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Doctrine of God 0003 - Lesson 6
Attached Audio:
- THE WORKS OF GOD (Continued)
- Conception (Continued)
- The eternal plan of God (Continued)
- A biblical understanding of the eternal plan of God requires an understanding of several biblical words. Many have developed unscriptural systems of doctrine in this area because they have developed intellectual systems instead of allowing God to speak fully for Himself. (Continued)
- Covenant
- The word, covenant, is found in the Bible in one form or another (covenant, covenants, covenanted, covenantbreakers) 300 times.
- Generally speaking, a covenant is a formal and solemn agreement between two parties to do or not to do a specific thing.
- In the Bible, covenants may be classified as to participants.
- Human covenants are made between two earthly parties, as between two men or two nations.
- Divine covenants are those covenants which God makes with men.
- Divine covenants may be classified according to the conditions of the covenant from the human side.
- A conditional covenant is one which is promised to be fulfilled on the condition that man does his part. If man fails to do his part then God is not bound to do His part. The law of Moses is an example of a conditional covenant (Exodus 19:5-8 [5] Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
[6] And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
[7] And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
[8] And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.
See All...). - An unconditional covenant is one which is entirely based on the faithfulness of God and does not rely on man doing his part. It is a covenant of promise (Ephesians 2:12That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
See All...). An example of an unconditional covenant is the covenant God made with Abraham. The unconditional nature of this covenant is portrayed in the fact that God alone between the pieces of the sacrificed animals (Genesis 15:7-12 [7] And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. [8] And he said, LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? [9] And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. [10] And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. [11] And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. [12] And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
See All..., 17-18; compare Jeremiah 34:18And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,
See All...). - One of the confusing things about the covenants is the large number of ways in which they are used. Besides the various ways in which the covenants are used in the scriptures, covenants play an important part in two different theological systems: dispensationalism and covenant theology.
- Most teachers of dispensationalism recognize that most of the various dispensations have a special covenant attached to them. These covenants are usually called covenants in the Bible and they are connected to how the Lord is dealing with mankind during that dispensation and are usually given at the beginning of the dispensational period. Here are some of the dispensations with their respective covenants.
- The dispensation of innocence and the Edenic Covenant (Genesis 2:16-17 [16] And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
[17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
See All...) - The dispensation of human government and the Noahic Covenant (Genesis 9:8-17 [8] And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
[9] And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
[10] And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.
[11] And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
[12] And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
[13] I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
[14] And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
[15] And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
[16] And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
[17] And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
See All...) - The dispensation of law and the Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 24:1-8 [1] And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.
[2] And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.
[3] And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.
[4] And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
[5] And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
[6] And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
[7] And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
[8] And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.
See All...) - Covenant theology is a theological system that arose within the framework of Calvinism during the sixteenth century. Covenant theology establishes God’s relationship with mankind upon two or three covenants. These covenants define the promises of God toward man and obligations of man toward God. These covenants control the working of God in history and redemption. More will be given on Covenant Theology in the following section.
- The teaching of covenant theology
- The three covenants
- Covenant of Works: this is also known as the Edenic Covenant. When God created man, He entered into a covenant with Adam (Genesis 2:16-17 [16] And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
[17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
See All...). According to covenant theology, this covenant with Adam had three parts: - A promise of eternal life upon the condition of perfect obedience during a probationary period
- The promise of death upon disobedience to the covenant
- The enjoyment of the tree of life forever upon obedient completion of the probationary period
- Covenant of Redemption: this is the eternal covenant between God the Father and God the Son concerning the salvation of mankind. This covenant determined that sinful man would not be left to utter destruction because of sin and it determined the roles played by each person of the Godhead in the redemption of a remnant.
- Covenant of Grace: this covenant is based on the covenant of redemption and it is established in time. It is God’s agreement with man to save those who He has enabled to believe in Him; that is, the elect, who are those that the Father has given to the Son (John 6:37All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
See All...). Whereas the covenant of works applied only to the dispensation of innocence when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, the covenant of grace is the means of salvation in every other dispensation, from the fall of man until the end of time. - Good points of covenant theology
- God has clearly chosen to deal with mankind through a series of covenants.
- Each of the three covenants can bring forth general scripture in its support.
- Covenant of Works (Genesis 2:16-17 [16] And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
[17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
See All...) - Covenant of Redemption (Revelation 13:8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
See All...) - Covenant of Grace (Ephesians 1:4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
See All...) - God has certainly had an eternal plan for man that was established before the foundation of the world.
- Criticism of covenant theology
- Although the ideas contained in the three covenants of covenant theology can be supported by scriptures, the concept of three covenants that define God’s work throughout history cannot. Covenant theology is entirely manmade.
- Although God deals with mankind throughout history by the use of covenants, none of the three covenants in covenant theology are ever named in the scriptures as covenants.
- Covenant theology is based on Calvinistic theology. It is seen as an attempt to soften the harshness of early Calvinistic teaching. However, the covenant of grace is based on God’s choice to save the elect while determining the eternal judgment of the non-elect.
- Covenant theology overemphasizes the making of covenants in the life of the elect. The Puritans and others built all relationships on the idea of covenants. There is good and bad in this approach.
- Covenant theology totally misunderstands the purpose of baptism.
- Since the Jews were to come into the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant by circumcision, it became a doctrine of covenant theologians that New Testament believers come into the blessings of the covenant by baptism.
- Since no one wanted their children left out of the covenant, this was then used to support infant baptism.
- Since all the people of a nation were expected to be baptized, this led to the idea of a government which combined church and state. As a result of this development, those who refused to baptize their babies were not only wrong theologically, they also threatened the unity of the government and brought divine displeasure on the nation. This explains why the doctrine of believer’s baptism was so vehemently opposed in both Catholic and Protestant countries. Those who would not baptize infants were seen as destroying the glue that held society together and bringing the wrath of God on them. Many Baptists died because of this belief.
- The doctrinal system of the Reconstructionists
- Reconstructionists are a group of Reformed Protestants (often Presbyterian) who seek a reconstruction of the church/state model that was seen in some countries during the Reformation and was advocated by the Puritans in England. They wish to build society as a new Israel based on the precepts found in the Old Testament law. However, they are not looking for a quick solution or seeking to take over government at some time in the near future (as claimed by some opponents). They are perfectly willing to allow the process to take many years—thousands of years if necessary. To them, all setbacks are temporary.
- Although the Reconstructionists are a fairly small group numerically (perhaps best represented by Rousas J. Rushdoony and Gary North), they are important because their influence goes far beyond their size. They are strong both in academics and in activism.
Proverbs 23:10
Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: