Eachmonththe"Cross-Examination"

column presents a summary statement

of a Reformed and Reconstructionist
conviction in theology or ethics, and
then offers brief answers to common
questions,objectionsorconfusionswhich
people have about that belief. Send is-
sues or questions you would like ad-
dressed by Dr. Bahnsen to the editor.
We BeIieve
Let us begin by recapitulating what
we mean by covenant theology. God
reveals Himself in the pages of Scripture
specificallyasthecovenant-keepingGod.
To understand His person and works
properly, we must see Him in light of the
covenant He has made and fulfills with
His people.
WehavealreadyseenthatGod'sreIa-
tionship with man from the very begin-
ning was covenantal in nature. His cov-
enant with Adam was gradous in char-
acter, sovereignly imposed, mutually
binding, called for trust and submission
on Adam's pan, and carried sanctions
(blessings or curse). When Adam feU
into sin, God mercifully re-established a
covenantal relationship with him, one in
which the gracious and promissory
character of the covenant was accentu-
ated even further - in the promise of a
coming Savior, a promise which is pro-
gressivelyunfoldedandelaborated upon
throughout the Old Testament.
Thus aU of the post-fall covenants
(even the Mosaic adminJstration) were
gracious in character, complementing
andexpandingupon previous ones, and
centered on Christ and His redemptive
work-ratherihanupontheJewsorthe
land of Palestine. The Old Covenant
looked ahead to Christ and Hiswork (by
foreshadow and prophecy), while the
New Covenant looks back to Christ and
His work, proclainting the gospel that
God's saving ltingdom has now arrived.
These are, then, butoneunderlyingcov-
enant under diffeting administrations.
Question: BoIhdispensationalistsand
covenant theologians see c6D.tinuity as
well as discontinuity between the Old
TestamentandtheNewTestamenr.Both
recognize the need for the grace of God
for anybody to be saved after the full.
Both believe that the Mosaic cultus
(temple, sacrifioes, etc.) has been laid
aside in the New Covenant. So is the
theological difference between these two
.. '" THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon '" December, 1992
schools of thought really so significant
when aU is said and done?
AJlSWtr. The significance of the dif-
ferenceisaweighryoneindeed.ltreftects
upon the natUre and character of God. It
iinpactsthewayin which weseesalvation
and scripture. It carries fur-reachingim-
plications for the wayin which we wor-
ship God and live before Him in the
world. Dispensatianalists may arrive at
certainconcIusionswhichagreewiththe
conclusions of covenant theology, but
the way in which they reach those con-
clusions leads to a host of other errors.
For instance, dispensationalists
maintain that . everything in the Old
Covenant passes away with the coming
of the New Covenant - everything ex-
cept that which is reiterated in the New
Covenant. Covenant theologians take a
diamerrically different approach to Bib-
lical interpretation. They hold that no-
body has the prerogative to alter or ab-
rogate the word of the Lord except the
Lord Himself: Therefore, with the com-
ing of the New Covenant aU the prin-
ciples of the Old Covenant continue to
be valid except where the Lord of the
Covenant declares things to be new. To
put it simply: God alone can define the
newness of the new. Thus the operating
presumption of dispensationalists and
covenant theologians is exactly the op-
posite of each other.
Dispensatianalistswillsaythat,inthe
end, salvation in the Old Covenant was
by the grace of God through faith. How-
ever, they also say that, hypothetically,
salvation was offered to men on the basis
of their keeping the law perfectly - that
God extended an invitation to legalism
-in the Old Covenant. Bycontrasi:, they
say, the NeW Covenant knows no legal-
ism, even hypothetically; salvation is
purely by gI?Ce without any consider-
ation of works whatsoever. 1his view-
point displaYs a very disturbing and
unbiblical understanding of God's char-
acter and sovereignty. According to Cov-
salvation has never been
by works, even hypothetically; it has
always been proclaimed on the basis of
God's grace. And this grace has always
called forthe response of faithful obedi-
ence on the part of God's people - in
both the Old and New Testaments. Thus
dispensationalists have misconstrued
God's work of salvation and (again) the
newness of the New Covenant.
Even further, because dispensa-
tionalistsdonothonortheunityofGod's
covenant, they also misconstrue
the people of God today, seeing
the church as something of a
supplement to God's first decla-
rations on thesubject, andcling-
ing to the idea of a continuing
privilege for the ethnic Jews as
God's ancient people. Accord-
inglydispen-sationalistsinsiston
distinguishing the expectations
and futures for the heavenly
people (the church) and the
earthly people (theJews). N oth-
ing could be further from Paul's
own outlook, however. He not
only saw the mixed Gentile
church as "the Israel of God"
(Gal. 6:16) which is now made up of
"fellow-dtizens" of the "commonwealth
of Israel" through ChrIst's blood
(Eph.2:11-13, 19), but he insisted that
Israel's future blessing would be pre-
cisely to share in the gospel blessings of
the church (Rom. 1 1:11-26)-bybeing
grafted backirUo thesingle olive tree into
which the Gentiles have been grafted.
So then, we are forced to recognize
that the differences between dispen-
sationalists and covenant theologians are
tremendous ones, forthey affectwhat we
think of the character of God, the nature
of salvation, the identity of God's people,
and how we use the Bible.
Question: Covenant theology has a
distinctive way of looking upon the
Christian message and the Christian life.
Eventhoughdispensationalistsmayreach
some of the same conclusions (through a
faulty theological method), what would
you say are some of the practical implica-
tions of covenant theology?
AlISWer: First of all, Christianity as
understood by covenant theology stands
for the central and unchanging message
of salvation by grace alone. God saves us
byway of covenant -by His free prom-
ise and merciful relationship initiated by
Him without cousideration of any merit
within us.
The Christian life is therefore above
all a matter of living by faith, trusting the
promise of God when the outcome or
fulfillment is as yet unseen. And because
God Himself initiated the covenant and
set its tenns by His own authority, cov-
enant theology means bowing to the
sovereignty of GoeL
Since He issovereign, we acknowledge
that He owns the whole world and He own
us as well as everything about us ---includ-
ing our children. They are graciously
marked out as His own. Thus covenant
theology shuns religious individualism in
favor of an emphasis upon the family and
upon the corporate people of God (the
church). It sees the church, God's people
by faith, as the focusofHissaving purposes
throughout redemptive history. Because
of this unity between God's people in beth
the Old and New Covenants, there is no
special place for ethnic Israel (apan from
the same blessings wWch come to all men
through the church).
Covenant theology fosters thinking
which is Christ-centered because He is
the Mediator of God's promises, and
covenant theology puts emphasis upon
all tbree of the Messiah's offices: prophet,
priest, and king. All three are currently
exercised by the Savior. Our only hope
for salvation is His priestly intercession
to God based upon His finished work of
redemption. As our prophet He must be
the Lord overourreasoningaswellas our
educational efforts, in all areas
of lite. Honoring Him as the
reigning King, we seek to ap-
ply His word to every area of
lite (vocations, recreations,arts,
sciences, society, politics, eco-
nomics, etc.). Covenant theol.-
ogy declares the need for sanc-
tified and persevering living
under God ("keeping cov-
enant" with Him).
Finally, because our rela-
tionship with God is covenan-
tal in nature, there is a desper-
ate need for God's word as the
covenant's defining document.
We must be people who study
and cherish what God has there revealed
- from cover to cover, since covenant
theology maintains the unity and conti-
nuity of that word. In all these ways we
see just how important and how practi-
cal covenant theology really is.
Further Investigation
For further studies regarding God or
covenant theology on tape - especially
"The Distinctives of the Reformed Faith"
- write for a catalog from Covenant
TapeMinistty,24198AshCourt, Auburn,
CA95603.
ToreceiveDr.Bahnsen'sD:eemonthly
newsletter, Penpoint, write to Southern
California Center for Christian Studies,
P. O. Box 18021, Irvine, CA92713. The
study center also features a new catalog
of its ministry and tapes which you can
request.
December, 1992 t THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t 5