It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

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Christ, Our New Covenant Prophet Part 4

In our last article we emphasized that one of our major differences with Covenant Theology is an understanding of the clear prediction that Christ would replaces Moses as the new lawgiver. We insist that the Sermon on the Mount is not, as claimed by Covenant Theology, Christ correcting the Pharisees distortion of Moses. It is Christ contrasting his teaching with the law of Moses. That is exactly what Moses prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 would happen when Christ the New Covenant Prophet came. Covenant Theology insists that Christ never contrasts his teaching with that of Moses since the Law God gave Moses, the Ten Commandments written on stone tablets, is the eternal unchanging law of God. Many theologians believe that changing the Decalogue in any way is tantamount to changing God. The Decalogue must be the rule of life for all people in all ages.

In This Issue
Christ, Our New Covenant Prophet Part 4 John G. Reisinger Sources of Moral Authority A. Blake White Determinism or Indeterminism Steve West "The Law of Christ" -Chapter 11 Charles Leiter Book Review: "Kingdom through Covenant ..." Steve West The Mount of Transguration J.C. Ryle

1 1 3 5 7

John G. Reisinger

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It is vital that we used the word contrast and not the word contradict. We totally agree that Christ never in any way says or implies that Moses was wrong in any of the laws he gave. If anyone says Christ claims Moses was in any sense wrong, they are indeed destroying the unity of ReisingerContinued on page 2

Sources of Moral Authority

A. Blake White
As we consider the topic of Christian Ethics, the question of authority is a very important one. What are the sources of moral authority for the Christian? Reason Under the rubric of reason, we include those aspects of creation that have a bearing on ethics (general revelation, natural law, being image-bearers, and conscience). Reason is useful as a source of moral decision-making in that it aids us in understanding the reasonableness of Gods written revelation.1 Having the ability to reason is part of what it means to be made in the image of God. As those made in
1 Feinberg and Feinberg, Ethics for a Brave New World 2nd ed. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 37.

the image of God, we are morally responsible before him.2 Gods eternal moral will, or what Luther called the natural law is written on the heart of all people by nature.3 God has built morality into the world and into human nature.4 In Romans 1, Paul writes, The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain
2 David Cook, The Moral Maze (London: SPCK, 1983), 51. 3 Luther, How Christians Should Regard Moses, in Martin Luthers Basic Theological Writings, ed. Lull, Timothy F. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989), 138. 4 Cook, The Moral Maze, 51.
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the Scripture. However, it is clear that the holy, just and good law (Romans 7:12) was never intended by God to be the rule of life for his New Covenant church. The Law had a distinct purpose and when that purpose was fullled, the holy, just and good law was replaced with a higher more spiritual law, the law of Christ. That biblical fact is clearly set forth prophetically in Deuteronomy 18:15-19. Look again at that important prophecy.
I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. (Deut. 18:18-19 NKJV)

November 2012 Covenant Theologys understanding of Deuteronomy 18. Bold italics indicate where I have inserted Covenant Theologys understanding into the text:
I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words the true interpretation of the words I gave you at Sinai in His mouth, and He shall speak interpret the true meaning of all that I commanded you Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear His interpretation of My words to you, which He speaks in My name will repeat and correctly interpret I will require it of him. (Deut. 18:18-19, revised)

Issue 192
Sound of Grace is a publication of Sovereign Grace New Covenant Ministries, a tax exempt 501(c)3 corporation. Contributions to Sound of Grace are deductible under section 170 of the Code. Sound of Grace is published 10 times a year. The subscription price is shown below. This is a paper unashamedly committed to the truth of Gods sovereign grace and New Covenant Theology. We invite all who love these same truths to pray for us and help us nancially. We do not take any paid advertising. The use of an article by a particular person is not an endorsement of all that person believes, but it merely means that we thought that a particular article was worthy of printing. Sound of Grace Board: John G. Reisinger, David Leon, John Thorhauer, Bob VanWingerden and Jacob Moseley. Editor: John G. Reisinger; Phone: (585)396-3385; e-mail: reisingerjohn@gmail.com. General Manager: Jacob Moseley: info@newcovenantmedia.com Send all orders and all subscriptions to: Sound of Grace, 5317 Wye Creek Drive, Frederick, MD 21703-6938 Phone 301-473-8781 Visit the bookstore: http://www.newcovenantmedia.com Address all editorial material and questions to: John G. Reisinger, 3302 County Road 16, Canandaigua, NY 14424-2441. Webpage: www.soundofgrace.org SOGNCM.org or

We can do the same thing with John 12: 49, 50:

For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And that commandment was to repeat and give the true interpretation of the unchanging law that My Father gave to Moses. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak is always the same thing as Moses spoke. I am the true and nal interpreter of Moses, the greatest lawgiver, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak and interpret the true meaning of Moses law.

The New Covenant Scriptures leave no room for doubt as to what God meant when he made this promise to Moses. Look at how John understood Moses prophecy in John 12.
Then Jesus cried out and said, He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him-- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak. John 12:4450 (NKJV)

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by Permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by Permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Contributions Orders Discover, MasterCard or VISA If you wish to make a tax-deductible contribution to Sound of Grace, please mail a check to: Sound of Grace, 5317 Wye Creek Drive, Frederick, MD 21703-6938. Please check the mailing label to nd the expiration of your subscription. Please send payment if you want your subscription to continue$20.00 for ten issues. Or if you would prefer to have a pdf le emailed, that is available for $10.00 for ten issues. If you are unable to subscribe at this time, please call or drop a note in the mail and we will be glad to continue sending Sound of Grace free of charge.

Some may accuse me of caricature, but I think any honest person will see that I have articulated what Bahnsen, Pink, Chantry and Barcellos (See article in the previous issue of Sound of Grace) have clearly expressed, but perhaps not as bluntly, in their writing. The Object Lesson the New Covenant Prophet Mark 9:2-8 records the great object lesson that shows Christ is the new Lawgiver or Prophet who replaces Moses. It is worth noting that Moses did not make it into the land of Canaan during his lifetime because of his outburst of anger, but Mark 9:28 proves that he nally made it into
ReisingerContinued on page 4

It is exegetically irresponsible to make either Deuteronomy 18 or John 12 mean that Jesus does not give any new laws, but merely interprets what Moses has said. Let me paraphrase

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November 2012

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Determinism or Indeterminism
Steve West
That determinism and freedom sustain some relationship to each other is not up for debate. What is up for debate (and actually debated) is how they stand in relationship to each other. For some, determinism and freedom are mutually contradictory notions. For others, determinism and freedom are fully compatible. For still others, only certain kinds of determinism are compatible with certain kinds of freedom, while some denitions of freedom and determinism are impossibly irreconcilable. Philosophers, therefore, dene their terms and try to make it clear what they mean by determinism and freedom. Christians would do well to follow suit. 1. Determinism What is determinism? A very helpful introductory description is provided by Robert Kane: All doctrines of determinism whether they are fatalistic, theological, physical, biological, psychological, or social imply that, given the past and the laws of nature at any given time, there is only one possible future. Whatever happens is therefore inevitable or necessary (it cannot but occur), given the past and the laws.1 This quotation highlights both the common core truth of determinism, and also the variety of kinds of determinism. At the fundamental root level, determinism maintains that what the future will be is already determined by the past and present (and the present is itself determined by the past). In fact, determinism maintains that whatever happens in the future happens inevitably; given the past, the future must
1 Robert Kane, Libertarianism, in Four Views on Free Will, ed. John Martin Fischer, Robert Kane, Derk Pereboom, and Manuel Vargas (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007), 5.

be one particular way, and that one way only. Now some people who have spent great amounts of energy and time thinking about these matters do not think that the past actually does determine the future with this stringent precision, but nevertheless the xity of the future is what determinism entails. Determinism may be ultimately rejected as false, but it is important to know what it means. Kanes description also points out that there are different species of determinism. Theological determinism (or predestination) is one of the root concepts featured in debates between Calvinists and Arminians. Gods will and decree can be interpreted as ordaining every thought, word, action, and event in the story of the universe. On this view, Gods decree determines exactly one future, which will not deviate one iota from his plan. Tomorrow will be precisely what God ordained it to be; what he predestined me to do I will do; every molecule will be in the place he decrees, fullling his singular, xed, and sovereignly decreed purpose. To even ask whether the future will be different from what God decreed is incoherent in this model. Absolute determinism obtains because of God. Atheists are not likely to endorse theological determinism, but they can still be determinists. Some believe that given all known scientic laws, everything in the universe is unfolding as it must, and has been from the beginning of time. It has sometimes been said that if a super-mind knew exhaustively the location of every particle in the universe, and knew every law of nature, that mind could calculate exactly what the universe would look like in the next second (or sub-second). After making that calcu-

lation, the super-mind could then take the resulting state of the universe with the new position of every particle, and perform another calculation, which would again perfectly describe the exact state the universe would be in for the next moment of time. Moment by moment, second by second, the supermind could accurately predict every subsequent state of the universe. In other words, if we just knew the present exhaustively and had the required level of intelligence, we could see that only one future state of affairs is ever possible at any given moment. The future is completely determined by the physical laws and physical states of the past. On the nurture side of the ledger there is sociological determinism. This needs to be combined with psychological or biological determinism for full effect, but this family of considerations is also deterministic. If you take one human being, with their unique genetic code and unique mental capacities, and place them in a given social environment, it is theoretically possible to predict every thing they will say and do in the future. Of course such predictive success goes far beyond anything we can achieve today, but that is a distinction between contemporary practice and theoretical ability. There is nothing necessarily incoherent about saying: This organism will do x if placed in situation y. In fact, even if one rejects determinism, and even if one takes a rather low view of the scientic qualities of sociology or psychology, it does seem true that social scientists have a reasonable degree of success in making statistical predictions about human behavior given certain identiable factors. If predictive success is improved on the basis of extraordinarily partial
WestContinued on page 8

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Immanuels land.
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transgured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters-- one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him! Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

As we unpack this text, we begin rst with the signicance of Moses and Elijah. Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents the Prophets. The phrase the Law and the Prophets is a common designation referring to the Old Testament, and Moses and Elijah symbolically portray the Hebrew Scriptures. Second, verse seven is a direct and deliberate rebuke from God in response to Peters statement in verse ve. Peter makes Moses and Elijah equal to Christ as spokesmen for God and revealers of Gods truth and will for his people. God the Father announces that his Son alone is the single and nal authority. Moses and Elijah have had their day and are now replaced by Christ. Gods Son has replaced the Law and the Prophets as revealer of truth. Third, a comparison of Mark 9:7, This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him! with Deuteronomy 18:15, the LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him shows a clear and specic promise/fulllment. The message in the prophecy is clear. You must listen

November 2012 to the new prophet whom I will raise up you must listen to my Son who is the new and nal Prophet. The Mount of Transguration is the ofcial announcement from Gods own lips that the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18 is fullled in Christ. God is announcing the shift of authority from the Law and the Prophets to Christ the New Covenant Prophet. Just as Luther wrote the word sola, meaning alone, beside Romans 3:28, so also we could write the word sola beside Mark 9:7. Jesus alone is the nal authority in the New Covenant age for everything, including ethics and morality. We have either to be spiritually deaf or have theological lters on our ears to miss Gods message. Other New Testament passages repeat that message: Luke 16:16, The law and the prophets were until John and John 1:17, For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ are samples. Fourth, when anyone insists that Christ never adds to or in any way changes the law of God given to Moses, they must gut the New Testament Scripture passages where Christ speaks of My words as being the new authority. Fifth, the hear him statement by God indicates, (1) hear him alone, and, (2) hear him in contrast to hearing Moses and Elijah. To deny these implications of hear him is to reduce Jesus to the same status as a scribe or rabbi and deny his ofce as Lawgiver. It is to treat the Sermon on the Mount as the Talmud of Jesus instead of new laws of the new kingdom of grace given by the new King and Lawgiver. It is to reduce Christ to a great, even the greatest, rabbi but nonetheless, still a rabbi with only the authority of an interpreter. Matthew, in his gospel, points out the difference between Jesus and the rabbis in terms of authority. When Jesus had nished saying these things [the Sermon on the Mount], the crowds were amazed at

Issue 192 his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law (Matt. 7:28). The crowds are amazed, not just because Jesus is the best interpreter they had ever heard, but because he is a different kind of teacher altogether. If we insist that Jesus Christ is not doing something new and inherently different from the other rabbis, then we deny that our Lord is a Lawgiver in his own right who replaces Moses in exactly the same way he replaced Aaron. Paul, in Ephesians 2:19, 20, presents additional implications of the object lesson on the Mount of Transguration:
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with Gods people and members of Gods household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

An important point to establish in this text is to determine to whom Paul refers when he uses the word prophets. Almost every commentary on Ephesians written over a hundred years ago will say that the words apostles and prophets in this text refer to both the Old Testament and New Testament. It is a reference to the whole Bible. Thirty to fty years ago, some commentators, like Martyn Lloyd-Jones, said, The word prophets may be referring to either the Old Testament or the New Testament prophets. Most commentaries today will say that prophets in Ephesians 2:19, 20 must refer to New Testament prophets and cannot mean Old Testament prophets. William Hendriksen is an example. He proves this point beyond question. Here are his comments on Ephesians 2:19, 20.
The position that the term prophets as here used refers to the Old Testament bearers of that appellative, such as Moses, Elijah, Isaiah,
ReisingerContinued on page 6

Issue 192

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets. Matthew 22:37-40

November 2012

The Law of Christ t

Chapter Eleven

The Essence of the Law Charles Leiter

1 Used by permission, Granted Ministries Press, Hannibal, Missouri, 2012 pp127ff does it read to you? And he answered and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. And He said to him, You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live. Luke 10:25-281

When a certain lawyer asked Jesus which is the great commandment in the Law, He answered with the verses quoted above, declaring to him not only the great and foremost commandment, but the second which is like it. Though the lawyer had not asked which was the second greatest commandment, the Lord Jesus deliberately volunteered it in order to lay the groundwork for an extremely important teaching that He wanted to set forth. Having quoted the two great commandments, He then went on to make this remarkable statement: On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets. It is signicant that the word translated depend in this verse is a word that literally means to hang or suspend. According to the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole Law and Prophets hang upon and are suspended from the two great love commandments. These two commands are more than just a summary of the Law; they are like pegs on which every other command in the Law hangs. In other words, the essence or substance of the Law is love to God and love to our fellow men; all other commands are simply the outworking and application of these two commandments to the various situations of life. The fact that these two commandments encompass and contain in themselves every aspect of mans essential duty to God is seen very clearly in our Lords discussion with a certain lawyer:
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And He said to him, What is written in the Law? How

Page 5 grounded in the very being of God. Law is an expression of Gods character as that character relates to the created order. Since God is love,2 and Gods rational and moral creatures must be like Him in order to be good, men are necessarily obligated to love, simply because of who God is. Any failure to love is sin. Sin in the nal analysis is therefore sinful simply because it contradicts the absolutes of Gods being. And as a contradiction of Gods being, sin necessarily involves separation from God. But God is the fountain of all that constitutes life.3 Sin therefore necessarily involves death because it involves separation from God. The soul that sins shallof necessitydie.4 Because law is, in its essence, an expression of Gods character, it should be very clear to us that, since God can never change, the essence of the law can never change. The essence of the law is you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. It can never be right for a nite, created being to love his innitely glorious Creator with less than all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. Likewise, it can never be right for a nite, created being to love his neighbor less than he loves himself or do things to his neighbor that he would not want his neighbor to do to him. The two great commandments are the unchanging moral obligation resting upon all men in all places throughout all time and eternity. THE LAWWONDERFUL AND TERRIFYING As a necessary expression of Gods own character, law is both wonderful and terrifying. It is wonderful in that it
2 1 John 4:8, 16 3 Psalm 36:9 4 Ezekiel 18:4
LeiterContinued on page 9

Here we learn from the Lord Jesus Christ that keeping the two great commandments is sufcient of itself to merit eternal life. All of the most exacting moral requirements of the Law are evidently fullled in the keeping of these two! It is these two commandments that make up the essence of the Law. THE LAWITS ESSENCE Any discussion of the essence of the law must take as its starting point the very being and character of God Himself. Apart from God, there is no lawno right or wrong, no good or evil. Specically, there is no standard of goodness outside of God to which He must submit in order to be good. God Himself, in the perfect freedom of His will and being, is the standard by which all goodness is dened. That which is like God is good; that which is not like God is evil. When this principle is applied to the human race, it means that men must be morally like God in order to be good, and all men who are not like God are, by denition and in fact, evil. Law in its essence, then, is not an arbitrary enactment, but a necessity
1 Compare Leviticus 18:5

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November 2012
built on the New Testament Scriptures. They are the churchs foundation documents The church stands or falls by its loyal dependence on the foundation truths which God revealed to his apostles and prophets, and which are now preserved in the New Testament Scriptures. 2

Jeremiah, etc., (thus Lenski, op. cit., pp. 450-453), is open to serious objections such as the following: (1) Apostles are mentioned rst, then prophets; (2) the designation of foundation of the house, a dwelling shared equally by Jew and Gentile, suits the New Testament prophets better than those of the older dispensation; (3) according to 4:8-11, the prophets there mentioned immediately after the apostles, just as here in 2:20, are gifts bestowed on the church by the ascended Christ; hence, prophets of the New Testament era; and (4) 3:5, where the same expression apostles and prophets occurs in a context from which the reference to the prophets of the old dispensation is denitely excluded, would seem to clinch the argument in favor of New Testament prophets.1

Issue 192 Christian back to Moses to learn ethics and morality? Do we not effectively, in the very name of holiness, lower the actual standard of holiness under which a Christian is to live? All parties in this debate agree that the major goal of preaching and teaching is to produce holy living among the hearers. The key point of difference among theologians concerns the content of what we preach to the saints to help them live holy lives. One theology says, Press the law to their conscience and the other theology says, Free the conscience from the threat of law and marry it to Christ alone. One theologian will insist that Moses still belongs on the Mount of Transguration and the other theologian will insist that Moses has faithfully nished the job God gave him and has replaced him with a greater Prophet. The bottom line in this discussion is always the authority of the lordship of Christ in relationship to the authority of Moses. Who rules the Christians conscience, Moses or Christ? Is Moses the nal and full lawgiver and Christ merely the true interpreter and enforcer of Moses? Or is Christ the new Lawgiver who supersedes and replaces Moses with higher laws in exactly the same way he replaces Aaron as High Priest? Are Moses and Christ equal authorities over the churchs morality and the Christians conscience? Was Peter correct after all in his desire to build a tabernacle each for Moses, Elijah, and Christ? Classical Covenant Theology, even if unintentionally, produces a twotiered system of morality and holiness. Unhappily, Moses occupies the top tier. I do not believe this is their intention, but it is still the result. Let me explain what I mean. Suppose a married couple comes into a pastors study for counseling. Their marriage is in trouble. There is
ReisingerContinued on page 16

You may, as I do, nd it hard to believe that an avowed Covenant Theologian would make such statements. How Hendriksen can reconcile those comments to his own theological system is beyond me. I admire him for being honest with the words and truth of the text. He argues competently and compellingly that Paul is writing about New Testament prophets and not Old Testament prophets. John Stott goes one step further and shows the biblical and theological implications of Hendricksons excellent exegesis. What is signicant about the denition of the word prophet as New Testament prophet? It is another declaration of the shift of authority from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. It is another example of discontinuity.
The reference must again be to a small group of inspired teachers, associated with the apostles, who together bore witness to Christ and whose teaching was derived from revelation (3:5) and was foundational. In practical terms, this means that the church is 1 William Hendrikson, New Testament Commentary, Ephesians (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1967), 142.

Ephesians 2:20 means, as Stott says, that there is a historical shift of authority. The life and worship of the nation of Israel was built on the Old Covenant Scriptures, but the life and worship of the body of Christ is built on the New Covenant Scriptures. The authority for all truth and morality for the nation of Israel was the Law and the Prophets, but now the authority is Jesus Christ, the New Covenant Prophet. Whenever Pauls words in Ephesians 2:20 are minimized or ignored and Moses carries equal (which actually is greater) authority over the conscience of either the church or the individual Christian, there is a clear denial of the unique and nal authority of the lordship of Christ in the area of ethics and morality.3 What are the practical implications of what I am saying for the church as a whole and the individual Christian in particular? Is this just much ado about nothing? The practical result in the life of the church and the Christian is a two-tiered system of ethics. As I said earlier, the problem is the lowered standard of biblical holiness in the church. Think carefully about these questions: If the Sermon on the Mount and the New Covenant Epistles do indeed present a higher and more spiritual standard of holy living than the Law of Moses, what happens if we send a
2 John Stott, Gods New Society, The Message of Ephesians (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1979), 107. 3 John Reisinger presented a paper at the International Congress on Theology in Toronto entitled, Christ, Lord and Lawgiver. It is available in booklet form from New Covenant Media.

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November 2012

A Review of Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical-Theological Understanding of the Covenants Written by Peter Gentry and Stephen Wellum (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012; 848 pages) Steve West
Kingdom through Covenant (hereafter KTC) came off the press with plenty of endorsements, and immediately engendered plenty of controversy in the online world. Monergism. com decided not to make the book available for sale, but not without being challenged on their rationale and consistency. At thegospelcoalition.org, the book was reviewed by scholars Douglas Moo, Darrell Bock, and Michael Horton. After their reviews were published, Gentry and Wellum were given space to respond. There are also a plethora of other reviews circulating online, ranging from the informed thoughts of theologians to the uninformed cyber-criticisms that always clutter up the blogosphere. If the old adage that no publicity is bad publicity is true, then KTC is off to a great start. Since the book has been discussed and critiqued extensively already, some justication for this review needs to be given. I want to restrict the scope of this article. I am not going to duplicate the work of Moo, Bock, and Horton, nor am I going to write another review which attempts to be unbiased and only deals with the argument of KTC. Rather, I want to look at the book as a supporter of New Covenant Theology, and write specically for the audience of Sound of Grace. The result is that this review is self-consciously biased in two complementary directions: it is written by a supporter of the general argument of the book, and it is written to an audience who are assumed to generally support the position taken in the book. In other words, it is a review of a book which should be welcomed by those who accept New Covenant Theology, by someone who is in broad agreement with NCT. It is agenda driven. KTC is divided into three sections. The rst and third sections are written by Dr. Stephen Wellum, whose discipline is systematic theology. In these sections, Wellum expounds on the importance of the concept of covenant for biblical studies and theology, and shows examples of the implications for doctrinal formulations and theological understanding that NCT engenders. He also provides an extremely helpful discussion of theological method and proper hermeneutics, and demonstrates how dispensationalism and covenant theology are awed theologically, partially as a result of an inconsistent application of sound hermeneutical principles. There are some issues engaged which are disputable in the wider sphere of NCT (such as the millennium), and a wider readership will not agree with the advocacy of limited atonement (although it must be said that Wellum provides an integrated theological argument for it that cannot be simply dismissed). But even where the reader may disagree, the arguments made are so stimulating that one cannot help but be edied, and the more peripheral implications should not distract from the central message. It is one thing to differ on inferences; it is another thing completely to disagree about the main body of argumentation. The second section is a rigorous exegetical examination of relevant texts concerning covenant by Dr. Peter Gentry, who is an Old Testament scholar, and also a world class linguist

Page 7 and authority in the languages of the Ancient Near East. It must be said that although the main contours of this section are clear, it is probably more academic than some readers will be used to. Although a working knowledge of Hebrew is not essential for proting from this section, it would be an asset. Still, there are so many insights abounding in these pages that a careful reader should benet tremendously from it. One can quibble about whether the book should have been trimmed down a little bit, but KTC is a clear, academic, lucid, and solid production of serious scholarship. It is unparalleled in breadth and depth for authors endorsing a general NCT position. New Covenant Theology has a number of excellent introductory works available, but nothing that even approaches KTC in terms of the material covered and the detail in which the subject is explored. As has been often said, Christ told his pastors to feed his sheep, rather than telling them to feed his giraffes. But there is a place for academics; there is a place for rigor, scholarship, and intellectual stretching. KTC provides the type of scholarly work that NCT needs in order to be truly grounded in meticulous attention to the Scriptures, and the kind of work that will give NCT a much more serious hearing in the broader evangelical community. I have personally heard the complaint voiced numerous times that NCT does not have any recognized scholars supporting it, and that the books are not published by a recognized press, etc. Im not going to dispute that charge, either in its truthfulness or in its fairness. But KTC is a book which will forever put that particular snipe to rest, and its about time! The church should be profoundly grateful to God for the gifts he has given Drs. Gentry and Wellum. Their labors have produced a book which
Review KTCContinued on page 19

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information (given all that could be known), it is not inconceivable that predictive success could reach 100% if every possible fact was known. And if this is the case, then human behavior is theoretically predictable with perfect precision, meaning that our future behavior is in fact completely determined on the basis of what obtains in the present. Whether determinism is actually true, however, is a major topic for debate. For example, some scientists and philosophers reject the idea that the universe is perfectly deterministic, even though it does operate on the basis of certain natural laws. At the level of quantum physics, there appears to be a degree of indeterminacy in operation. Even if the indeterminacy still allows for statistical predictions for what a group of particles will do, deterministic prediction seems impossible for each individual particle in the group. By analogy, a sociologist may be able to predict with reasonable accuracy how many criminals will be found in a population of ten thousand people, while not being able to identify exactly who the individuals are who will engage in illegal activity ahead of time. The key difference with the analogy is that the sociologists inability to specify who will be a criminal is a reection on their knowledge rather than determinism, whereas the quantum physicists inability to predict the location of every particle seems to be rooted in the observable fact that indeterminism is an actual reality in the quantum realm. In theory, the sociologist can do better, but the physicist cannot because indeterminism actually obtains in their sphere of inquiry. There is of course debate about whether indeterminism is an actual fact in the quantum world, or whether such micro-level indeterminacies have any affect whatsoever on macro-level systems, but even if indeterminism

November 2012 has not been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, it still means that determinism has not been proven to obtain in the universe either. In other words the deterministic nature of our universe is an open question, at least in some nooks and crannies. How much of an impact these nooks and crannies have on the universe as a whole is another question. The major point is that at our present level of scientic knowledge physical or mechanistic determinism is not a proven universal fact, but the indeterminacy believed to exist in the quantum world is also of debatable relevance for larger level systems. In other words, how does quantum indeterminacy change the Earths rotation around the Sun? Even if such indeterminacy obtains on the smallest scale, the net effect of such indeterminacy may be irrelevant for predicting how bigger entities will behave, including the behavior of human beings. Such objections notwithstanding, philosophers are still within their rights to ask, if determinism is true, in what sense, if at all, can we be considered free? This is a very interesting and important question, but it is not the only question at this juncture. Another equally interesting and important question is in what sense can we be free if indeterminism is true? Imagine a neuroscientist discovers the brain is completely deterministic, and as a result every single thought, feeling, and action is totally predictable. The neuroscientist can then make the argument that all of our behavior is determined by our previous brain states, and so we are not free. (Stated that simply it would be a pretty poor argument, but the general idea could be defended at great length.) Imagine another neuroscientist who discovers that the brain operates under the inuence of indeterminism. Most of the time the brain is predictable, and operates with perfect regularity. Sometimes, however, random

Issue 192 particles or molecules in the brain act up with literally no reason whatsoever. Their behavior is completely unpredictable not just in practice but in theory because they act out indeterministically. What does that do for our freedom? Not much. The rst neuroscientist discovers our behavior is determined; the second discovers that our behavior is random. Let us say that twenty years from now I will steal a book from Pastor Les Clemens ofce. Unbeknownst to me this act of theft is completely determined by the current state of my brain, and how the deterministic laws of nature will unfold over the next two decades. In other words, on the basis of natural law, I will steal the book. The theft is as good as done, and nothing is going to change it from happening. If caught, I may feel like pleading that the universe determined my behavior, so I am not responsible for it. Now let us imagine that indeterminism is true. I nd myself in Pastor Clemens ofce twenty years from now, and I see many, many beautiful books of theology and biblical studies. Yes, covetous desires arise in my heart (the way they do every time Im in anyones ofce or library), but I do not intend to act on them. Regrettably for me, however, an indeterministic neural event takes place, some molecules act up randomly in my brain, with the result that I reach out and swipe a volume off the shelf. When I am caught I do not feel any more responsible than in the deterministic world. In the indeterministic world I actually feel like a victim of a capricious chance. I am captive not to impersonal deterministic forces, but to impersonal random forces which equally control my behavior. The major point here is that if determinism is taken to rule out responsibility or freedom, indeterminWestContinued on page 19

Issue 192
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describes all that is morally beautiful, desirable, and Godlikethe pathways of love, righteousness, peace, and life. It is terrifying in that it spells certain doom and destructionseparation from Godfor all whose lives are a contradiction of the God that law describes. The existence of God is therefore both the best news imaginable and the worst news imaginable for fallen humanity. Just as certainly as there is an all-glorious and all-righteous self-existent God, so certainly must all the sinful sons of Adam be consigned to eternal separation from Him. The unspeakable glory of the gospel is that God, by and through the cross of Christ, has satised the justice demanded by His own being, so that sinful men can be restored to His smile and favor. Through the cross of Christ, we die to the lawnot the wonderful aspect of the law, but the terrifying and burdensome5 aspect of the law. We move from the realm of condemnation and curse to the realm of justication and blessing, from the realm of sin and death to the realm of righteousness and life, from the realm of requirement to the realm of provision, from the realm of external demand to the realm of internal conformity. THE LAWITS APPLICATIONS As noted above, the essential duty of all men at all times is unchanging. It is important to understand, however, that the specic applications of this duty have not been made equally clear to all men at all times. In fact, the outworkings of what it meansin terms of concrete actionsto love God supremely and to love ones neighbor as oneself have been revealed more and more clearly over time and have differed under varying circumstances: For the Gentilethe man without the Biblethey have been
5 Acts 15:10; 1 John 5:3

November 2012 revealed only by way of nature and consciencethe work of the Law written in the heart.6 For the Jew, they were spelled out in terms of the Mosaic Covenant. Because of the special circumstances of that covenant, love to God and man in the setting of the Mosaic Law involved obedience to commandments that we now recognize as typical, ceremonial, and civil, as well as those that were weightier and related directly to the essence of law. For example, love to God under the theocracy meant, among other things, strictly keeping the Jewish Sabbath and offering the prescribed sacrices in their appointed times, whereas love to man meant literally stoning to death the dearest loved one who advocated departure from the Lord. For the Christian, the concrete applications of what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves have been revealed in the clearest and highest terms imaginablethe very character, conduct, teaching, example, life and Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. They are summarized by the law of Christ: as I have loved you. In the remainder of this chapter, we will consider briey each of these three revelations of the one unchanging law of Godthe twofold commandment to love. In doing this, we will see that the essence of the law indeed never changes, but the revelation of law takes on clearer and clearer expression, until it nds its culmination in Christ. THE LAW WRITTEN ON THE HEART When Paul describes Gentiles as
6 Romans 2:14-16

Page 9 those who are without law,7 he does not mean this in an absolute sense. Though they have never seen a Bible or heard of the Ten Commandments, Gentiles nevertheless have an innate knowledge of God and of right and wrong. When a poisonous snake attached itself to Pauls hand on the island of Malta, the natives said, Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.8 How did they know that murder was wrong, and how did they know that justice required murder to be punished by the death of the offender? According to Paul, they knew this because of the work of the Law written in their hearts. For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.9 When Gentiles do instinctively the things of the Law, it is the essence of the law that is being manifested as written on their hearts. Men know by nature that they should not do things to their neighbors that they would not want done to themselves. They know, for example, that they should not deceive, steal from, and murder their neighborsi.e., they know that they should love them.10 This is why some form of the Golden Rule11 is found in all of the major world religions. In the same way, men know by nature that they should love and glorify God, and they know in
7 1 Corinthians 9:21 8 Acts 28:1-6 9 Romans 2:14-16 10 Romans 13:9-10 11 Matt 7:12
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Page 10 their consciences that they have fallen far short of this obligation. Eloquent testimony is borne to this inescapable knowledge every time the blood of a chicken is offered on a heathen altar to propitiate an angry god. Though it has been greatly defaced by sin, mans knowledge of right and wrong is one of the most indelible aspects of his having been made in the image of God. Long after his conscience has been seared as with a branding iron12 and he has come to the place of calling evil good and good evil,13 man still retains this innate knowledge in the depths of his being. It is an inescapable part of his basic makeup. Paul makes this clear in the rst chapter of his letter to the Romans, where he sets forth the condemnation of the man without the Bible. After describing in verses 21-31 the corruption of those whom God has given over14 to the lowest reaches of depravity, he concludes by saying that even those who have sunk to this state still know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death. This is a remarkable statement! Apart from any special revelation from God (e.g., the Bible), all men nevertheless know
12 1 Timothy 4:2 13 Isaiah 5:20 14 Romans 1:24, 26,28
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November 2012 the ordinance of God that those who practice such things as sexual immorality, homosexuality, unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, hatred of God, insolence, arrogance, boasting, invention of evil, disobedience to parents, untrustworthiness, and lack of love and mercy, are worthy of death!15 Long before the Law of Moses was ever given, God held men accountable for sinning against the work of the Law written on their consciences. For example, God destroyed the entire earth in the days of Noah because the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.16 The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were likewise destroyed for sinning against nature17 by practicing things that they knew18 were wrong. THE LAW OF MOSES When the Law of Moses was given to the Jews, it did not set forth any new law as to essence (an impossibility, since the essence of Gods law can never change). It did set forth
15 16 17 18 Romans 1:32 Genesis 6:5 Genesis 18:20-19:25; Romans 1:26-27 Genesis 19:7

Issue 192 in much clearer light (and in terms of specic concrete commandments) the duties that all men had formerly known only through the law of conscience. In the presence of this clearly written code, the sinfulness of sin became even more apparent.19 In addition, the Law of Moses set forth various new commands related to the particular circumstances of the theocracy. As stated above, love to God under the theocracy involved obedience to many commandments that we would now recognize as ceremonial or civil, as well as those that were weightier and related directly to the character of God. With rare exceptions for special cases,20 all of these commandments were binding on the consciences of those who were under the Mosaic Law, because no man can truly love God without obeying the commandments that God has given directly to him. No Jew would have ever thought that he could love God while ignoring (for example) the commandment of circumcision. In fact, Moses himself almost lost his life for delaying the circumcision of his son.21 Yet, circumcision had no direct connection with the character of God or the essence of the law, and when we come to the New Testament, we learn that (physi19 Romans 5:20; 7:13 20 Cf. Matthew 12:3-4 21 Exodus 4:24-26

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Issue 192 cal) circumcision is nothing and is no longer even one of the commandments of God!22 These principles are well illustrated in one of the woes that Jesus pronounced on the scribes and Pharisees: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.23 It is clear from our Lords words that under the Mosaic Law some commandments were weightier than others. Justice, mercy, and faithfulness, for example, related directly to the essence of the law, and their neglect by the religious leaders was particularly inexcusable. Nevertheless, the Law was treated by our Lord as a unit. Gods people were not allowed to pick and choose among its commandments. All the precepts of the Mosaic Law were to be obeyed; none were to be neglected: These are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. THE LAW OF CHRIST Just as the Law of Moses did not set forth any new law as to essence (an impossibility), but did set forth more clearly the laws applications, even so it is with the law of Christ. As to its essence, it is one with the Law of Moses and the law of conscience, but as to its applications, it is higher and clearer than either of these. For this reason, it is called by the Lord a new commandment. The specic outworkings of what it means to love God supremely and to love others as ourselves nd their highest, clearest, and nal expression in the law of Christ. It should be noted once more that it is not the Law of Moses as such, but the essence of that law (and of
22 1 Corinthians 7:19; Galatians 6:15 23 Matthew 23:23

November 2012 all law) that is written on the heart in the New Covenant. All Christians by nature nd themselves lled with love to God and love to their fellow men, through the miracle of regeneration and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. All Christians love God. This is so invariably true that Christians are actually designated in the Scriptures as those who love God.24 If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, he is anathema.25 Likewise, all Christians love their fellow men. You yourselves are taught by God to love one another.26 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.27 To tell professing Christians (as some preachers do) that they ought not to hate one another so much, is to betray a total ignorance of the nature of true conversion. Though their love is far from perfect, all Christians, according to the Apostle John, love the brethren! The one who does not love does not know God.28 CHAPTER ELEVEN REVIEW
24 25 26 27 28 Romans 8:28 1 Corinthians 16:22 1 Thessalonians 4:9; 1 John 3:14; etc. 1 John 3:14; etc. 1 John 4:8

Page 11 The one unchanging law of God consists of the twofold obligation to love, and is rooted in His very character, since God is love. The applications of this one unchanging law have been revealed with greater and greater clarity throughout the unfolding of redemptive history. From Adam to Moses they were made known primarily through the law written on the heart. At the time of Moses, they were spelled out much more clearly through the giving of a codied covenant to the physical nation of Israel. With the advent of Christ, they were revealed in the highest and clearest terms imaginablethe very words, deeds, and Person of Christ. Christ replaces the Law of Moses, not by destroying it, but by swallowing it up in fullness. Though the essence of the Law of Moses was love to God and man, the national setting of that Law required a formulation far below New Covenant standards. When Christ came, the Mosaic Covenant (with all its attendant laws) was abolished, and a New Covenant with an entirely regenerate and spiritual nation was established. All who are part of this New Covenant have the essence of the lawlove to God and manwritten on their hearts through the miracle of the new birth.

Special Offer $2.00 Discount The Law of Christ by Charles Leiter is available from: Granted Ministries 120 N. Third St. Hannibal, MO 63401 Phone: (573) 231-0919 Granted Ministries has a special offer for Sound of Grace readers. Order from www.grantedministries.org and from now through November 30, 2012 receive $2.00 off each copy by entering the coupon code "soundofgrace" in the green box during checkout.

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November 2012 Tradition Tradition is also very important. We stand on the shoulders of many who have gone before and should take the churchs stance on moral issues seriously as we develop our own. The Holy Spirit has a history and has been at work in the church for over two thousand years. This does not mean that we simply swallow all they have taught. Think of slavery. There were many Christians in the South who advocated slavery. As with all tradition, we examine it in light of Scripture. In this case, we see that our ancestors had major blind spots and we gladly and sharply part ways with tradition. Experience Not all moral issues are black and white in Scripture so in these cases one has to walk in wisdom. We must walk by the Spirit (Gal 5:16). We must continually renew our minds to discern the will of God in such cases (Rom 12:1). As with tradition, ones experience must ultimately be examined in light of Scripture. Experience can be misleading. For example, I recall a woman who was sure she was supposed to leave her husband. She thought, Surely God wouldnt want me in this relationship. I feel at peace about leaving. This woman was elevating her experience above the Word of God for her reasons for wanting a divorce, and these reasons were not warranted by Scripture. Scripture While we value reason, tradition, and experience, the Holy Scriptures are the bottom line of the moral decision-making process.5 We learn about Gods character and ways in the Old Testament and are bound to the New Testament. It is vital to realize where we are in the story in order to play our role well. Michael Hill writes, Only a proper
5 John Jefferson Davis, Evangelical Ethics (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2004), 15.

to them, because God has made it plain to them (18-19) Although they know Gods righteous decree (dikaima) that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them (32). In Romans 2:26, Paul uses this same word dikaima: So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the laws requirements (dikaimata), will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? In Romans 2:14-15, Paul writes, (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) Gods decree is known to all. All have the work of the law written on their hearts. Natural law is grounded in creation and expresses Gods character. It is important to note that natural law is insufcient to save. Unbelievers are hostile to it and seek to suppress it (Rom 1). Some natural law ethicists (mostly Thomists) are very optimistic about building a universal ethic based on natural law, but I see it as insufcient. It is one small piece of the puzzle. It often conrms the teaching of Scripture, but without Scripture, it is inadequate. I am more pessimistic, and I hope it is a biblically informed pessimism. Human nature is too fallen. Likewise, conscience is a means the Spirit uses to help us act in a manner that pleases God, but for unbelievers the conscience is no guide at all, as it can become evil, weak, and seared (1 Cor 8:7, 10, 12; Heb 10:22; 1 Tim 4:2). So reason is an important source of moral authority, but by itself is woefully inadequate.

Issue 192 understanding of the whole Bible will answer the question about the validity and application of the moral elements of the law.6 There are various ways to talk about the story of Scripture. A popular and helpful way summarizes the story under four headings: Creation Fall Redemption New Creation In this schema, we are obviously in the redemption era. One can also trace the story line of Scripture by walking through the biblical covenants: Creation Noah Abraham Moses David New Covenant Within this schema, we are obviously under the new covenant. Or consider the story of Scripture, which is the true story of the world as ve acts:7 Act 1: Creation Act 2: The Fall Act 3: God with Israel Act 4: Jesus life, teaching, miracles, death, and resurrection Act 5: Pentecost and Beyond Scene 1 the New Testament church Scene 2 the church throughout history (including our denomination, congregations, and missional expansion) Scene 3 Scene 4 future history
6 Michael Hill, The How and Why of Love, 45. 7 Here I am indebted to Alan Kreider and Eleanor Kreider, Worship and Mission After Christendom (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 2011), 63. I think the 5 act model was original with N.T. Wright. See his The New Testament and the People of God (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992), 141-43; Also see Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen, The Drama of Scripture (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 27, who slightly modied Wrights scheme.
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The Mount of Transguration

J. C. Ryle
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transgured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves. Mark 9:1-8

was one of the principal purposes of the transguration. It was meant to teach the disciples that though their Lord was lowly and poor in appearance now, He would one day appear in such royal majesty as became the Son of God. It was also meant to teach the disciples that when their Master came the second time, His saints, like Moses and Elijah, would appear with Him. It was intended to remind them that though reviled and persecuted now, because they belonged to Christ they would one day be clothed with honor, and be partakers of their Masters glory. We have reason to thank God for this vision. We are often tempted to give up Christs service because of the cross and afiction which it entails. We see few with us and many against us. We nd our names cast out as evil, and all manner of evil said of us, because we believe and love the Gospel. Year after year we see our companions in Christs service removed by death, and we feel as if we knew little about them, except that they are gone to an unknown world, and that we are left alone. All these things are trying to esh and blood. No wonder that the faith of believers sometimes languishes, and their eyes fail while they look for their hope. Let us see in the story of the transguration a remedy for such doubting thoughts as these. The vision of the holy mount is a gracious pledge that glorious things are in store for the people of God. Their crucied Savior shall come again in power and great glory. His saints shall all come with Him, and are in safe keeping until that happy day. We may wait patiently. When Christ, who is our life shall appear,

then shall you also appear with Him in glory. (Col. 3:4) The second thing which demands our notice in this passage is the strong expression of the apostle Peter when he saw his Lord transgured. Master, he said, it is good for us to be here. No doubt there was much in this saying which cannot be commended. It showed an ignorance of the purpose for which Jesus came into the world, which was to suffer and to die. It showed a forgetfulness of his brethren, who were not with him and of the dark world which so much needed his Masters presence. Above all, the proposal which he made at the same time to build three tabernacles for Moses, Elijah, and Christ, showed a low view of his Masters dignity, and implied that he did not know that a greater than Moses and Elijah was there. In all these respects the apostles exclamation is not to be praised, but to be blamed. But having said this, let us not fail to remark what joy and happiness this glorious vision conferred on this warm-hearted disciple. Let us see in his fervent cry It is good to be here, what comfort and consolation the sight of glory can give to a true believer. Let us look forward, and try to form some idea of the pleasure which the saints shall experience when they shall at last meet the Lord Jesus at His second coming, and meet to part no more. A vision of a few minutes was sufcient to warm and stir Peters heart. The sight of two saints in glory was so cheering and quickening, that he would gladly have enjoyed more of it. What then shall we say, when we see our Lord appear
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The connection of this passage with the end of the preceding chapter ought never to be overlooked. Our Lord had been speaking of His own coming death and passionof the necessity of self-denial if men would be His disciplesof the need of losing our lives if we would have them saved. But in the same breath He goes on to speak of His future kingdom and glory. He takes off the edge of His hard sayings, by promising a sight of that glory to some of those who heard Him. And in the history of the transguration, which is here recorded, we see that promise fullled. The rst thing which demands our notice in these verses is the marvelous vision they contain of the glory which Christ and His people shall have at His second coming. There can be no doubt that this

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New Creation

Notice that scene 3 is left blank. This is because this is our time. We live in light of the rst 5 acts and in light of the nal phase of new creation. We live between the two comings of Christ. As Kreider and Kreider put it, We improvise in light of the past that we remember and the future that we hope for.8 Our calling is to now reect on, draw out, and implement the signicance of the rst ve acts.9 This means the new covenant people of God must be very familiar with Gods past work. He has revealed himself in deeds and words that explain those deeds and these are recorded for us in Scripture. We must be people of the Book. We must understand how God has worked to know how we should work. For the question of ethics, it is vitally important for us to know where we are in the story. We are under the new covenant, not the old covenant. With the coming of Christ, the old covenant has become obsolete (Heb 8). This means that we are no longer bound by the Mosaic law. It was part of a suzerainty-vassal treaty that God made with a particular West Semitic nation living along the southeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.10 We are not bound to the law covenantally, and we are unable to obey most of it culturally. Let me illustrate this latter point by a few random examples: People love to point to Leviticus 20:13 to condemn homosexuality as detestable, but what about verse 9 of the same chapter that says that children who curse their parents should be put to death? Verse 25 of the same chapter
8 Kreider and Kreider, Worship and Mission, 64. 9 Wright, NTPG, 143. 10 David Dorsey, The Law of Moses and the Christian: A Compromise JETS 34/3 (September 1991), 325. I am dependent upon Dorseys article in the following paragraph.

November 2012 says that we must make a distinction between clean and unclean animals. Do we do this? If not, why not? What makes verse 13 binding but verses 9 and 25 culturally conditioned? Or consider Leviticus 19. Some want to say we are bound only to the moral aspects of the law, but in a chapter like Leviticus 19, the command to love your neighbor (19:18) is followed by the command not to wear clothing woven of two kinds of material (19:19). Deuteronomy 22:8 commands Gods people to build a parapet around your roof, but this only makes sense within the world of ancient Israel where there were at roofs where people hung out. Are we to obey this command? My roof is rather steep. Exodus 20:8 says Gods people should make sure their slave takes Saturday off. What is a Christian living in 2012 to do with such a command? Exodus 20:9 commands the Israelites to work six days but almost every Christian I know works ve days, not six. Exodus 29:22 commands them to take the fat of the ram tail. I, for one, cannot keep this command because I live in Houston and havent seen any Palestinian fat-tailed sheep lately. I cant keep Exodus 22:5 and 29:40 because I dont own a vineyard. Exodus 23:11 says to let the land lie unplowed during the seventh year, but I cannot apply this or all of the other similar commandments outlining how to cultivate the Mediterranean olive tree and the uses of its fruit. Exodus 25-29 speaks of the production of the pomegranate, date palm, acacia, almond, cassi, cinnamon, galbanum, frankincense, hyssop, Near Eastern poplar, and bitter herbs. I am not sure if I can nd all these in my local Kroger. Leviticus 23:5-20 commands the Israelites to begin harvesting the standing grain seven weeks after Passover, in May/June. This command requires a

Issue 192 Levantine, Mediterranean, or at least a northern hemispheric geoclimatic setting. As David Dorsey summarizes, The Sinaitic law code was very specically designed by God to regulate the lives of the West Semitic inhabitants of the southern Levant. Nearly all the regulations of the corpus over ninety-ve percent are so culturally specic, geographically limited, and so forth that they would be completely inapplicable, and in fact unfulllable, to Christians living throughout the world today. This fact alone should suggest that the corpus is not legally binding upon Christians and that it cannot possibly represent the marching orders of the Church.11 So it is clear that we cannot obey the law culturally, but thankfully we are not bound to the law covenantally either. Hebrews 7:22 speaks of the better covenant that Jesus has brought about. Hebrews 8 teaches that the new covenant has replaced the old. The rst one was insufcient. It could not produce the people it should have. God found fault with the people of the rst covenant, so he promised a new one (Heb 8:7-8). The fundamental source of authority for Christian ethics then, is Scripture. But it isnt that simple. Ethics becomes a hermeneutical endeavor. We have to apply the Scripture rightly. We must locate ourselves within redemptive history and apply the Bible accordingly. The Old Testament remains authoritative as Scripture, but we are not bound to the old covenant. We are now bound to the law of Christ, which consists of those prescriptive principles drawn from the example of Jesus and his apostles (the central demand being love), which are meant to be worked out in specic situations by the guiding inuence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. m
11 Dorsey, 329.

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at the last day with all His saints? What shall we say, when we ourselves are allowed to share in His glory, and join the happy company, and feel that we shall go out no more from the joy of our Lord? These are questions that no man can answer. The happiness of that great day of gathering together is one that we cannot now conceive. The feelings, of which Peter had a little foretaste, will then be ours in full experience. We shall all say with one heart and one voice when we see Christ and all His saints, It is good to be here. The last thing which demands our notice in this passage is the distinct testimony which it bears to Christs ofce and dignity as the promised Messiah. We see this testimony rst in the appearance of Moses and Elijah, the representatives of the law and the prophets. They appear as witnesses that Jesus is He of whom they spoke in old times, and of whom they wrote that He would come. They disappear

November 2012 after a few minutes and leave Jesus alone, as though they would show that they were only witnesses, and that our Master having come, the servants resign to Him the chief place. We see this testimony secondly, in the miraculous voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Sonhear Him. The same voice of God the Father, which was heard at our Lords baptism, was heard once more at His transguration. On both occasions there was the same solemn declaration, This is my beloved Son. On this last occasion, there was an addition of two most important words, Hear Him. The whole conclusion of the vision was calculated to leave a lasting impression on the minds of the three disciples. It taught them in the most striking manner that their Lord was far above them and the prophets, as the master of the house is above the servants, and that they must in all things believe, follow, obey, trust, and hear Him. Finally, the last words of the

Page 15 voice from heaven are words that should be ever before the minds of all true Christians. They should hear Christ. He is the great Teacher; those who would be wise must learn of Him. He is the light of the worldthose who would not err must follow Him. He is the Head of the Churchthose who would be living members of His mystical body must ever look to Him. The grand question that concerns us all is not so much what man says, or ministers saywhat the church says, or what councils saybut what says Christ? Let us hear Him. In Him let us abide. On Him let us lean. To Him let us look. He and He only will never fail us, never disappoint us, and never lead us astray. Happy are they who know experientially the meaning of the text, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow meand I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:27, 28) m

What is New Covenant Theology? An Introduction A Blake White

Blake White has written a wonderfully accessible primer on new covenant theology This is the ideal book to give to someone who wants a brief and convincing exposition of new covenant thought. I recommend this work gladly. Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary In a very readable, accurate, and succinct manner, Blake White covers the basics of New Covenant Theology I highly recommend this work for those who want to know more about NCT, for those who want to think through how "to put the Bible together," and mostly for those who want to rejoice in Jesus Christ our Lord, our glorious mediator and head of the new covenant. Stephen J. Wellum, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

The Grace of Our Sovereign God John G. Reisinger

Most of the material in this book was originally printed in booklet form. The chapter titled The Sovereignty of God in Providence has been translated into four languages. There are three known people who were on the verge of suicide and were brought to bow in faith, hope, and love to our sovereign God through God using this message in their life. The chapter on limited atonement has helped many so-called four and one-half point Calvinists see limited atonement as the foundation and linchpin of the Doctrines of Grace. One of the constant comments about John Reisingers teaching in both the pulpit and writing is his ability to make difficult subjects easy to understand. Someone said, He puts the cookies on the bottom shelf. John says, We are called to feed sheep, not giraffes. This book is not written primarily for seminary students; it is written for the man in the pew. It is aimed at introducing Gods people to what has been called the Doctrines of Grace that cluster around the sovereignty of God. We know of no better book to introduce fellow believers in basic Reformed Theologys view of sovereign grace than this book.

Page 16
ReisingerContinued from page 6

no hint that they have broken Gods law by committing adultery, but they are none the less contemplating divorce. Do you get the picture? Do you realize what I have just done? I have set you up. I have framed the biblical demands of marriage in terms of a two-tiered ethic. I have dened Gods law concerning marriage in terms only of sexual immorality and of breaking the seventh commandment. By doing so, I have also implied that whatever other biblical rules of marriage the couple may have violated, those rules are not in the same category as Gods unchanging moral law written on stone. It is obvious that one, or both, of these two people have been very unfaithful and disobedient to some things that the Word of God teaches about marriage. However, with a twotiered system of ethics, you have real Commandments, or laws, ten of them in fact, and you also have excellent spiritual advice found in the Epistles of the New Testament Scriptures. True, these rules of spiritual advice are biblical, but they are on a lower tier than Gods unchanging moral Law written on tablets of stone. We would posit that the couple

November 2012 did indeed break the holy law of God simply because the New Covenant Epistles are a vital part of the holy law of God for a Christian. The book of Ephesians is just as much a part of the holy law of God as the Law written in stone in Exodus 20. Every imperative, or commandment, in the New Testament Scriptures is just as much the holy, unchanging, moral law of God for a New Covenant believer as the words written on stone at Sinai. However, a two-tiered system of morality cannot treat the spiritual advice in Pauls epistles with the same authority as the Tablets of Stone, or the moral law of God. What will the Covenant Theology pastor say to this couple? He cannot take them back to the unchanging moral law of God written on the Tablets of Stone simply because none of those unchanging moral laws were broken. None of the ten directly applies to the present problem since neither party was unfaithful to the Law of God recorded on the stone tables. So, the pastor will go to the Epistles of Paul (the lower tier), and start with the truth of the cross. He will earnestly plead, on the grounds of redemption, not unchanging law, that the couple must begin to apply the spiritual principles that Paul de-

Issue 192 lineates. He will assure them that this is the only way to have a happy marriage. In essence, the pastor is saying, I urge you to apply these biblical principles for the sake of harmony and happiness in your marriage, but whatever you do, do not break Gods holy law and commit adultery. The Ten Commandments, called the moral Law, are the biggies on the top tier and disobedience to them leads to church discipline. Pauls epistles are excellent spiritual advice and disobedience to them leads to more counseling sessions. If even the moral teaching of Jesus must be interpreted through the grid of Moses, then certainly the teaching of morality by Paul must also be checked with Moses. Is it not a fact, beyond dispute that such a theology cannot allow the words of Paul to carry the same authority over the conscience of a Christian as Gods holy moral law written on tablets of stone? Must we not also admit unless our conscience is married to a creed, that the cause of this tragic reality is self-evident? If Jesus is not allowed to give any higher laws than Moses gave, then the writing apostles who carry the work of Jesus forward cannot change Moses either. The entire New Testament
ReisingerContinued on page 18

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Issue 192

November 2012

Page 17

BOOKS FROM NEW COVENANT MEDIA

TITLE Abide in Him: A Theological Interpretation of John's First Letter White Abrahams Four SeedsReisinger The Believers SabbathReisinger Biblical Law and Ethics: Absolute and Covenantal Long But I Say Unto You Reisinger Chosen in Eternity Reisinger Christ, Lord and Lawgiver Over the Church Reisinger The Christian and The SabbathWells Continuity and Discontinuity Reisinger Denite Atonement Long The Doctrine of BaptismSasser Full Bellies and Empty HeartsAutio Galatians: A Theological InterpretationWhite Grace Reisinger The Grace of Our Sovereign GodReisinger Hermeneutical Flaws of DispensationalismGeorge In Defense of Jesus, the New Lawgiver Reisinger Is John G. Reisinger an Antinomian?Wells John Bunyan on the SabbathReisinger Jonathan Edwards on Biblical Hermeneutics and the Covenant of GraceGilliland La Soberana de Dios en la Providencia John G. Reisinger The Law of Christ: A Theological ProposalWhite Limited AtonementReisinger Ministry of Grace Essays in Honor of John G. Reisinger Steve West, Editor The New Birth Reisinger The New Covenant and New Covenant Theology Zaspel New Covenant Theology Wells & Zaspel The Newness of the New CovenantWhite The New Perspective on Justication West The Obedience of ChristVan Court Our Sovereign God Reisinger Perseverance of the Saints Reisinger The Priority of Jesus ChristWells A Prisoners Christianity Woodrow Saving the Saving GospelWest Sinners, Jesus Will Receive Payne Studies in GalatiansReisinger Studies in EcclesiastesReisinger Tablets of Stone Reisinger The Sovereignty of God and Prayer Reisinger The Sovereignty of God in Providence Reisinger Total Depravity Reisinger Union with Christ: Last Adam and Seed of Abraham White What is the Christian Faith? Reisinger What is New Covenant Theology? An IntroductionWhite When Should a Christian Leave a Church?Reisinger LIST $13.95 $10.95 $3.75 $15.75 $10.95 $5.50 $2.50 $11.99 $12.95 $10.95 $3.50 $14.99 $15.95 $13.95 $19.99 $10.75 $23.95 $4.25 $3.00 $3.95 $7.50 $14.95 $7.00 $14.85 $5.50 $11.99 $19.95 $12.99 $9.99 $2.50 $4.45 $6.00 $11.95 $12.99 $12.99 $9.99 $19.99 $19.99 $10.95 $5.75 $4.45 $5.00 $11.95 $2.50 $12.99 $3.75 SALE $11.16 $8.76 $3.00 $12.60 $8.68 $4.40 $2.00 $9.59 10.36 $8.76 $2.80 $12.00 $12.76 $11.16 $16.00 $8.60 $15.95 $3.40 $2.80 $3.16 QTY COST

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Page 18 teaching on morality merely becomes a commentary on Exodus 20:1-17. Mount Sinai is the mountain peak where the full and nal word on morality has been given. What am I saying? Am I suggesting that the laws (good spiritual advice) in the Epistles of Paul are of equal authority with the Ten Commandments (holy, unchanging, moral law) over the conscience of Christians? No, I am not saying that at all. I am saying that Pauls epistles should have a greater authority than Moses. It is impossible, in an experiential sense, for us to make the New Covenant teachings of Christ, given by his Spirit, through his apostles, carry the weight of absolute law in either the life of the church or the conscience
ReisingerContinued from page 16

November 2012 of an individual believer as long as our theology insists that the highest standard for holiness ever given is the Tablets of Stone. It is a hollow victory that magnies Mount Sinai by minimizing the Sermon on the Mount and the Epistles of Paul. You cannot posit a two-tiered ethic, with Moses on the top tier, in your theology without practicing the same thing in everyday life. Moses cannot be lord in your theology of morality and Christ be Lord in your practice of holiness in your daily life! The issue under discussion deeply affects the doctrine of sanctication. Remember the Bahnsen quotation. He [Christ] conrmed [the Law] in full measure, thereby condemning scribal legalism and showing us the pattern of our Christian sanctica-

Issue 192 tion. Covenant Theology sincerely believes that the only way to produce true holy living is by laying the law on the conscience. The New Testament Scriptures teach that the Christian conscience must be free from the law before the desire for true holiness can even exist. The heart of the question is whether sanctication is by grace or by the law. I would urge anyone struggling with this particular point to read Jerry Bridges book, Transforming Grace. In our next article, we will quote John Bunyan on the subject of the law and the Christian. His one small article on that subject helped me more than all of the theology books Ive read put together. m

La Soberana de Dios en la Providencia [The Sovereignty of God in Providence] - John G. Reisinger Hay seis principios que son bsicos al concepto de la soberana de Dios en la providencia que corren a travs de la palabra de Dios y esfuerzan su mensaje de la salvacin. 1. Dios siempre est en control de todas las cosas y constantemente trabaja en lograr su plan. 2. Dios controla y usa todo el mundo, aun el diablo, llevando su plan a cabo. 3. Dios castiga los que El usa en completar sus propsitos cuando actan con motivos incorrectos. 4. Todas cosas vienen de Dios, pero el diablo es el agente de toda maldad. Dios tiene un plan y propsito denitivo para el mundo. Es imprescindible comprender y creer estos seis principios para poder tener un entendimiento bblico de Dios o de la teleologa de su gracia soberana. Poder captar y aplicar estas verdades en su vida cotidiana es fundamento para establecer una esperanza bblica que nos lleva a una alegra verdadera en el Seor. Es difcil tener una seguridad y esperanzada razonable y asegurado mientras que vivamos en nuestro mundo loco, sin conocimiento y aprecio de la soberana de Dios en la providencia personicada en estas seis verdades bblicas. Entiende usted el mensaje de esperanza y gracia indicado en la palabra de Dios, o tiene algn problema entendindolo en un sistema coherente? Puede usted relacionarse a las verdades de la Biblia en su vida cotidiana, o le parecen las doctrinas de la escritura sin relacin a las situaciones de la vida real de su mundo personal hoy? Este folleto se escribi precisamente para darle ayuda clara y especca en estas dos reas. Su disea es para ayudarle a entender lo que realmente dice la Biblia y lo que signica, y adems aplicar ese mensaje a las situaciones de la vida real que les hace frente en su mundo personal.

Issue 192
WestContinued from page 8

ism by itself does not help things in the slightest. For genuine freedom and responsibility, we need much fuller philosophical principles and systems. Determinism or indeterminism will play a role in our systems, but they cannot be the only principles we evoke. In the theological debate, then, the Arminian does not prove the existence of free will by denying theological determinism. This simple point seems to be overlooked. Just to say that if God predestines the future, we cant be free, does not mean that if God didnt predestine the future we are free. Perhaps God didnt exhaustively determine the futurethe question then becomes how does your will operate? How does your will decide in ways that are neither determined nor random? If we cannot know what you will choose in any given circumstances, this may rule out determinism, but it does not establish freedom. In fact, it can be argued at great length and with rigor that Arminian notions of free will really collapse back into a random, indeterministic haze, which logically renders the actor with no more true freedom or control than in determinism. Rollback Argument Time is limited, but this argument is important and can be stated

November 2012 in brief. Libertarianism holds that different futures are possible given the exact same past. You live your life and make thousands of decisions. You end up rich, happily married, and saved! But God resets your life back to your birth. This time you make completely different decisions, and end up addicted to drugs, living on the street, and lost. If you relived your life 1000 times, a few times would be magnicent, a few would be horric, and many of your lives would be somewhere in-between. Which life counts? If your rst attempt at living was your worst 1 out of 1000, and the other 999 were better, wouldnt you feel unlucky? What if you get saved in 15% of your lives, but were lost the other 85%? Or, worse, what if you got saved in 85% of your lives, but it was one of the 15% that actually counted? Regardless of whether your life turns out great or awful, it is a matter of luck. You could be better or worse; you could be totally different. All your accomplishments would be different next time, and so would your failures. You are either lucky that your one actual life was great, or unlucky that your one actual life was terrible. Nothing you have done is really you; it is a sheer statistical uke. You are a person who never lives the same life twice; you better hope it just so happens that the life that counts is one where things go well. m

Page 19 can truly help their readers understand the Scriptures more accurately. Faithfulness demands we let Gods Word determine our theology, not just to know more, but so that we can appreciate the glorious plan of our God and Savior. It is high praise to say that an academic book can lead one to worship, but this is a book which does that admirably. One should nish reading with a more profound grasp of Gods plan of redemption, and how he develops his kingdom through covenant. This fresher and deeper understanding should stoke a passion in our hearts to learn more about our God, to study his word and ways more thoroughly, and to love him more completely. Kingdom through Covenant is a book which readers of Sound of Grace should buy, digest, and encourage others to study. And we should also pray, of course, that God uses this work to bring his Son much honor and glory. The glory belongs to God alone, but KTC is a vehicle he can use to bless his people and exalt his name in their midst. It is my hope that future writing projects alluded to in KTC will soon come to fruition, and if they approach the same calibre of this work, they will be a rich source of blessing indeed. m
Review KTCContinued from page 7

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Pastor Robert Jennings has been preaching the sovereign grace of God for nearly thirty years. It was my privilege and joy to preach to his congregation. Two years ago he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He has been given deadline after deadline for his death and so far has proven them all wrong. John G. Reisinger

Dear friends, I submitted the following article to the local newspaper. Someone reported they said it was the second most-read. That could be taken either way, that is, a lot of folks would like to see me gone, or else are concerned about my leaving! I pray it is concern for their souls. Pastor bids a nal farewell Terri and I moved to Sedalia with one child in 1983 to pastor a new church which has met at Highway M Chapel since 1987. Alas, pancreatic cancer showed up two years ago. Apart from divine intervention, Im near the end of the road. Permit a farewell to my dear community. In the almost thirty years we have raised our ve children, lived our lives, gone in and out of the businesses, talked on the sidewalks, preached indoors and out, and Ive written maybe 300 letters to the editor. This appears to be the last. The song writer says, Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away. Especially being a Christian, Ive known that life is brief, death is certain, and an appearance before the judge of all the Earth is coming. Yet, my life is more of a disappearing vapor than I imagined. Indeed, the one great thing in life is to be ready to die. It is simple, but big. Yes, Id like to stay on with my family, with my church, and with the souls of men to try to serve. But Gods will is sovereign. And, I am ready to die, in that I was saved from my sins by the grace of Christ 41 years ago. Heaven is OK! This world is passing away, ruined by sin. There is no x to all the misery. A new president cannot x the land. Hospitals remain, law courts remain, the jail house remains, the military remains, and tears will continue to fall. My closing exhortation to fellow Sedalians is that Christ is the only hope. Make sure you have Him. Thats all one can have, ultimately. All else is stripped away. He will x you; He will x it all. He conquered the grave. I go down with a glad shout, O grave, where is your victory? When the Lord Jesus returns I will rise again with all the Christians to a new heavens and new Earth. There is a heaven to gain; there is a hell to shun. Farewell to all. It has been a well spent journey here in Sedalia. Robert C. Jennings, co-pastor, Hwy. M Chapel, Sedalia, Missouri.