PART THREE – The Doubting Believer by Obadiah Sedgwick Jeremiah Burroughs was one of the great preachers of the middle part of the Puritan period. He died in 1646 in his late forties, having written many helpful books, among which are some classics. I’m thinking, for example, of The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. I would also throw in his book Gospel Worship, which is an extended reflection on Leviticus 10. Burroughs also became well known for a commentary on …
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PART EIGHT New Covenant Echoes in Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians I have not said much about the physical effects of the New covenant so far. That is because these effects come to pass as a result of the restorative work of the Holy Spirit which hinge upon the arrival of Jesus Christ and the “glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21 cf. 19). To put it differently, the created realm awaits its restoration; its palingenesia (Matt. 19:28) which …
Part 2: Pilgrim’s Progress There are a number of good books dealing with doubt that I would recommend. More modern authors like Os Guinness, Gary Habermas and J. P. Moreland have made solid contributions to this subject. Of the Puritan authors, we find quite a few addressing assurance, but not so many dealing with doubt. However, there is one particular book by a Puritan that I would place at the top of the pile of books on this topic and …
PART ONE The Pilgrim’s Progress was first published in 1678, with Part Two coming out in 1684. Although the second part, which records Christiana and her children making the journey that her husband made in the first book, is excellent, it is Christian’s journey in part one that everybody knows. The book is an allegory, and one of the best if not the best ever written. Bunyan’s characters stick in the mind. At least their names attach themselves to the …
I’m going to begin a series on Puritan books and writers that I hope will be edifying for my readers. I believe the Puritans to be the single greatest group of writers on the Christian Life and the Life of Faith. This is not to say I believe they were always right, or that they should be followed religiously on every sentence they wrote. I differ from them in their adherence to Reformed Covenant Theology, be it paedobaptist or credobaptist. …
PART SEVEN Was Paul Not Actually a Minister of the New Covenant? Due almost entirely to some dispensationalists viewing Jeremiah 31:31-34 (and Hebrews 8:8-12) as the crux interpretum of the New covenant (Part 2), we have the awkward scenario of those who exalt the grammatical-historical hermeneutic failing to use it when Paul applies the New covenant to the Church. The passage below seems on the face of it to be as clear as day. But those who claim that the …
PART SIX The New Covenant in the Gospels Coming now to the Four Gospels, let me begin with Simeon’s statement in Luke 2. Luke tells us that Simeon was, “waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.” (Lk. 2:25). As far as Simeon was concerned Jesus was to have a dual salvific role to the Gentiles and also to Israel: For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of …
PART FIVE Looking at Isaiah 52:13 – Isa. 53:12 in Light of the New Covenant Many lists of New covenant verses do not include Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12. But I believe there is justification for using it as at least a supporting passage for the study of the New covenant. Allow me to explain my reasons for this. Firstly, I have already drawn attention to the soteriological focus of the New covenant texts such as Deut. 30:6; Hos. 2:19-20; Isa. …
PART FOUR Although being cognizant of Fredrickson’s research regarding pre-19th century commentators on Isaiah 42:6 and 49:8 I think a selection of quotes from representative scholarship will help drive my point home. My point being that it is not some novel view that understands the “covenant” in these texts as being, in fact, Jesus Himself. Many may wish to avoid saying “Jesus is the New covenant.” But I think it hard to circumvent the claim that “Jesus is the embodiment …
PART THREE The Form of a Divine Covenant Both Isaiah 42:6 and 49:8 include a messianic prediction of the Servant of Yahweh being “made as a covenant.” However, one quite often reads the objection “a person cannot be a covenant.” When I read such a statement I wonder to myself what it is about a covenant that prohibits a person from being one? Is a covenant a piece of paper with some writing and signatures? Or is it the ancient …
