elnwood
Puritan Board Junior
I would argue that Christ does not intercede until a person comes to faith.
Well, what was he doing in John 17? Was he not interceeding for "all those that *will* believe?
I don't think we can draw a direct correlation between the prayer of John 17 and the intercession that Christ does in a high priestly role.
For example, Christ prays for the disciples, which includes Judas, and clearly Judas is not elect. Christ says he prays them, and that he has not lost one of them except the son of perdition.
If Christ is interceding for you as a high priest, then you are in the New Covenant. The RB position is that everyone in the NC is regenerated. The elect who have not been regenerated yet are therefore not in the NC. This is consistent with RB teaching. What you are proposing is that the unregenerate elect are in the NC since they have Christ as their high priest, which is inconsistent with RB teaching.
Well, not to get into a side debate, but there is disagreement within the RB tradition on that. Some say that the *elect* are in the NC. For example, Jesus is the *priest* of the *invisible church* which includes "all the elect who have, are, and will live.
Anyway, that's the way *some* RBs have argued.
Interesting. That doesn't make any sense to me. I don't know how they get around the idea that everyone in the New Covenant is regenerated. If you don't mind, I'd be interested in know which RBs argue this.
Right, but the problem is that Hebrews says that this is how the NC is better. If atonement is made, you get saved. That was not the case in the OC.
I'm not going to push that argument because forming doctrine from typologies is always tenuous, but I think the argument can be made. Obviously Christ's sacrifice is better than the OC sacrifices because it actually does (or can, to a 4-pointer) remove sin.
At any rate, how could you be outside of the New Covenant and yet have Jesus as your high priest. Even in the OT if you didn't come to God by faith, you were still a covenant member. The idea that one is outside of the covenant, with Jesus as his atoning high priest, is foreign to Scripture.
I don't think that Jesus becomes a person's high priest until he intercedes for him, and he doesn't intercede for someone until they have faith.