11-26-2008, 02:15 PM
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 | Vanilla Westminsterian | | Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Katy, Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greenbaggins  Quote:
Originally Posted by fredtgreco Quote:
Originally Posted by greenbaggins Christ fulfills the covenant of works, or maybe we could say He repairs the covenant of works, such that it applies to us as a covenant of grace, with Christ being the Mediator. The big problem with the lack of republication in the Mosaic covenant is that if the CoW is defunct in the sense of no longer applying, then Christ did not need to fulfill those conditions. The CoW is actually still in effect today for all those outside the CoG. If one is not in the CoG, then one is in the CoW, and still subject to its demands, broken though the covenant is. That covenant equals the moral law, which is my answer to Benjamin. | But Lane,
One can have a constancy in the CoW without Republication. Fisher's Marrow of Modern Divinity describes this well. In fact the CoW is still firmly in place for all outside Christ now, even though no one (I believe) would argue that the New Covenant is (in any sense) a republication of the CoW.
The CoW continues on from the Garden; it does not need republication. I would argue that making the Mosaic Covenant a republication creates far more problems than it solves (not the least of which is pitting the OT against the NT). | I'm not arguing that the CoW somehow needed to be republished. I argue that it was in fact republished when Leviticus says "Do this and live." That is the essence of the CoW as ALL Reformed theologians have said. The promise of obtaining eternal life as the result of obeying the moral law has always existed. The Mosaic covenant says that too. For that matter, if one is not in the CoG today, even the NT tells us that we are in the CoW. The problem with eliminating the CoW from the Mosaic covenant entirely is that it obscures the close relationship that the CoW has with the CoG in Christ's person and work. Of course, here we cannot forget the pactum salutis. In the PS, the Son agreed to take on the brokenness of the CoW in order that, by the same token, it might be to us a CoG. The overlay in the Mosaic covenant speaks of this close relationship.
Such a position does not in any way pit the OT against the NT, since the very overlay points us to Christ who fulfills the CoW for us to that God can relate to us in the CoG. There is, of course, continuity and discontinuity between the OT and the NT. The continuity is that the CoW is always in force. The discontinuity is that there is no overlay anymore between the CoG and the CoW. | Lane,
There is always an overlay between the CoW and the CoG (in time, but not in who is in each covenant). There is also an overlay between the Law as a covenant of works (for those outside Christ) and the Law as a rule of life (for those in Christ). Again, by far the best treatment of this I have read is Fisher's. I find his explanation far more satisfactory than that coming out of WSC (and even more so than Klinean explanations).
When the Law says "do this and live" it says it to the man in the CoW. It says it to him in Adam's day, Abraham's, Moses', and mine. The Law always says that to those outside of Christ. It does not need a republication to do that. The republication aspect militates against the Mosaic covenant's clear CoG aspect.
__________________ Fred Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX) Christ Church Blog "The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle) |