The Facts and Flaws of Covenant Theology Part Two
Covenant Theology is the dominant theological system of most mainline Protestant churches and maintains that God has replaced the Jewish people with the church. On the basis of two or three “covenants” that are found nowhere in the Bible, it claims that Christians are now God’s chosen people and that the Jewish people have no claim to the land of Israel. When examining this theology, whatGet More Articles—Subscribe Today!
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In the New Testament, the church actually is referred to as a nation.
In 1 Peter 2:9-11, God has something remarkable to say about all people who are born again through faith in Jesus Christ the Jewish Messiah. “… You are a chosen people, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, God’s SPECIAL POSSESSION, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now YOU ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Notice the manner in which in this New Covenant statement of identity for members of the body of Christ mirrors the same blessings of identity for physical Israel as long as they were obedient to the Law of Moses covenant.
In Exodus 19:5-6 God promised physical Israel in the law of Moses… “Now IF YOU OBEY ME FULLY and keep my covenant, THEN out of all nations you will be my TREASURED POSSESSION. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of PRIESTS and A HOLY NATION.’
These blessings of identity were not sustained through the law of Moses. The physical nation of God did not fulfill the “IF” in this conditional promise. They did not OBEY GOD FULLY. They did not KEEP THE (OLD TESTAMENT) COVENANT.
But here’s some GOOD NEWS! The promised Jewish Messiah, the Son of David DID OBEY GOD FULLY. And it is through faith in JESUS, that people of all ethnicities and geographic backgrounds are now included as members of GOD’s New Testament HOLY NATION.
In the New Covenant, being a member of God’s chosen nation is not a matter of physical descent or outward measurements. This idea is not invented by covenant theologians. Romans 2:28-29 says it like this: “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”
Galatians 3:7 says that “…those who have faith are children of Abraham.” New Testament believers in the Jewish Messiah Jesus Christ are all “children of Abraham”. Being a member of God’s HOLY NATION is no longer limited to one physical ethnic group. All who have been born again are now members of the body of CHRIST, the Jewish Messiah. Every member of Christ’s church is “IN CHRIST”. Every member of Christ’s church is a member of God’s New Testament Israel!
One last word. Not all covenant theologians extrapolate implied covenants from the Bible. The explicit covenants God made with Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and the New Testament Covenant are all that is needed for covenant theology to provide a coherent interpretive lens for the most compelling overall driving themes of holy scripture.
The assertion that Peter is using Old Testament descriptions of Israel to identify all believers and, therefore, all believers are called ‘a holy nation’ is based on a false presumption. To understand what Peter was teaching, we first have to know who Peter was addressing in this passage. Was he speaking to all believers in 1 Pet. 2:9-10?
The evidence indicates that Peter was speaking to Jewish believers who had been dispersed or scattered in the Roman Empire. Peter was first and foremost an apostle to the Jewish people according to Paul’s testimony in Gal. 2:7-8 and Peter’s ministry in the book of Acts. In 1 Pet. 1:1, Peter says he is writing to the “pilgrims of the Dispersion,” a title that naturally fits Jewish people but not Gentiles.
Further evidence that Peter’s audience is Jewish is his use of the Septuagint to quote Old Testament passages. It would be highly unlikely he would use the Septuagint to speak to Gentiles but very natural to use it when speaking to Jews. An examination of Peter’s arguments in 1 Peter demonstrates that they would have been hard for Gentiles to grasp but easily understood by a Jewish audience.
Since Peter was writing to a Jewish audience, it is only natural for him to use Old Testament titles of Israel to speak to Jewish believers. Peter is not teaching that all believers have taken on the Old Testament titles of Israel; rather he is calling out Jewish believers by the Old Testament titles they would readily identify with, i.e. ‘chosen generation,’ ‘royal priesthood,’ ‘holy nation,’ and ‘His own special people.’ This passage does not teach God has begun applying Old Testament titles for Israel to Gentile believers.
It is more than keeping Israel and the Church separate we must keep the total prophetic earthly plan of Israel separate from the heavenly mystery plan of the church which is Christs body only revealed thru the apostle Paul. To many dispensationalists use Israel’s instructions and truths from the Gospels and early Acts and mix these prophetic earthly kingdom truths with far better truths for us. Regardless any dispensational view is far better than the spiritual lies of CT.
I would like to understand more about the “Covenant of Works”. Any good matierial u can recommend ?