New Covenant Theology Essentials # 1

New Covenant Theology Essentials # 1

The story of Scripture can be summarized as "Creation to New Creation." How God brings revelation, history, and humanity from creation to new creation is referred to by many as "Redemptive History." One of the most complex yet rewarding pursuits in biblical studies is to understand the flow of Redemptive History. What is its structure? How does it progress and develop over time? How is one era related to another? Where do we find unity and continuity? Where do we encounter diversity and discontinuity? What has priority and permanence? What is temporal and passing away? These are not merely questions for the academic theologian. Since there is more material devoted specifically to this issue in the New Testament than to almost any other single issue, the Bible itself invites every believer to pursue this understanding of the big picture with all its theological and practical implications for life and faith.

Currently there are three main systems of theology within evangelical Christianity which address the subject of Redemptive History:

Covenant Theology
Dispensational Theology
New Covenant Theology

Whether or not they are conscious of it, all Christians will generally fall into one of these three systems.

Generally speaking, Covenant Theology emphasizes continuity to the expense of discontinuity. Since the Westminster Confession of Faith is structured around Covenant Theology, it is mostly Presbyterians who adhere to Covenant Theology, although others do was well (e.g. Reformed Baptists).

Dispensationalism, on the other hand, tends to emphasize discontinuity at the expense of continuity. It is mostly Bible churches that adhere to Dispensationalism, but it is certainly not limited to them. Dispensationalism is by far the most popular of the three, due in large part to its adoption early on in the Fundamentalist movement, as well as current popular marketing with fictional books and movies.

New Covenant Theology accommodates both continuity and discontinuity. It is held to by those in the "believer's church" tradition. New Covenant Theology is a relatively new label, but it is not a new method of interpretation. The early church fathers, the Anabaptists, as well as other significant figures in church history put the Bible together in a similar way.

There are six key distinctives that make up New Covenant Theology. Taken individually, these points may fit into Covenant Theology and/or Dispensationalism, but taken together they uniquely fit New Covenant Theology.

1. One Plan of God Centered in Jesus Christ.

The first distinctive of New Covenant Theology is that there is one plan of God throughout the Bible. This plan is centered on and finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the new covenant. Ephesians 1:8-10 says, With all wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment - to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." Covenant Theology speaks of this plan in terms of the "covenant of grace." New Covenant strives to let biblical theology inform systematic theology. Exegesis should be the lifeblood of theology. This being the case, New Covenant Theology does not find exegetical warrant for an over arching covenant of grace that encompasses all the biblical covenants. This tends to flatten out the Bible. There is both continuity between the covenants and discontinuity. Each covenant must be dealt with in its own context as well as its contribution to the whole. When we recognize this, it becomes clear that there is a sharp contrast between the Old Covenant and the New. Dispenationalism, on the other hand, tends to chop up the Bible, not seeing the fulfillment that the Messiah brings in continuity with what has gone before.

2. The Old Testament Should be Interpreted in Light of the New Testament

The second distinctive of New Covenant Theology is its insistence that the Old Testament must be read and interpreted in light of its New Testament fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the new covenant. Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe". We take the progressive nature of God's revelation with the utmost seriousness. We learn how to interpret the Old Testament from Jesus and His apostles. It is our opinion that the conclusions of Covenant Theology and Dispensational Theology are a result of beginning with the Old Testament rather than the New Testament.

~Blake White~

(continued with # 2)