STTRII, 13 January 2018 | Prof. Peter Lillback Phd.
A foundation on how to be a serious Christian; on how to interpret the bible.
Ideas develop throughout history. And every great idea starts from a small question or an issue or a concern. Overtime it became more mature and eventually, with its significance it became a structure of the church.
It is useful to see the covenant with this outline.
The word 'Reformed' begun with the Reformation.
To Reform something is to bring back to the word of God. It expresses how all protestant churches run. We can see it in anglicans, Lutherans, Puritans, Calvinists.
But the word Reformed has a more specific meaning.
During the reformation, Luther didn’t want to shake hands with the other reformers. He said my spirit is different than yours.
Therefore the word Reformed developed in other ways. Especially in the great debate with the Armenians on Doctrine of Salvation and Grace, in the synod of Dort.
Thus the word Reformed is surrounded with theology of Grace and Salvation. Since then all who upholds TULIP is called reformed, no matter it baptist, pentecost, etc.
But Reformed in this discussion is about the reformed of Zwingli and his descendants.
The word Covenant is used right from the beginning and runs all the way in the Scripture.
We can see it explicitly in the flood and Abraham. It is the idea of relationship between God and his people. The essence of Covenant, Theologians agree on the concept of Adoption.
Those who upholds the covenantal theology believes it as a key idea on how to understand the Bible, that unites Genesis to Revelation.
All agrees that the convenantal concept is indeed in the bible, but not all believe it unites the whole bible.
Therefore we understand Reformed Covenant as Zwingli believes the covenant from the first covenant with Adam and the covenant of Grace in Christ that restores that broken first covenant.
Some understand it as the ‘Pactum Salutis’, The covenant of Redemption which understands the relationship within our Triune God.
Hermeneutics is a greek word that comes in Theology.
Which means how to interpret something or to understand its meaning. The word is used buy Jesus in Luke 24. 2 men were very sorrowful after the crucifixion of Jesus. And they see a man who explains how the prophets say the Messiah has to bu crucified and will be ressurected.
And then they stop to have a meal together, as they break bread they understand all of the scripture in the old testament, Hermeneutics.
This concept is used by Zwingli since first reform movement.
Who is Zwingli?
This year 2019 we celebrate the 500 years of his ministry. It is in Zwingli’s thinking in Zurich that made the first Reformation. Zwingli was part of the Humanists who tries to read everything to the first script, Greek Bible. (Erasmus from Netherlands first published the Greek New Testament.)
As he studied this things, he realised that the teachings of the bible differs alot wrom the teachings of the Roman Church. He began the movement to test all teachings of The Roman Catholic with the Scripture. This is the first Reformation.
There are then a great Debate on what theology should be in Zurich. The First debate he won that all has to come back to the Scripture.
The Second Debate is on Catholic Doctrine about the Lord’s Supper. He won this debate that they should set aside the Roman Catholic Mass and come back to the Bible.
But although he won, Zwingli was taking slow to the change as he was cautious. We are going to this metodhically well and right.
Then Zwingli and his students who called themselves the Swiss … starts to question Baptism of the Roman Catholic. Baptism for infants does not remove sin and needs to be stopped.
Zwingli agreed that everything must be biblical. So Zwingli wrestled with himself whether infant baptism is biblical or just tradition.
He realised that in the NT there are no explicit words to baptise infants. But then he realises in the OT throughout the NT that the Relationship of God and his people includes with their Children. And that this would be God’s Covenant, He gave a sign (sunat) to Abraham, and he wants him to give this sign to his children forever.
Thus Zwingli questions whether God continues from the OT to the NT. In all of God’s covenant, children and family is always included. With Noah, with Abraham, with the Passover, with David and the Kings,
As we read the OT to the New, Zwingli sees Jesus tell the disciples to bring children to Him, and Paul applies the law of Honor your parents for the children to the Ephesians.
Thus when we see the whole bible, infant baptism is the NT way to include children in our covenant.
Circumcision cleanse the old life, Baptism wash away the old life.
Zwingli then addreses the argument of Solace. The NT does not say Baptise your children, nor does it say ‘don’t baptise your children’. Zwingli develop an argument in the history of Salvation. When only Israel is closest to the covenant, children is included. So why now when the covenant became so broad, how does children become excluded.
If God does want to exclude children in the NT, Wouldn’t he like the sacrifice, tell us to stop doing it?
Baptism does not remove sin, but shows the Grace of God.
Therefore the Swiss Brethren established the believers baptism, 25 Dec 1525. Because they realise that infant baptism is not enough. This is to obey the Scripture, and Disobeying the Ministry of Zurich.
Executions were established for the Swiss Brethren for this case, they were called AnaBaptisters.
Ana-Baptist means Re-Baptist. But they say we are not Re-Baptist, we are baptist properly for the first time.
We see today that churches only the NT and disregard the OT.
But Zwingli would say: "the whole bible from Genesis to Revelation belongs to christians." The core of the covenant is what brings Baptism in Churches.
How do we read the bible? Do we seperate OT and NT? Do we emphasize only in NT?
Even the way the bible is grouped, we can see the core concept of Covenant. (Covenant = perjanjian)
So the core question in Hermeneutics is are they (The covenant of OT and NT) directly connected?
In the end of Zwingli’s Ministry as he died in 1531, as a protector of the Reformation.
Heinrich Bullinger was left to carry on the theological leadership of Zwingli in Zurich. In 1534 he wrote ‘Focusing only in the Biblical ideas of the covenant on the whole church’ The one and eternal covenant of the bible. This studies how the covenant unites the whole bible. He uses Genesis 17 as the core of this covenant.
Gen 17 explains a paradigm of the whole Salvation. Hermeneutical understanding to unite Genesis throughout Revelation. (Covenant and Covenant Conditions with Abraham)
This is something that was started by Agustine. ‘The Old Testament reveals the New Testament, and the New Testament is the Old Testament Revealed.’
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John Calvin from Geneva is the next great reformer. In 1536 he wrote more on the covenant that not only unites the bible, but also applied to the doctrines of Christian Theology.
Calvin did not follow Bullinger to make Gen 17 as the core, but he agrees with Bullinger that the idea of Covenant should shape our whole view of the Bible. Therefore the Reformed Theology is carefully regarding the idea of Covenant.
He use this phrase:
“the covenant is always the same in Substance, but it is distinct in Administration”.
The essence of Christian Ministry is Jesus Christ. All Throughout the bible we are reading about the coming of Messiah, The presence of Messiah, The return of Messiah.
But the history of Salvation, the administration, the way of working out, is different form season to season.
We could see this in the constitutions.
Constitutions is the same for all, but with different leaders has different administrations.
The way God works with Israel is different with how he wroks ith the Church. But it is the same Christ as substance.
So, as we read the bible, the question should be: What does this teach me about Jesus Christ.
We need to read the bible in such a way we are asking ‘Where is Jesus in this Story’.
Gen 22: Isaac asked to Abraham, “here is the knife, the wood, the fire. Where is the lamb?” And the Lord spared Isaac and gave a substitute, a lamb caught in the thorns and then sacrificed.
What we see in this story is in the distinct future God will send a sacrifice. The Question throughout is the same. ‘Where is the lamb?’. Finally John the Baptist declares. ‘Behold the lamb of God who abhors the Sin of the world’.
Rev 5: There’s a lion from the tribe of Judah, Behold it;s a lamb standing, it has been slain. Jesus is the lamb of God throughout the bible.
Therefore the history of Salvation is how God tells the covenant with the same substance, Jesus, but administered differently.
OT: Sacrifices of animals.
NT: Jesus is the sacrifice, and he completes the whole sacrifice that we became living sacrifices for the Glory of God.
OT: Passover lamb that has been slain
NT: Passover meal without the lamb. We feed upon Christ by faith.
OT: Tabernacle
NT: The World that Jesus dwells in.
While we are different with the OT People, the OT is also our bible.
Some people call themselves Dispensationalists. God has 2 people, Israel and church. They are entirely distinct from the church. After The church is finished, Then God will continue with Israel .
But Reformed people says there is only one people in one tree of the chosen people. A tree has phases of seed, tunas, pohon muda, bunga, lalu buah. Each step is different than the one before or after, but the essence is always the same. This idea is how we read the bible, how it tells about Christ.
Therefore when we read the bible, always ask how do I find Christ?
Calvin: "As we read the bible, we are brought from small, to the greater. As we read each page, we see Christ more and as we reach the last page, we are standing on a Giant’s shoulder. "
Christology tells about 2 nature. Jesus, Fully Christ, and fully man. But as reformed People as we see Christ, we see the Covenant. the heart of the covenant is ‘I will be your God and you will be my people.” Christ Comes Down to bring his people to his covenant. Then and only then, we see Christ as God-Man. Where God and men are covenant together and by faith in him we enter that union.
Jesus is the living covenant in him in person.
Thus Our salvation in him is also covenantal.
Jer 31: ‘I will make a new covenant with you. It will not be like the covenant with Israel that they broke. It will be a greater covenant. I will not write my law just on tablets of stone, but on your hearts. And I will forgive your sins and remember them no more’.
This is 2 great benefits for us.
The writing of the law on our hearts;
The taking away of our sins.
Calvin Say this as the 'double Grace'.
This has a distinct accent with Luther. Luther states we are justified by faith alone. The doctrine of Justification is the core of his teaching, as an alien ratification of Christ to us sinners. God looks at sinners and the righteousness of Christ, he rightens sinners not for them, but for Christ. And this is only by Faith.”.
But Luther Struggles with the book of James that states we are not justified by faith alone. He delights in Pauls letters on how us sinners doesn’t have that place of righteousness.
Calvin sees this as the second reformer, he sees the debate between Zwingli, Luther, and Catholics. He understands that it is the covenant that can explain this,
God Gives us Justification, but also follows with Sanctification, (the writing of the law on our sins).
“We are justified by faith alone, but the faith is never alone. It is accompanied by all of God’s Saving Grace.”
He does not only saves us but he also make us new creations.
Francis Turretini from Geneva gives us an illustration for this:
"In our body only our eyes can see. But if we take out our eye out of our body, it can no longer see."
Faith alone justifies, but with only faith without the whole grace of God, we are not saved.
Through Faith alone receive Christ, but the holy Spirit who gives us faith to receive Christ, makes us a new Creation with the nature that seeks righteousness.
The faith calls us to live for Christ. -
The covenant gives us interpretation of the whole bible.
The covenant explains how Christ is the covenant itself, as God-Man.
The covenant tells us how we are saved by Faith, with the law written in our hearts. The whole saving Grace.
Jesus says this cup is the new covenant of my blood. This bread is broken as we have broken God’s Covenant. The perfect covenant person is broken in our earth, so that we may be bond into covenant in heaven.
As we drink the cup, we say ‘ I want to be one with you, You are my God, and I am your People’. We want to turn away from our sin and renewed with God.
The covenant helps us preach the gospel
If we understand how the covenant works with Adam before the Fall and with Christ after the fall, we may see how all Human beings fall with Adam. Adam is the covenant head of All humanity. In Adam’s disobedience we are covenant breakers, but we are restored with the Covenant of Grace in Christ. Christ is the Second covenant head, where only the redeemed stands.
We can see how this could become the basis of explaining the bible.
We could ask people, are you in Adam’s covenant, where there is sin, and evil and death, the covenant we are born with? Or have you by faith come into the covenant of Grace in Christ, where there is salvation and sanctification?
We have a contact point with all human. Every human being suffers and are facing death. But the good news is that Jesus Christ is the one who takes away the curse and death. HE makes us one with God and saves us.
Have you determined to come with Jesus, King in his Covenant?
The covenant helps us understand our Eschatology.
The study of the last days, the way the bible express the beauty of Heaven. God will dwell with them, and they will become his people. The blessings of Heaven is how the covenant is fulfilled on how we become one with God.
The covenant helps us live as a Christian.
Covenant Theology wants to see unity of OT and NT. It means we have the foundations of ethics in our life as church.
We see the law of Moses as the law that we possess to show obedience to God. The OT gives ethical bases on living our personal lives, with our family, and with our community. The moral law becomes the standards of us as Christians.
The second part of the moral law is about loving our NEighbor. We could see the responsibility on living eith other people.
5th commandment honor your parents, we see it in our family, and also in our church and country. How God brings us to live civiliations with society.
6th commandment you shall not kill. Our fathers of Reformations say we could see this as ‘You shall preserve lives’. So we have the duty to be good samaritans who cares for the good of people in need. To be doctors and business people that gives prosperity.
The covenant gives us a system on how we should live our lives.
One day we will stand before the Lord. Will he say to us, “Well done my humble and faithful servant, you have kept my covenant, you have been in union with me, you have lived as a covenant person”
We are covenant keepers OR covenant breakers in every phase of our lives.
In our baptism, we enter a covenant with God. In marriage we enter a covenant with God. In the Lord’s Supper we enter a covenant with God. In reading the bible, we enter a covenant with God. In working, we enter a covenant with others, and the moral law is written in our hearts.
Do we look at our lives, and say we should be more faithful to You, should see more of Jesus?
QnA
Does the Israelites today still holds that same Covenant in the OT that all of them are justified?
Jesus said “I am going to take the kingdom from you and give it to others”. In the Olivet Discourse, he states “The temple will be destroyed and not one stone will be left standing.” Jesus also said “Destroy the temple and a new one will be built in Three Days.
It means Jesus sees an end of the Israelites Kingdom.
But in Romans 9, Paul states, God has a concern for physical descendants of Abraham likewise spiritual. Therefore God says to the church, be humble, because God could pulll you out anytime.
“There will be a day when all Israelites will be saved.” Is it referring to the spiritual or physical descendants?
Post-Millenial theology, they prayed that all Jewish people willl believe in Christ, and this will be a sign of the end of times.
But we could not say for sure that the modern Israel today are the proper descendants, as they don’t obey God.
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