequence.” The “one covenant with two administra-tions” advocated by covenant theology is essential to that system of theology. The Old Covenant and New Covenant cannot actually be different covenants in that system. They must be the same covenant in nature and substance and are merely two administrations of that one and same covenant. What the Bible calls the “Old Covenant,”

2 The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 20, “Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience.”

covenant theology calls “the older covenant of grace” and what the Bible calls “the New Covenant,” covenant theology calls “the newer covenant of grace.” The Bible specifically uses the words “old and new covenant” and never once refers to a new and old “administration” of the same covenant. This forces that theology to insist that Israel had every spiritual blessing, including “free access to God,” or entrance into the Most Holy Place, that the church enjoys today. This contradicts everything the veil in the tabernacle separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place was meant to teach.

Direct access into the presence of God, the heavenly Most Holy Place, is a New Testament doctrine. The book of Ephesians and the book of Hebrews make that very clear. Look at three New Testament verses that speak of the new and total access into God’s presence that New Covenant believers have, but Old Covenant believers did not have. We not only have a total and permanent peace with God, but we have a free access into the heavenly Most Holy Place that Old Covenant believers did not have. You cannot understand the meaning and purpose of the veil in the tabernacle and at the same time insist that Old Covenant believers had access inside that veil. We will come back to the theology of the veil. That subject is vital in under-standing the priestly work of Christ.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Rom. 5:1- 2).

The “access” into the presence of God, the Most Holy Place, described in these verses is a blessing peculiar to the New Covenant believers. This blessing is in contrast to the Old Covenant believer being shut out of the Most Holy Place. This is described

Issue 195 March 2013

West—Continued on page 9

because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save lives by a great deliverance. So, then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.” (NIV)

The details of the Joseph narrative are well known, and do not need to rehearsed. It is a paradigm for many rich theological truths: mercy, forgive-ness, the covenant faithfulness of God, etc. But it is also an enormously im-portant text for the doctrine of God’s providence. What is very clear in the text itself (if read without a theologi-cal agenda or rigid systematic grid) is that God does not come on the scene after Joseph’s brothers sin by selling him into slavery. God is not depicted as a master chess player, countering the moves of his opponents. He is similarly not depicted as a hands-off righteous God who has no control over what sinful people do, but then swoops in to salvage things as best he can. The clear thrust of this passage is that when the brothers were selling Joseph into slavery, God was bringing about his plan to send him to Egypt.

It is important to see what the text does not say. The text does not say: “You sinned by selling me into slavery, but then God worked it out for good.” It does not say: “God is so resourceful that despite your sin he found a way to accomplish his pur-pose.” And it certainly does not say anything like: “God didn’t want you to sell me into slavery, and he didn’t even know that you were going to,

There is no disputing that the Bible teaches that human beings are respon-sible for what they do, and are justly punished by God for their wicked-ness and sin. At some level this must mean that humans are therefore responsible for their actions. But in what way are we responsible? Are we responsible only when we act unilaterally apart from God’s plan or ordination of events? Could we be responsible even if God is ultimately purposing our behavior for his own glory and ends? Obviously Calvin-ists and Arminians will have different ways of answering these questions, and different ways of defining their terms, but both agree that the Bible is the final court of appeal. There are definitely some passages which teach that humans are responsible for what they do. There are also definitely some passages that teach that God is sovereign over all things. Taking those passages as data for theology means that different schemes for relat-ing them are possible. But, critically, there are also passages which bring God’s sovereignty and human respon-sibility together, and which show how they are related. God is undeniably sovereign, and human beings are undeniably morally responsible, and in some places these two themes are brought together in the same passage. Of the various passages which could be examined, I will constrain this dis-cussion to three of the most famous.

1. Genesis 45:4-9; 50:19-20

Genesis 45:4-9 reads: Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here,

but he kept working all these years and finally brought some blessing out of it.” What the text does say is that “you sold” (v. 4), but also, “God sent” (v. 5), “God sent” (v. 7), and “it was not you who sent me here, but God” (v. 8).

Verse eight is really extraordinary. Without suggesting that the brothers were not responsible for selling him into slavery, Joseph sees that God is the one who sent him to Egypt. How was it that God sent Joseph to Egypt? It was through the sinful act of his brothers. But after years of reflec-tion Joseph has come to realize that everything in his entire life, including the event of being sold into slavery through an act of wickedness, is ultimately part of God’s plan. Parts of God’s plan may use the sinful actions of sinners to accomplish his purposes, but he is in sovereign control every moment and every step along the way.

In fact, upon closer reflection it seems obvious that God has to be in meticulous control over these events to accomplish his purposes of sending Joseph to Egypt to save many lives. The brothers originally planned on killing Joseph: why didn’t they carry out that plan (at first they did leave him to die)? What would have hap-pened if Reuben had come back and freed Joseph from the well (before a caravan passed by), as he had planned on doing? What if the caravan that happened to pass by wasn’t going to Egypt? In Egypt, with all the slaves for sale, what if someone else bought Joseph, and he lived out his days in ignominy, serving a small-time master in a backwater? These, and literally thousands of other contingencies, had to be controlled by God in order for

God, Humans, and Responsibility: Three Famous TextsSteve West

March 2013 Issue 195“free from the law” (Rom. 6:14) in a way that an Old Covenant believer’s conscience could never be, and (2) an Old Covenant believer’s conscience was “under the law” in a way a New Covenant believer must never al-low his conscience to be. A New Covenant believer can sing, “He has hushed the Law’s loud thunder, he has brought us near to God.” You cannot be “under the law” without hearing its thunder. It is freedom from the law in the conscience that gives freedom of access into the heavenly Most Holy Place. That is what it means to “come boldly to the throne of grace without fear.” An Old Covenant believer had to wait until the coming of Christ to fulfill the promise made to the fathers before he could sing “the terrors of law, with me have nothing to do. My Savior’s obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view.” Under-standing the access to God given to us by the atoning work of Christ begins with understanding the hanging of the veil in Exodus 40:21 and the rending of that same veil in Matthew 27:51. Scofield has an interesting footnote on Exodus 26:31.

The inner veil, type of Christ’s human body Matthew 26:26 ; 27:50; Hebrews 10:20. This veil, barring entrance into the holiest, was the most expressive symbol of the truth that “by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Romans 3:20, Hebrews 9:8). Rent by an unseen hand when Christ died (Matthew 27:51) thus giv-ing instant access to God to all who come by faith in Him, it was the end of all legality; the way to God was open. It is deeply significant that the priests must have patched together again the veil that God had rent, for the temple services went on yet for nearly forty years. That patched veil is Galatianism—the attempt to put saint or sinner back under the law. (Cf. Galatians 1:6-9) Anything but “the grace of Christ” is “another gospel,” and under anathema.4

4 The First Scofield Reference Bible (Ul-richsville, Oh.: Barbour and Company,


in the books of Exodus and Leviticus. The Old Covenant message of “stay away upon pain of death” has been replaced with the New Covenant message of “come and welcome.” The message given under the Old Cov-enant (Lev. 16:1-2) was both clear and emphatic. No one except Aaron was allowed access into the Most Holy Place, and he was only allowed to enter on one day of the year, the Day of Atonement. The radically different message under the New Covenant is just as clear and emphatic. It says:

Having therefore, brethren, bold-ness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:19-22a).

What an amazing difference be-tween the Old Covenant message of “stay away” and the “come boldly” message of the New Covenant. Our boldness to come into the Most Holy Place (Rom. 5:1-2) is based on our assurance that Christ, in his atoning death, has forever “abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of com-mandments.”

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of command-ments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father (Eph. 2:15-18).

The shed blood of Christ “abol-ished in his flesh” (his sinless human nature) the enmity (wrath) of the law of God against us. The free access that New Covenant believers have into God’s presence is possible only

because the tables of the covenant in the ark of the covenant (the Ten Com-mandments) have been done away in Christ. The peace preached in the New Covenant is possible because the enmity against us as lawbreakers has been born by Christ on the cross. This peace is now preached to the Jew as the true gospel, and the same Gospel is preached to the Gentiles, those who were “afar off.” We should mention that you can reconcile enemies, but you cannot reconcile enmity. Enmity must be removed before there can be true reconciliation. The enmity of God against us was removed by our blessed substitute on the cross. He was “made to be sin” (2 Cor. 5:17) for us. The enmity in us against God (Rom. 8:7) was removed by the Holy Spirit in regeneration. He removed our stony hearts that hated God and his authority and gave us a heart of flesh upon which was written the law of Christ. Robed in the righteousness of Christ, we now have boldness and ac-cess with confidence to enter the Most Holy Place. I repeat, I agree with John MacArthur that this is a New Cov-enant blessing that the Old Covenant believer did not have.

In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him (Eph. 3:12).

The boldness and confidence to enter the very place an Old Covenant believer was forbidden to enter upon pain of death is the liberty of con-science that enables us to say, “Abba, Father.” The Old Covenant believer thought of God primarily as the “cov-enant God” and not as “Father.” Jesus taught the New Covenant believer to think and pray in terms of “our Father.”3

There are two biblical facts that must be understood. (1) The New Covenant believer’s conscience is

3 For an excellent development of this fact see J.I. Packer, “Sons of God,” chapter 18 in Knowing God (Downers Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 1993). Reisinger—Continued on page 6


you may know that I am the Lord your God.” There is testimony from both the law and the prophets that the Sabbath is the sign of the Mosaic Covenant.

Meredith Kline has done some im-portant work in analyzing the signifi-cance of the fact that the sign of the Mosaic Covenant was the Sabbath. Kline has demonstrated in his Treaty of the Great King, which is now out of print, and in his more recent work The Structure of Biblical Authority that the form of the Mosaic Covenant closely resembles the treaty form common in the ancient Near East between a conquering king and a vassal people. The parallels are exceptionally strik-ing in the treaties of the great king of the Hittites and his conquered vassal subjects. In those covenant treaties there would appear in the midst of the stipulations being imposed upon the vassal people a ceremony which acted as a sign of covenantal obedience and allegiance on the part of the vassal to his conquering king. If the vas-sal forsook that ceremonial sign, the covenant as a whole was viewed as broken. The position or the placement of this sign was also significant. Kline explains in his Structure of Biblical Authority that the sign or the seal of the covenant was usually placed right in the middle of the covenant itself- right in the middle of the stipulations.

That raises a very important ob-servation regarding the stone tablets themselves. The common view that we have grown up believing, because it’s been the usual interpretation of things, is that the two tablets were used in the giving of the Decalogue to distinguish between the duties to God in commandments 1 through 4 and

Carpenter—Continued on page 11

The Cross and the Lord’s Day—Part 3

Steve CarpenterThe second question we want to

pursue in isolating the Old Testament data on the Sabbath is this: Does the placement of the Sabbath command-ment in the Decalogue make it moral and therefore binding on all men? The Puritan reasoning was that this com-mandment was binding. They said that one ceremonial injunction in a list of nine other moral presets was con-trary to the uniform nature of the Ten Commandments. Either all ten were moral, or none of the ten were moral. Arguing this way, of course, was also a way of rebutting the position that the Sabbath was strictly a Jewish ordi-nance

This idea can be examined in three ways. First, looking at the nature of the Sabbath commandant itself, the Sabbath is stated to be the sign of the Mosaic Covenant. In Exodus 31:13 The Lord speaks to Moses and says, “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel saying you shall surely observe my Sabbaths, for this is a sign be-tween me and you throughout your generations that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” Exodus 31:17 shows the testimony of the law: “It is a sign between me and the sons of Israel forever for in the six days the Lord made heaven and earth but on the seventh day He ceased from labor and was refreshed.” Let’s examine the testimony of the proph-ets. Ezekiel 20:12 states, “And also I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them that they may know that I am the Lord who sancti-fies them.” In verse 20 the Sabbath is in the context of an exhortation to walk in the statutes and to keep the ordinances, It says in verse 20: “And sanctify my Sabbaths and they shall be a sign between me and you that

the duties to man in Commandments 5 through 10.There are two tablets: tablet one containing duties to God, and tablet containing duties to man., Kline points out that it was normal procedure in establishing suzerainty covenants to prepare duplicate cop-ies of the treaty text therefore, each stone tablet was complete in itself. Each stone tablet had Exodus chapter 20 verses 1 through 17 on it, and what comes right in the very middle is the Sabbath. The Sabbath falls right in the middle. In the Hebrew text there are a total of 142 words that make up the historical prologue “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery,” on down through the Ten Commandments themselves. It is most interesting that 55 of the 142 words are devoted to the giving and the exposition of the Sabbath command-ment. Well over one-third of all of the space in the Decalogue is given to the Sabbath commandment. No wonder the Puritans emphasized it so much. Furthermore, it falls strategically right in the middle. God is saying that here is the sign of this covenant that I am now cutting with you, the people of Israel.

We can also answer the question as to whether it is morally binding because it’s in the Decalogue from the use of the Sabbath commandment by the prophets. It is interesting that according to the prophets of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel keeping the Sabbath is made the test of covenantal allegiance, and it was the sign of the covenant. In Ezekiel 20:10 -24 there is an extended section where the Sabbath occupies a unique and central posi-tion. It says in Ezekiel 20:10-12: “So I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them my statutes and informed them of my ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live. Also I gave them my Sabbath…” It is in-

March 2013 Issue 195


built. Its hanging is described in Exo-dus 40.

Third: Why was the veil hung? The veil was an integral part of the Levitical system of worship, and as such, it contributed to the overall purpose of that system of worship. We do not have to guess at what that purpose was. God does not always tell us why he does, or does not, do a cer-tain thing. Preachers and writers often speculate and “fill in” what God chose to leave out. This is especially true in the area of typology. As the Dutchman says, “some weird and wonderful” theology has been peddled by building a doctrine on your idea of what God meant but did not state. In the case of the hanging of the veil, we are specifi-cally told what the purpose of the veil was as a part of the Levitical system of worship, and we are also told what the specific purpose of the veil was in its own right.

Look first at the veil as part of the Levitical system of worship. Hebrews is quite clear about what God was seeking to teach in that old system of worship. In Hebrews 9:1-8, the writer gives a short summary of the ritual on the Day of Atonement. He emphasized the High Priest entering the Most Holy Place with blood and sprinkling the mercy seat. Hebrews 9:8 then tells us what God was teaching in those symbolical actions.

The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing (Heb. 9:8).

Contrary to the Westminster Confession, the whole Old Covenant system of worship was designed to teach that the way into the Most Holy Place was totally off limits prior to the rending of the veil. Let me quote that verse in two other versions.

By these things the Holy Spirit means us to understand that the way to the holy of holies was not yet open, that is, so long as the first tent and all

When we first started this series on Our New Covenant Prophet, Priest and King, we noted that in each case when the New Testament first intro-duced Christ as fulfilling one of these three offices, it also accompanied each fulfillment with a miraculous sign. The sign showing Christ fulfilling and replacing the Aaronic priesthood is the rending of the veil recorded in Matthew 27:50-51. I never realized how important this miraculous sign was until I started to write this ar-ticle. Let’s try to unpack the theology behind the hanging and the rending of the veil. The rending of the veil is one the greatest object lessons that God ever gave! Israel’s failure to learn the lesson taught in the rending of the veil shows how thick the veil of willful ignorance was that blinded them to the Gospel that their Messiah had come (2 Cor. 3:14-15). We will ask and try to answer some obvious questions. Our key text will be Matthew 27:50-51.

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bot-tom (Matt. 27:50-51).

First: What veil is Matthew talking about? He mentions it was the “veil in the temple.” He is refer-ring to the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle that God instructed Moses to build.

And thou shalt make a veil [of] blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made (Ex. 26:31).

Exodus 25-40 records the instruc-tions, and the subsequent carrying out of those instructions that God gave Moses in exactly how to build the tabernacle.

Second: When was the veil hung in place? The veil was the last thing put in place when the tabernacle was

1986), 104.

that it stands for still exist (Heb. 9:8 Phillips).

The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the holy place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle was standing (Heb. 9:8 NET).

I do not want to beat a dead horse, but I find it hard to understand how anyone can believe that the Old Covenant believer had the same “free access to God” that a New Covenant believer has when the Holy Spirit “has made it clear that the way into the holy place” had not yet been opened by the atoning work of Christ. He-brews 9:8 is clear on the subject. The Holy Spirit specifically used the word “clear.”

Exodus 40:21 tells us exactly what the purpose was in hanging the veil. It acted as a shield or protection of the ark of the covenant. The veil not only kept the people from enter-ing the Most Holy Place, but it also kept God in the Most Holy Place. If an Israelite would have beheld God face to face, that person would have been consumed. The cloud and fire that hovered over the Most Holy Place day and night was proof that God was dwelling among his people. The veil kept them from entering the Most Holy Place and being consumed, and the veil also enabled God to be literally and visibly among his people without consuming them. We will come back to this point and show why this was essential.

And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung the protecting cur-tain, and shielded the ark of the testi-mony from view, just as the Lord had commanded Moses (Ex. 40:21 NET).

Fourth: Scripture makes a special point of establishing exactly when the veil was rent in half. No-tice how careful the Holy Spirit is. “At that moment” pinpoints preciously the time of the rending of the veil as immediately, “at that moment,” when



Sometimes theology is derided because it is too abstract and “doesn’t make a difference in real life.” This objection does not stand with regard to New Covenant Theology. I doubt it really stands with any theology. As Schaeffer reminded us, ideas have consequences, but I think this is par-ticularly the case with New Covenant Theology. It really does make a differ-ence where the rubber meets the road. Though much more could be said, I think there are four areas of life and ministry that are shaped significantly by New Covenant Theology: assur-ance, ethics, eschatology, and ecclesi-ology.

First, even though this point is not unique to New Covenant Theology, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the primary and foundational bless-ing of the new covenant: assurance of our acceptance before God because of the forgiveness of sins, provided by the new covenant initiated through the shed blood of Christ. This is the heart of the Christian faith. Because of the death, resurrection, and exalta-tion of the Son of God, we can boldly approach the throne of grace with a

clean conscience because in Christ we are clean! This truth makes all the dif-ference in the world.

Second, New Covenant Theology makes a huge difference in Christian ethics – or in other words, how Chris-tians ought to live. The Christian life is not to be a “law-centered” life but a Christ-centered life. He is our norm and his Spirit is the guiding principle of the Christian life. The primary call for the Christian is to walk by the Spirit. Freedom is fundamental. This is not to down-play the many impera-tives of the New Testament, but to emphasize the centrality of Christ and the Spirit for new covenant ethics.

Third, New Covenant Theology makes a difference for one’s eschatol-ogy. All of the promises of God are “yes” in Jesus Christ. Christ is cur-rently reigning on the Davidic throne. Through his resurrection from the dead he has yanked God’s future into the present so that the kingdom is now and not yet. He is the singular seed of Abraham and all those who are united to him are Abraham’s offspring – the eschatological Israel – heirs according to promise. Christ wins the new cre-

ation for all those whom he represents – regardless of ethnicity.

Fourth, New Covenant Theology makes a big difference in ecclesiology. The community of the new covenant is the community of the Spirit. Every single member of the body of Christ is indwelt by the Spirit. The new cov-enant is just that: new! It is not like the old covenant. In the new covenant community, all know the Lord. All are believers. The church is a regen-erate community. The new covenant is inaugurated now in the church. It is not merely renewed and it is not mainly for ethnic Israel in the future. We are called to celebrate and remem-ber our Savior’s death that brought about the new covenant in a weekly fellowship meal that includes bread and wine.

So what difference does New Covenant Theology make? Quite a bit. It will affect your conscience and con-fidence before God; it will affect how you live; it will affect your view of the future; and it will affect how you do church life. Pretty important stuff in my opinion!

New Covenant Theology – So What?A. Blake White

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March 2013 Issue 195Reisinger—Continued from page 6

Christ cried out, “It is finished” and yielded up his spirit to the Father.

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matt.27:50-51).

Fifth: Why was it torn from top to bottom? Probably to show it was the work of God and not man. Since Scripture does not specifically answer this question, we used the word “prob-ably.”

Sixth: What was God teaching by rending the veil, or put another way, what is the theology behind the rending of the veil? God was show-ing that the Old Covenant, and every thing it brought into being by that covenant, was now done away and has been, in each case, replaced by some-thing better under the New Covenant. We will develop this point more fully.

A short review of the dimensions of the tabernacle would be beneficial. The actual tabernacle was made up of three sections and measured 150 feet by 75 feet. Inside the tabernacle is divided into two sections. The larger section was called the Holy Place. It was 30 feet by 15 feet. Most of the priestly work was done by the sons of Aaron in this room. The smaller room was called the Most Holy Place. It was 15 feet square. A veil separated the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The only thing in the Most Holy Place was the ark of the cov-enant. No one was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place except the High Priest, and he could enter with blood only on one day a year, the Day of Atonement.

We will begin to understand the ministry of the High Priest by looking at the theology of the veil. What is its primary theology significance? We have already noted the veil separated the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place was

literally the holiest and most sacred spot on earth. The hanging of the veil closing off the Most Holy Place was the last thing done in building the tab-ernacle. We read, “So Moses finished the work,” and when the veil was hung, the “glory of the Lord” filled the Most Holy Place. This meant that God had entered the Most Holy Place, and his immediate presence was seen in a cloud by day and a fire in the cloud by night. God was literally “dwelling among his people.”

And so Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tab-ernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels (Ex. 40:33-37).

In order to understand the meaning and importance of the veil, we can-not start with the veil. The veil itself was not holy. What was holy was what the veil “shielded” (Ex. 40:21). Remember Scripture says the veil “shielded the ark of the covenant.” The ark was a box 3.75 feet long, 2.25 feet wide and 2:25 high feet and was overlaid within and without with pure gold. The lid of the box was called the “mercy seat” and was made of pure gold. There were two cherubim fac-ing each other with outspread wings and made of pure gold. One cherub was placed at each end of the ark (Ex.25:10, 11, 17-21). The ark of the covenant was designed so it could be picked up and carried without the ark itself ever being touched by human hands. It had four gold rings, one in each corner, and two staves overlaid with gold were put through the rings. The staves were like handles and were left in the ark and never removed.

Four men would pick up the ark by the staves and carry the ark without actually touching it (Ex. 25: 12-15).

We need to ask why the ark of the covenant was so holy that a special room was built just to house that one piece of furniture, and a special veil was hung that acted as a shield for it. The ark was not allowed to even be touched upon pain of death. The pri-mary reason that the ark of the cove-nant, or as it often called in Scripture, the ark of the testimony, is so holy is clearly stated in Scripture. Exodus 25:22 states the mercy seat, or lid of the ark, was the one and only place that God would meet with his people. The Most Holy Place in the tabernacle was the dwelling place of God among his people. When the lid of the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat, was sprinkled with blood, God would meet with Aaron as the people’s representa-tive. We will come back to this point when we look at Aaron’s work on the Day of Atonement. The New Cov-enant mercy seat is the cross. That is the only place that God will meet the sinner.

And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony (Ex. 25:22).

Very few commentators emphasize the fact that the explicit message of the religion of the Old Covenant was not “come and welcome.” It was “God is holy; you are a sinner, stay away.” It is true that the sacrificial system, feasts and rituals offered ceremonial cleansing that temporally “covered sin” and gave a promise of a future redeemer who would solve the sin problem by actually paying its debt, but there was nothing in the whole Mosaic religion that could give the conscience assurance to enter the Most Holy Place behind the veil. That must wait until the “time of reforma-tion.” That must wait for a religion



God to send Joseph to Egypt, and then to position him in a place where he really could be instrumental in saving many lives.

The foregoing interpretation is made explicit at the end of Genesis 50. Jacob has died, and now Joseph’s brothers are worried he will finally take revenge on them. They ask for mercy and Joseph replies: “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (50:19-20, NIV). Again, Joseph rests the responsibility for his life—including being sold into slav-ery—in the hands of a sovereign God. But an extremely important contrast is drawn between the intentions behind the event. Joseph’s brothers truly tried to harm him. They acted wick-edly and meant their actions for evil. God, on the other hand, superintended the same act for good. Historically this has sometimes been referred to as the doctrine of concurrence. Through one act a sinner works evil and God concurrently works good. There is a profound difference at the motiva-tional level or at the agent’s level of intentionality. So the sinner sins and God acts righteously, but through the same event. The sinner is responsible for the sin and the evil, but God is responsible for the good, even though both are working simultaneously in and through the same event. I do not profess to fully understand this rela-tionship, but it seems clear to me that this type of relationship is the only way to make sense of the biblical data concerning Joseph.

2. Isaiah 10:5-19

I will not take the space to repro-duce this passage in its entirety, but it is well worth opening a Bible and reading it. I will also be briefer in expositing the relevant verses than with the Joseph material, since many of the same basic points are transfer-

able. This text will be seen, I trust, to support the lines of interpretation drawn above.

Assyria is laying waste to the known world, and is marching against Israel. Nevertheless, God claims that “I send him” and “I dispatch him” (v. 6). Assyria is being sent by God, but critically, at the level of intentional-ity, “this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations” (v. 7). Just like with Joseph’s brothers, God is working with human agents to accomplish his will, but there is a crucial difference in what they are intending, and what they think they are bringing about. Blunt-ly, Assyria is trying to do evil, whereas God is righteously using them to accomplish his purposes of judicial retribution. In the same act Assyria intends evil, and God intends good.

An additional wrinkle is added in this passage when Assyria is not only said to be accountable for their actions, they are punished for them. Note the amazing relationship in verse 12: “When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, ‘I will pun-ish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes’.” What happens in Israel is called the Lord’s work, but nevertheless the king of Assyria is so responsible for what he does that God punishes him! There is simply no facile playing God’s sovereignty off human responsibility, as if God’s meticulous providence someone con-travenes human freedom or agency. No, what happens in Israel is the work of the Lord, but the king of Assyria is justly punished for his part in it. This is the case despite the fact that God can picture the Assyrians like an ax in his hand, or a club (v. 15). They were his tools, but because of their inten-tions, and their pride (v. 12-14), they deserve to be punished. Sovereignty and human freedom are compatible;

God and human agents work concur-rently in the same events through dif-ferent levels of intentionality in trying to bring about different ends. Humans are responsible enough to merit pun-ishment for their sin, even when God is working it into his providential plan for good.

3. Acts 2:23-24; 4:27-28

If anything, these New Testament verses are clearer than Genesis and Isaiah, and hardly need commentary of any kind. Preaching at Pentecost Peter states: “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:23-24). Notice the theme of concurrence again: Jesus was only crucified because of God’s purpose and plan, but he was cruci-fied by wicked men who sinned by nailing him to the cross. Their full responsibility is made evident with the conviction that comes upon them, and Peter telling them they need to repent (v. 38). Peter does not say that since the cross was part of God’s plan, and God ensured Christ’s crucifixion, the human agents are not responsible for what they did. On the contrary, they are wicked, and need repentance.

Similarly, Acts 4:27-28 says: “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.” The sinful actors meet with the intention of conspiring to kill Jesus, and in so doing only bring about what God had intended. In fact, God’s intention and plan was prior to their meeting. Long before they gathered together, God had already decided what was going

West—Continued from page 3

West—Continued on page 11


based on sovereign grace brought into being by the once for all sufficient sacrifice of our New Covenant Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant religion was based on a just, holy, good law. Its func-tion and purpose was to close man’s mouth in shame and make him admit his guilt. The Old Covenant believer had a hope in a coming Messiah, but only the actual coming of the Messiah could fulfill hope. The Messiah would fulfill and replace the Old Covenant with a new and better covenant. The New Covenant believer has a better hope, but that hope also awaits a fu-ture fulfillment when faith gives way to sight at the second coming.

Hebrews 9 is a summary of what we have been saying. An understand-ing of the writer’s argument in this chapter will answer a lot of theologi-cal questions.

Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. [Don’t confuse the covenant with the “ordinances of divine services” that were essential to administer the covenant.] For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that bud-ded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these things were thus

ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holi-est of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet

Reisinger—Continued from page 8 standing: [The tabernacle building stood until 70 AD. The tabernacle system of worship ended with the rending of the veil. Judaism was God’s ordained religion; however, when our Lord ratified the New Covenant with his atoning blood, the Old Covenant system of religion was no longer God’s religion. It was now just an empty shell. What was once God’s revealed religion has now become only “the Jew’s religion” (Gal. 1:14). Any animal sacrifices offered after the rending of the veil was done in open rebellion to God’s revelation.] Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertain-ing to the conscience; [The sacrificial system could “cover” sin for one year, but it could not make atonement, actually pay for sin and “cleanse the conscience.” The conscience cannot be satisfied until we are sure that God is satisfied, and nothing but the blood and righteousness of Christ will satisfy God’s holy character and covenant.] Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordi-nances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect taber-nacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience [Satisfying the conscience is essential to a valid assur-ance of eternal security in Christ. This is impossible as long as the conscience is under the Old Covenant. Nothing in the Old Covenant could satisfy conscience.] from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause [To effect the purging of the conscience] he is the mediator of the new testa-ment [the better covenant], that by means of death, for the redemption of

the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance (Heb. 9:1-15).

In our next article we will look at the Day of Atonement as set forth in Leviticus 16. All agree that this chap-ter is setting forth the Gospel in typol-ogy. Aaron was a clear type of Christ. Several things are important when emphasizing that Aaron’s ministry could not accomplish a real atonement for sin. Aaron and his ministry, along with the Old Covenant upon which it was based, had to be replaced. This does not mean that Aaron’s ministry was in any way wrong or defective or that Aaron was not faithful in doing what God told him to do. Replacing an Old Covenant with a new and bet-ter covenant is in no sense replacing a “bad” covenant with a “good” cov-enant. The Old Covenant and Aaron’s ministry totally fulfilled the purpose for which God gave it. Nothing in the Old Covenant was ever intended to satisfy either God’s holy character or the sinner’s conscience. The covenant and all of Aaron’s work was perfectly successful in that it accomplished ex-actly what God designed and purposed it to do. It was designed to convince the sinner that he was totally shutout from God because of his sin. The veil could not possibly show that fact any more clearly.

In order for a Jew to be saved under the New Covenant, he would have to give up nearly every thing in his religion. The priest, the covenant, the sacrifices, the holy days and feasts, etc. were all gone and everything was now based on faith instead of sight. Aaron, the Israelite’s high priest, was visible in his work. The sinner could see Aaron go into the Most Holy Place with the lamb’s blood in a basin. He would look in awe at the beautiful special robes that Aaron only wore on the Day of Atonement. The sin-ner could see the cloud and fire in


Issue 195 March 2013 West ― Continued from page 9

Carpenter ― Continued from page 5

to happen.

At this point it can probably just be stated that these passages all dovetail together perfectly in their teaching about sovereignty and responsibility. Acts adds one more valuable piece to the picture, however. There could not be a more evil event than the cruci-fixion of God’s anointed and dearly loved son. Yet God ordained it and brought it to pass. If God can stand behind the most evil event imagin-able, then he can work in any event of lesser evil without guilt. Frankly, the exact relationship God sustains to human actions and evil that allows him to be without guilt is beyond my comprehension. It seems to involve the level of intention in the act, as

well as the ends to be brought about. But beyond this I think we simply have to rest in the Bible’s teach-ings. Clearly God does not sin; the judge of all the earth does right; God does not act wickedly. But God still works concurrently through the sins of sinners. Older theologians more frequently used the Aristotelian cat-egories of final and efficient causes, or primary and secondary causes. In the end, however, I think that these issues are simply beyond our ken. God has given us enough data to make gestures in the right direction, but it is not given to us (and may not be possible for us given our capacities) to exhaus-tively understand.

Like the rest of Christian theology, however, all lines run to the cross.

Ponder God’s eternal purposes in the crucifixion, as well as the role of the human agents. God acts righteously and they act wickedly in the exact same event. They perpetrate the greatest injustice and evil in his-tory: God perpetrates the greatest act of love and provides atonement at exactly the same cross. They gather in time to conspire together, but only do what God’s eternal plan had ordained. The greatest good imaginable flows out of the greatest evil imaginable. It is not ours to fully comprehend, but that is perhaps not the point. It is ours to respond in worship, and to be over-awed at a God who works like this. It is also ours to have great encourage-ment of heart—even evil is controlled by God for our good and his glory.

teresting that it says “I gave them my statutes and my ordinances,” and then he singles out this one single com-mand in verse 12: “I also gave them Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them,” but then in verse 13 “The House of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.” The prophet Ezekiel is quoting God. While the people of Isra-el are being brought in, they are being brought before God, and a covenant lawsuit is taking place. As they are be-ing sued for their covenant violations, they have profaned the Sabbath, the very symbol and sign of covenant loy-alty. It was the ceremonial sign which was the test of covenantal loyalty. They broke the statutes and ordinanc-es and they profaned my Sabbath. It is the test of covenantal loyalty because it is the sign of the covenant.

Finally, we might study this from the nature of the Mosaic Covenant itself. It is observed that the Mosaic

Covenant has moral, ceremonial and civil elements, but it cannot be di-vided into moral, civil and ceremonial sections. There is a very important distinction between elements and sections. There are scores of precepts that are as moral as any that are found in the Decalogue in sections that are clearly and historically been known as ceremonial sections. As an illustration, Exodus 22:21-22 says, “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him for you were strangers in the land of Egypt, you shall not afflict any widow or orphan.” What’s ceremonial about that? In Exodus 23:2, “You shall not follow a multitude in doing evil.” is not ceremonial, but moral. In Leviti-cus 19:2: “You shall be holy,” is right in the middle of a ceremonial section, but that phrase is not ceremonial. Leviticus 19:16 says, “You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people”—which represents a moral law. Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” That section is defi-nitely moral. The point is that we can observe moral law intertwined with ceremony.

All of these precepts and many like them to be considered, are they to be considered ceremonial simply because they do not appear in the Ten Com-mandments? One of the best lines of reasoning in this whole matter of the nature of the Decalogue, and particu-larly as it relates to the rest of the law , is to observe that the two command-ments that Jesus said are the ones on which all the law of the prophets hang do not appear in the Decalogue. Jesus said we are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and that’s right in the middle of ceremony in Deuteronomy 6. Jesus says you’re to love your neighbor as yourself and that’s right in the middle of ceremony in Leviticus 19. Neither is found in the Decalogue. Jesus said “This is that on which all of the law and the proph-ets hangs.” Neither was engraved in stone, neither was put into the ark, yet these are the two precepts that Jesus said are the greatest of all. Concluding the study of the Old Testament we are lead to this conclusion. A command-ment positioned in the Decalogue does not necessarily mean it is moral any more than a commandment outside of the Decalogue necessarily makes it ceremonial.

March 2013 Issue 195Reisinger—Continued from page 10

the cloud that assured him of God’s presence in the camp. All of that is gone with the coming of the Messiah. The true High Priest has ascended into heaven, and we no longer see him vis-ibly. We have his promise that he will return and take us to heaven, but in the mean time we face difficult times. It is only as we believe God’s promise that we can have hope in this present evil age. The book of Hebrews as-sures the Jewish Christian that he has gained more than he has lost in losing everything in the Old Covenant; he has gained in Christ more than we lost in Adam. He had to give up his special covenant, his priest, the whole sacrificial system, his special national privileges and many other things, but in every instance he received some-thing better. He lost Aaron and gained Christ. He lost an altar and a sacrifi-cial lamb and gained the cross and the true Lamb of God. John MacArthur has stated this clearly.

The epistle to the Hebrews is a study in contrast, between the imper-fect and incomplete provisions of the Old Covenant, given under Moses,

and the infinitely better provisions of the New Covenant offered by the per-fect High Priest, God’s only Son, and the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Included in the “better” provisions are: a better hope, testament, promise, sacrifice, substance, country and resurrection. Those who belong to the New Cov-enant dwell in a completely new and heavenly atmosphere, they worship a heavenly Savior, have a heavenly calling, receive a heavenly gift, are citizens of a heavenly country, look forward to a heavenly Jerusalem, and have their names written in heaven.5

We will, like an Israelite, only grasp the wonder and glory of the New Covenant as we see how that New Covenant surpasses the glory of the Old Covenant. The Jew could not move into the New Covenant until he left the Old Covenant and all it brought into being. We must not try to Judaize Christianity by put-ting the Christian’s conscience under the law, and, likewise, we must not try to Christianize the Old Covenant by reading distinctly New Covenant blessings like the free access into God’s presence back to the Old Cov-5 MacArthur, Study Bible, 1895.

enant experience. The rending of the veil was essential before there was access into God’s presence.

A Christian lawyer was witnessing to a young student. The boy said, “I could never become a Christian be-cause you have to give up so much.” The lawyer asked the boy if he had any nickels, and the boy asked the lawyer why he wanted nickels. The lawyer said, “I will give you a half a dollar for each nickel you have.” He boy went through his pockets care-fully. After looking in vain for a nickel he said, “I have two dimes and a quarter.” The lawyer said, “Would you give me a nickel for this half a dollar if you had a nickel?” The boy said, “I would be a fool not to trade a nickel for a half dollar.” The lawyer said, “But you would have to give up your nickel.” The boy said, “But look what I would be getting in its place.” Many Jews, and some theologians, want to hold on to the nickels of the Old Cov-enant and miss the half dollars of New Covenant.

PridePride is the worst viper in the heart. It is the first sin that ever entered into the universe. It lies lowest of all in the

foundation of the whole building of sin. Of all lusts, it is the most secret, deceitful, and unsearchable in its ways of working. It is ready to mix with everything. Nothing is so hateful to God, contrary to the spirit of the Gospel, or of so dangerous consequence. There is no one sin that does so much to let the devil into the hearts of the saints and expose them to his delusions.

Jonathan Edwards

The Truck CollisionDriving along a highway, you are stopped by an accident. A truck driver lies in the wreckage. Half a dozen men

from passing cars place themselves shoulder to shoulder to try to lift the bumper. They tug and they pull until you see the veins standing out in their necks, but they cannot free the man. Still they keep straining at the impossible task. Finally, a wrecker drives up and is placed in position to hoist the weight of the disabled truck. But the only available spot for the wrecker to attach its hoist is that bumper at which the men are tugging. If the wrecker is to do its work, the men must get out of the way. If they persist in monopolizing that place, the wrecker cannot get in to do its work. There is no moral charge against these men; their strength is simply insufficient for the task.

The law must be abolished in order to let grace do the job the law cannot do.

Donald Grey Barnhouse


White—Continued on page 18

White—Continued from page 1

you could redeem us with a small alms and yet you do not want to do so’” or “as soon as the coin in the moneybox rings, the soul direct from purgatory springs.”1 Luther saw poor people giving away all they had and immoral people using the indulgences as a license to sin. Surely these practices did not reflect the gospel of Christ.

Luther had previously invited others to debate, but it was his Ninety-five Theses that truly ignited the people. At age 33, he nailed his statements to the door of the Wittenberg Church. At this point, he had no intention of splitting from the Roman Catholic Church. In the providence of God, the printing press was readily available to disseminate Luther’s writings. A papal bull was sent to Luther, but rather than heeding it, he burned it. He was eventually summoned to and questioned at the Diet of Worms before Emperor Charles V. When asked if he would recant of his writings, he said the following:

Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience.2

Tradition says that he concluded with “Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me! Amen.”3

So what can we glean from

1 Quoted in Graham Tomlin, Luther and His World (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2002), 70, 73.

2 Graham Tomlin, Luther and His World (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2002), 109.

3 See http://www.chriscastaldo.com/2010/10/25/luthers-stand/#_ftn8_1703. Accessed 5/10/11.

Luther’s spirituality for our own lives?

The first and most important thing we can learn from Martin Luther is the centrality of the gospel.4 Luther writes, “The cross of Christ is the only instruction in the Word of God there is, the purest theology.” Luther is a one issue theologian. It is tempting to find a hobby horse. It is easy to get distracted by other seemingly more ‘relevant’ issues. We can learn from Luther that the gospel must always be at the center of all we do and think about as Christians. He writes, “The Gospel cannot be preached and heard enough, for it cannot be grasped well enough. We preach nothing new; but we are forever and incessantly preaching about the man called Jesus Christ, true God and man, who died for our sins and was raised from the dead for our justification. But although we are forever preaching and repeating this message, we shall never be able to grasp it sufficiently. In this respect we always remain babes and little children who are just learning to read and are hardly able to form half of a word, nay, scarcely a quarter of a word.”5 Luther centered on the gospel in part because he knew his sin so well. If we are honest, most days we think we are good. We don’t feel the sense of desperation we should before our holy and awesome God. We think, “Of course God loves and forgives me. Isn’t that what he does?” Luther knew better. He knew better because he knew the human heart better and because he knew the Scriptures better. He had a keen self-awareness. He knew he was a sinner. He knew God was holy. Hence, he knew the value of the gospel.

Of course it was not always this way for him. Let’s hear it from his pen:

4 I assume, along with historic evangeli-calism, that justification by faith is at the heart of the gospel.

5 Ewald M. Plass, What Luther Says (Saint Louis: Concordia, 1959), 564.

Meanwhile, I had already during that year returned to interpret the Psalter anew. I had confidence in the fact that I was more skillful, after I had lectured in the university on St. Paul’s epistles to the Romans, to the Galatians, and the one to the Hebrews. I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary ardor for understanding Paul in the Epistle to the Romans. But up till then it was not the cold blood about the heart, but a single word in Chapter 1 [:17], “In it the righteousness of God is revealed,” that had stood in my way. For I hated that word ‘righteousness of God,’ which, according to the use and custom of all the teachers, I had been taught to understand philosophically regarding the formal or active righteousness, as they called it, with which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner. Thought I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners and secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God, and said, ‘As if, indeed, it is not enough, that miserable sinners, eternally lost through original sin, are crushed by every kind of calamity by the law of the Decalogue, without having God add pain to pain by the gospel and also by the gospel threatening us with his righteousness and wrath!’ Thus I raged with a fierce and troubled conscience. Nevertheless, I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what St. Paul wanted. At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely “In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, ‘He who through faith is righteous shall live.’” There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely the passive righteousness with which


The 2013 John Bunyan Conference is scheduled for April 22-24 at Reformed Baptist Church, 830 Buffalo Road, Lewisburg, PA 17837

Speakers and Topics:

Gary George New Covenant Theology and Pastoral Ministry - 2 MessagesJames M. Hamilton, Jr. Biblical Theology - 3 MessagesDavid Robinson Preaching Sovereignty in the Old Testament - 2 Messages

Kirk Wellum Jesus Christ: the Architect and Apex of the Church The Wisdom of God

A. Blake White Towards a Missional Ecclesiology - 2 Messages The Abrahamic Covenant in Galatians

Lodging for the conference is available at a reduced rate at the Country Inn and Suites by Carlson in Lewisburg, PA. Just mention that you would like accommodations for the John Bunyan Conference to receive a double occupancy

room for only $90.00 per night which includes a nice continental breakfast.Reservations must be made by no later than April 6, 2013 to receive this reduced rate.

Reservations at the Country Inn and Suites may be made by calling 800-456-4000 or 570-524-6600. Their website is www.countryinns.com/lewisburgpa and the address is 134 Walter Drive, Route 15, PO Box 46, Lewisburg, PA 17837.

Meals for lunch and dinner will be available at the church.The registration is $75.00 per individual and includes five meals.

Space for meals is limited and registration will be restricted to the first 80 individuals who register. Please register by no later than April 6, 2013. Sign-in for the conference will be from 9:30 to 10:45 am Monday, April 22, 2013

at Reformed Baptist Church.

Please call 301-473-8781 or email [email protected] to register; Discover, Visa or MasterCard accepted. Please register by no later than April 6, 2013.

REGISTRATION FOR THE 2013 JOHN BUNYAN CONFERENCE, LEWISBURG, PAAPRIL 22-24, 2013

□ Register me for the 2013 John Bunyan Conference. Enclosed is a check for $75.00. □ Register me for the 2013 John Bunyan Conference. Enclosed is a check for $30.00; I will pay the remaining $45.00 upon sign-in. Make the check payable to Sovereign Grace New Covenant Ministries with a note “For 2013 John Bunyan Conference” and mail to 5317 Wye Creek Dr, Frederick, MD 21703-6938.

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The John Bunyan Conference


Speakers 2013 John Bunyan Conference

Gary George is a life-long resident of Worcester County, Massachusetts in the heart of New England. He has been the pastor of Sovereign Grace Chapel in Southbridge, MA since 1992. Gary and his wife Michelle have five grown children.

Jim Hamilton is Associate Professor of Biblical Theology at Southern Seminary and Preaching Pastor at Kenwood Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. He previously taught at the Houston Campus of Southwestern Seminary and is the author of God’s Indwelling Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments (B&H 2006), God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology (Crossway 2010), and Revelation: The Spirit Speaks to the Churches (Crossway 2012).

David Robinson is pastor of Grace Bible Church in Cambridge Ontario. He has been pastor for the last eighteen years and recently planted a church (Redeemer Bible Church) in nearby Kitchener. David is married to Eva and they have three children.

Kirk Wellum is the Principal of Toronto Baptist Seminary and Bible College where he also teaches Systematic and Pastoral Theology. Before coming to TBS Kirk served as a pastor for a total of 24 years in three churches in Southern Ontario. He has written numerous articles for a variety of Christian magazines and has spoken at conferences in Canada, the United States, the UK, and Africa. Kirk is married and has four children.

A. Blake White is currently working on a PhD in Systematic and Biblical Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theo-logical Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He has authored seven books and is married to Alicia. They have two boys, Josiah and Asher.

Kirk Wellum will present two pre-conference messages Sunday, April 21 at 9:30 and 10:45 am at Reformed Baptist Church.

For further information, please contact the church directly: Reformed Baptist Church, 830 Buffalo Road, Lewisburg, PA 17837.

Phone (570) 524-7488; Website: www.rbclewisburg.org; Email: [email protected]

John Newton's TombstoneIn his old age, when he could no longer see to read, John Newton, the author of "Amazing Grace" heard someone recite this verse,

"By the grace of God—I am what I am." 1 Corinthians 15:10. He remained silent a short time, and then said: I am not what I ought to be. Ah! how imperfect and deficient.I am not what I might be, considering my privileges and opportunities. I am not what I wish to be. God, who knows my heart—knows I wish to be like Him. I am not what I hope to be. Before long, I will drop this clay tabernacle, to be like Him and see Him as He is!Yet, I am not what I once was—a child of sin, and slave of the devil!Though not all these—not what I ought to be, not what I might be, not what I wish or hope to be, and not what I once was—I think

I can truly say with the apostle, "By the grace of God—I am what I am!"At the age of 82, Newton said, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner—and that Christ is

a great Savior!"John Newton's tombstone reads: "John Newton, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy

of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy!"

"By the grace of God I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10Courtesy of Grace Gems:www.GraceGems.org


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B O O K S F R O M N E W C O V E N A N T M E D I A

March 2013 Issue 195White—Continued from page 13

merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, ‘He who through faith is righteous shall live.’ Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. There a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me. Thereupon I ran through the Scriptures from memory. I also found in other terms an analogy, as, the work of God, that is, what he does in us, the power of God, with which he makes us strong, the wisdom of God, with which he makes us wise, the strength of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God. And I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the hatred with which I had before hated the word ‘righteousness of God.’ Thus that place in Paul was for me truly the gate to paradise.6

Luther never got beyond this discovery and neither should we. It is to be our “constant meditation.” It is so important for us to have a realistic (i.e., biblical) view of life and people. As Lutheran scholar Robert Kolb writes, “Only at the foot of the cross can true human identity be discovered. There, realizing whose I am, I realize who I am.”7 The cross told Luther and should tell us that we are sinners in need of grace and Christ died for the ungodly. As Luther would say, “God is not against sinners, only unbelievers.”

The second theme we can learn from Luther is his teaching on the two kinds of righteousness. From this teaching we find what it means to be truly human. Lutherans Robert Kolb and Charles Arand write, “To be a human being as God created us to be, a perfect human specimen,

6 Martin Luther, “Preface to the Com-plete Edition of Luther’s Latin Writ-ings,” in Martin Luther: Selections from his Writings ed. John Dillenberg-er (New York: Anchor Books, 1962), 10-12.

7 Robert Kolb, “Luther on the Theology of the Cross,” Lutheran Quarterly XVI (2002), 452.

involves being totally passive, as a newborn child of God, and totally active, as a responsible neighbor to other people and to the whole of God’s world.”8 Luther says, “This is our theology, by which we teach a precise distinction between these two kinds of righteousness, the active and the passive, so that morality and faith, works and grace, secular society and religion may not be confused. Both are necessary, but both must be kept within their limits.”9

Again we see that part of Luther’s contribution is the importance of thinking about ourselves and our God correctly. Kolb and Arand write, “The passive righteousness of faith provides the core identity of a person; the active righteousness of love flows from that core identity out into the world.”10 We are passive before God for our right standing but active toward our neighbors in acts of love. We are passive before God for righteousness because faith is receptive before him. God is Creator. He is the unconstrained giver to us who are absolute receivers. Human beings are absolutely dependent upon God for all things.

Active righteousness refers to the righteous acts we do for our neighbors. In his Romans commentary, Luther writes, “Faith justifies without any works; and yet it does not follow that men are, therefore, to do no good works, but rather that the true works will not be absent.”11 Later he writes, “Oh, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing,

8 Robert Kolb and Charles P. Arand, The Genius of Luther’s Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 30.

9 Luther’s Works (Saint Louis and Philadelphia: Concordia and Fortress, 1958-1986), 26:7.

10 Kolb and Arand, The Genius of Lu-ther’s Theology, 26.

11 Martin Luther, Commentary on Ro-mans (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publica-tions 1954), xxi.

this faith; and so it is impossible for it not to do good works incessantly. It does not ask whether there are good works to do, but before the question arises; it has already done them, and is always at the doing of them. He who does not these works is a faithless man.”12 Whoever claims that Luther’s theology does not take obedience has seriously misread him. He is clear that God doesn’t need our good works but our neighbor does. Luther scholar Timothy Lull says, “Luther makes the service of others the hallmark and goal of how Christian liberty is to be used.”13 Luther says, “Although the Christian is thus free from all works, he ought in this liberty to empty himself, take upon himself the form of a servant, be made in the likeness of men, be found in human form, and to serve, help and in every way deal with his neighbor as he sees that God through Christ has dealt with and still deals with him. This he should do freely, having regard for nothing but divine approval. … I will therefore give myself as Christ to my neighbor, just as Christ offered himself to me; I will do nothing in this life except what I see is necessary, profitable, and salutary to my neighbor, since through faith I have an abundance of all good things in Christ.”14

For Luther, passive righteousness never remains passive but must also be active. He writes, “This [active] righteousness goes on to complete the first [passive righteousness] for it ever strives to do away with the old Adam and destroy the body of

12 Martin Luther, Commentary on Ro-mans (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publica-tions, 1954), xvii.

13 Timothy Lull, Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989), 5.

14 Martin Luther, “The Freedom of the Christian” in Luther’s Works, 366-367 quoted in David A. Lumpp, “Luther’s ‘Two Kinds of Righteousness’: A Brief Historical Introduction” Concordia Journal 23.1 (January, 1997), 38.

Issue 195 March 2013 sin. . . This righteousness follows the example of Christ in this respect and is transformed into his likeness.”15

Anyone familiar with Paul’s theology will hear his echoes in Luther’s writings. Paul too believed

15 Luther’s Works 31.300 quoted in Gra-ham Tomlin, Spiritual Fitness (New York: Continuum, 2006), 101.

that our right standing is a gift from God. This is perhaps clearest in Philippians 3:9 where he speaks of “the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” Our right standing, our justification, is a gift of God based on faith in Jesus. For Paul and for Luther though, this faith doesn’t remain static, but works through love (Gal 5:6). True faith

becomes active in obedience. We are justified by faith alone, not works, but true faith will work.

In the next installment we will look at four other areas where Luther’s spirituality is helpful in our daily lives.

In New Covenant Theology and Prophecy, John G. Reisinger articulates what he calls a “New Covenant Hermeneutic” that will help Christians navigate prophetic differences when it comes to understanding how Old Testament promises should be interpreted and applied today. Reisinger has a unique ability to get to the essence of difficult theological issues and to marshal the relevant biblical data that must be considered if we are to move together toward a solution. His writing is clear, interesting, thought-provoking, and is a must read for all who are seeking to grasp how the Bible’s prophetic message fits together.

Kirk Wellum, Principal, Toronto Baptist Seminary

______________________________________________________________________________

If we primarily use the Old Testament Scriptures to form our understanding of eschatol-ogy, we likely will embrace a premillennial understanding of Abraham’s and David’s expec-tations. At the risk of over-simplifying, we will refer to this as a Dispensational hermeneutic. If we use the texts in the New Testament Scriptures that deal with the promise to Abraham we likely will favor the amillennial position. Again, at the risk of over-simplifying, we will call this a Covenant hermeneutic (short for Covenant theology). Currently, New Covenant theology has no clearly defined hermeneutic. Adherents of New Covenant theology have at-tempted to answer this question by modifying either Covenantal hermeneutics or Dispensa-tional hermeneutics.

One of the basic presuppositions of New Covenant theology is that the New Testament Scriptures must interpret the Old Testament. “How do the New Testament writers interpret the kingdom promises of the Old Testament?” Do the New Testament writers give a literal, or “natural,” meaning to the kingdom promises in the Old Testament, or do they spiritualize

those prophecies? This book represents an attempt to begin serious work toward establishing New Covenant herme-neutics from the ground up—that is, without beginning with either Covenantal or Dispensational hermeneutics.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

New Covenant Theology & ProphecyJohn G. Reisinger

91 pages, paperback

See page 17 for ordering information.

Also available in Kindle format from Amazon.com

** The following books are available in Kindle format from Amazon.com **

Abraham’s Four Seeds—Reisinger In Defense of Jesus, the New Lawgiver—ReisingerBiblical Law and Ethics: Absolute and Covenantal—Long New Covenant Theology & Prophecy—ReisingerBut I Say Unto You—Reisinger Tablets of Stone—ReisingerDefinite Atonement —Long Theological Foundations for New Covenant Ethics —WhiteThe Grace of Our Sovereign God—Reisinger What is New Covenant Theology? An Introduction—White

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Theological Foundations for New Covenant EthicsA. Blake White143 pages, paperback

See page 17 for ordering information.

Also available in Kindle format from Amazon.com

What is Christian Ethics?

Christian ethics is about “life under the lordship of Christ.” In Luke 6:46, Je-sus said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” Ethics is about kingdom living.

Why Study Christian Ethics?

The first reason, as with the reason for all we do, is to glorify God. First Cor-inthians 10:31 famously says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Second, we should study Christian ethics to be biblical. The Bible is full of moral teaching

A third reason is to help us live distinctly Christian lives in a fallen world. We are the people of the living God. We should be different.

A fourth reason the study of ethics is important is because of the nature of saving faith.

A fifth reason to study ethics is to develop a moral imagination.

A sixth and final reason to study ethics is mission.

More reasons could be listed for why ethics is worth studying, but if you are reading this book you probably don’t need any more!

issue 195 march 2013 christ, our new covenant high...

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