Category: Biblical Covenantalism

Part Seven The Return of Christ in Paul             The earliest letters of Paul are the Epistle to the Galatians and the two Epistles to the Thessalonians (c. A.D. 48-50).  Every attentive reader knows that the theme of the second coming is found in every chapter but one of 1 and 2 Thessalonians.  The teaching also features strongly in 1 Corinthians 3 and 15; Philippians 3:20; the letter to Titus, and 1 and 2 Timothy.  Different verbs are used for …

Part Six When Christ Delivers Up the Kingdom to the Father               There is a strategic passage in 1 Corinthians which bears upon both the eschatology and teleology of the Bible.  That text is found in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 and requires a little time to think through, although I will confess at the outset that the passage may act as an exemplar of the influence of theological predispositions in hermeneutics.[1]  Because the thought is condensed it is easy to …

Part Five Paul Before the Areopagus I want to shift gears a bit and take a look at the “twins” which comprise the Creation Project and that drive it through the instrumentality of the covenants.  Those twins being Eschatology and Teleology which I spoke about in the first volume.  A good place to start is Paul’s defense at Mars Hill in Acts 17.  He is addressing pagan Greeks who have no familiarity with the Scriptures.  There would have been fruitless …

Part Four Paul, the Law, and the New Covenant             It all comes down to this: the saint who is under the New covenant in Christ is not under the old covenant.  The reason is twofold.  Firstly, Paul, in agreement with Jesus’ earlier statement in Matthew 5:17-20, declares that faith in Christ does not void the law but rather establishes it in the act of keeping it for us (Rom. 3:31).[1]  My second reason comes as a logical consequence of …

Part Three Assessing the Argument for Restricting the New Covenant to Israel               J. Dwight Pentecost is a respected Dispensational scholar who wrote a fine book entitled Thy Kingdom Come.[1]  In this work he covers the New covenant in on pages 164 to 177.  The main passages Pentecost cites as referring to the New covenant are Isa. 61:8; Jer. 31:31-34; 32:37-42; Ezek. 16:60-62; 36:24-32; and 37:26.  He believes that the New covenant was made with Israel alone.[2]  He gives …

This series is from the first draft of my book ‘The Words of the Covenant: New Testament Continuation.‘ Volume One on Old Testament Expectation is already available. Part Two Another Pauline New Covenant Text We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you,And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. – 2 Corinthians 6:1-2. …

Part One Paul’s Understanding of God’s Covenants             Let me begin by again stating that the Apostle Paul saw himself as an ambassador of the New covenant. (2 Cor. 3:5).  Even though he rarely refers to it by name, it has become clear to many scholars that Paul’s theology is steeped in the New covenant.[1]   In the passages I cited above we can see this.  And it is true to say that without this comprehension of his mission Paul’s theology …

From the time of Paul’s dramatic conversion in Acts 9 he was called to represent Yahweh to the Gentiles.  Yet he never forgot his people.  He would often begin a stint in a city by going into the synagogues and expounding Christ to the Jews (e.g., Acts 13:14; 14:1; 17:1-3).  Although he did not write systematic expositions, Paul’s occasional letters He is the qualify him as the greatest theologian of the Christian Church.  His thought is profound and multilayered, and …