Three Covenants and the Gospel of Salvation by Faith

An Article Printed Out By Willingdon School of the Bible.

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"Who then can be saved?"

Considering the discussion above, the conditional nature of the Mosaic Covenant, and the NT teaching "by the works of the law no human being will be justified", how could anyone in Israel hope to be saved?

"The rock was Christ"

In 1 Corinthians 10:4 we learn a remarkable thing about the children of Israel:

"and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:4 ESV)

In other words, Moses may have been the visible leader of the nation as they left Egypt headed for the promised land, but the One who really lead them and sustained them was Christ. And just as water can only come from the a rock by a miraculous act of grace and mercy, even so in the midst of the Mosaic Covenant, God's elect could only be saved by grace and mercy. To understand how this is possible, we must consider once again the three major covenants of Scripture.

1.) The Covenant of Redemption: This is the covenant between the Father and the Son whereby the Son promises to undertake the redemption of God's elect by His incarnation, perfect obedience, sacrificial death, and resurrection. The Father promises to send His Son, to sustain Him, to enable Him to accomplish His work, and to reward Him with the salvation of the elect upon successful completion of His mission.

2.) The Covenants of Works: Initially this covenant was between God and all of mankind, represented by Adam. After the fall, it was between Yahweh and the nation of Israel. As we have discussed, this is the covenant which was made with Adam and repeated with Israel through the Mosaic law. This covenant is described by the phrase "Do this and live". In other words, the outcome of failure to keep any part of the covenant is death. Perfect obedience is required in all parts of the law. Finally, Jesus Christ, the true Israel, fulfilled all the conditions of the Covenant of Works, and he did so not on His own behalf, but on behalf of the elect.

3.) The Covenant of Grace: The covenant of grace is between the Father and His elect, is founded upon mercy, and depends entirely on the work of Christ for its success or failure. In fact, the Covenant of Grace is founded upon the Covenant of Redemption. If Christ fails, then all who are "in Christ" fail. If Christ succeeds, then all who are "in Christ" succeed. And who is "in Christ"? The elect - those "chosen before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:3-10).

It is important to see how these three covenants relate to each other. First of all, all three covenants are eternal covenants. Christians sometimes have the idea that the covenant of works is ended in the New Testament, but that is quite wrong. The difference for those who, by faith, are "in Christ" is that Jesus Christ undertakes - through the Covenant of Redemption - to deliver all whom the Father has given Him from death, to lead a perfect life of obedience on their behalf, and to lead them to perfection through the new birth which will culimate in their resurrection unto life. It is important to note that, through Christ, all of the elect will be one day perfectly "conformed to the image of Christ".

We might ask, though, "What does this have to do with Israel under the Mosaic law?" The answer is that there is one major difference between Adam under the law and Israel under the law. Adam, before the fall, had no promise of redemption. Israel after the fall had such a promise. Even though Israel as a nation failed, nevertheless within the nation there were individuals like Moses who found favour with God, like their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had before them. The Holy Spirit revealed to them that they might hope in the "promise of God" to redeem them from their sins, and that promise is personified in Jesus Christ. Those who made up the "true Israel" were saved like their father Abraham who "believed the LORD, and he counted to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6). There were many things about the Gospel of grace in Christ Jesus which they did not understand, but the Holy Spirit revealed to them that they might hope in God's deliverance through His promised deliverer.

After the fall, then, and the promise of Genesis 3:15 (the "proto-euangellion"), grace was always available to God's elect. It is important to understand that even during the administration of the Old Covenant, God's chosen were saved by placing their trust in Yahweh and in His promise of a deliverer.

THIS IS VANCOUVER

For those who do not know me, I live in the city of Vancouver. I shared a video that was thought-provoking. Personally, I do see God working in Vancouver and saving people every day, but this video is to show the broken side of Vancouver because greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city! Hope you enjoy this video.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/stpetersfireside/thisisvancouver]

Month of December

For the next few months, I will be teaching Sunday School for the Senior High School and Young Adults. Given this kind of privilege from God, I am grateful. For tomorrow's lesson, I will be teaching on Genesis 4 focusing on Cain and Abel and how the enmity between the woman's offspring and the serpent's offspring (Genesis 3:15) dukes it out through the whole Bible.  This theme surely develops throughout the Old Testament, and how that prophecy (Gen 3:15) is fulfilled in the life and work of Jesus Christ where He conquers and rules over Satan, sin, and death through His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. Looking forward to that.

School is nearly coming to an end. It's been a tough battle this semester. Went through a lot of disappointments, anxiety, stress over all my projects and assignments. Despite the fact I went through that, God's faithfulness remains forever. When I fail, He forgives. By the grace of God, may I finish well this semester and the year 2011.

I thank God for such awesome brothers in Christ that He raised up: James Wong, Sam Pang, Victor Chiang, and others. We're come together on Monday, for the 4 weeks, to do Biblical hermeneutics Training where we learn to be good students of the Bible. Well, more than that. We come together to study the Word of God. I am loving Jesus more and more as He shapes and stretches my mind to think Biblically as I read His words.

Winter Conference here I come! Need to raise support in order to go. If you're interested in supporting me, then please pray and let me know about it.

Holiness, Worldliness, and being "Set-Apart" in the Christian Life

I want to provide a helpful resource to understand what it authentically means to be a Christian. Below are provided notes that I received from Willingdon School of the Bible, and I pray that you may find it enlightening and edifying in your understanding of Scripture.

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When God calls us to be 'set apart,' and to avoid 'worldliness (James 4:4, 1 John 2:15) in our efforts to be Holy, this does not mean that we cannot enjoy God's many common graces to all of mankind. On the contrary, we are to glorify God by enjoying His gracious gifts in such areas as the arts, sports, and food.

In other words, our holiness is not seen in monasticism and physical separation from any activities that non-Christians are involved in. So, what does it mean to enjoy God's bountiful provisions while maintaining a "set apart" and Holy life? How can we do both?

Worldliness in Scripture is the sin of allowing our attitudes, ambitions, focus, and desires to be shaped by "the system of rebellion and pride that seeks to displace God and His rule. It is this system rather than the created order itself which is "not from the Father" (1 John 2:15), and which has already been marked for judgment and destruction (John 12:31)." [1]

"The world" does not refer to the physical earth, creation or the universe (or God-given common graces to all his creation), but rather to the spiritual reality of man-centered, Satan-directed system of this present age, which is hostile to God and God's people. It refers to the self-centered, godless value system and mores of fallen mankind. The goal of "the world" is self-glory, self-fulfillment, self-indulgence, self-satisfaction, and every other form of self-serving, all of which amounts to hostility toward God." [2]

Thus, we as Christians must beware of allowing "worldliness" to creep in; we must also be aware of defining it properly. Again, it is not "worldly" or "sinful" to enjoy the common graces of God such as Art, Music, Drama, Literature,etc...even though they are not performed or created by Christians. It is worldly and sinful to allow ourselves to be influenced by anything (Art, TV, Moves, Literature, and Music) that carries a message that is antagonistic to Christ and our Faith. Such messages and philosophies are the "enemy of God" (James 4:4). We must forever guard ourselves against them in our continuous battle to remain "set apart" and Holy as our Father in Heaven is Holy.

There have been periods in history, particularly during the monastic age of the 4th century and the middle ages, when men and women sought holiness in isolation and radical self-denial. Some of this self-immolation was quite dramatic and included practices like the wearing of "hair shirts", self-flagellation, excessive fasting, and so on. Sadly, as Martin Luther pointed out so articulately , these practices had just the opposite effect to the one intended. It was, in the end, a glorification of the flesh and an attempt to establish righteousness by human effort. As such, it was an abomination to God, an affront to the cross of Christ, and typically ended in the most abhorrent of depravities.

When Jesus says, "Be perfect because your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matt 5:48) He is saying the same thing as, Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me" (John 15:4). There is not such thing as pleasing except by faith in Christ according to Scripture. Every effort to do so is an affront to God, and an attempt to prove God a liar and myself independent of His salvation.

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REFERENCE

[1] Reformation Study Bible Notes on 1 John 2:15

[2] John MacArthur, Commentary on James 4:4

Can God Command our Emotions?

There are many Scriptures which suggest that we are to have certain emotional responses to the Lord. But is it possible for our emotions to be commanded, even by God? Can we really control our emotions? Here is John Piper's response to this question.

"Jesus Commands the Emotions:

"I recall reading a book in college that argued: Love cannot be a feeling because it is commanded, and you can't command the feelings. In other words, love must simply be an act of the will or a deed of the body without involving the emotions or affections. But the problem with this argument is that the premise is false: Jesus does command the feelings. He demands that our emotions be one way and not another.
"He demands, for example, that we rejoice in certain circumstances (Matt 5:12), and that we fear the right person (Luke 12:5), and that we not feel shame over him (Luke 9:26), and that we forgive from the heart (Matt 18:35), and so on. If a feeling is proper to have, Jesus can demand it. The fact that I may be too corrupt to experience the emotions that I ought to have does not change my duty to have them. If Jesus commands it, I should have it. My moral inability to produce it does not remove my guilt; it reveals my corruption. It makes me desperate for a new heart - which Jesus came to give." [1]

 

REFERENCE

[1] John Piper. What Jesus Demands from the World. Crossway Books, Wheaton Illinois. 2006. pp 52-53