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8/22/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 199, July-August 2013
1/24
New Testament) is tantamount or equated with eshly
obedience to a written code.The way to avoid this, in the
minds of many, is to recognize a new kind of obedience,
either performed subconsciously by the Spirit or synony-mous with the Spirit himself. As I interact with several
writers illustrating this error (their quotes in italics), note
how the doctrine of sanctication and the volitional acts
of believers is being conated with the work of God in
forensic justication, even to the exclusion of the means of
the written word.
Steve Brown, a professor at Reformed Theological
Seminary wrote, In the case of our sin, God resolved the
problem by sending his Son to die on a cross as our re-
deemer. If we could be
Melchizedek is one of the most mysterious persons in all of Scripture. He
seems to come from nowhere, makes one brief appearance, and then totally
disappears without leaving a forwarding address. His whole history is recorded
in three verses in the Old Testament Scriptures:
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the
priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the
most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God,
which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all
(Gen.14:18-21).
David makes the only other reference to Melchizedek in the Old Testament
Scriptures. David, speaking prophetically, ties Melchizedek to the coming
Messiah:
Is s ue 1 9 9 Jul y-Augus t 2 0 1 3
It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9
Christ, Our New Covenant High
PriestPart 6
John G. Reisinger
2012 Providence Theological SeminaryDoctrinal Conference
The Specic Characteristics of the Grace Move-ment: #4 The Conation of Justication and Sanc-
tication
One of the results if not the intended purpose of con-
ating sanctication and justication is to minimize or
reject the intentionality of the regenerate human will. Even
though no reformed Protestant that I am aware of has
ever denied that true obedience in the believer is ulti-
mately the Spirits work, what is being assumed at least
implicitly is that any intentionality in response to a
written commandment, principle, or precept (Old or
The New Heart, The New Covenant, and Not So New
Controversies: A Critique of the Modern
Grace Movement Part 3 of 3
Dr. J. David Gilliland
ReisingerContinued on page 2
GillilandContinued on page 16
In This Issue
Christ, Our New Covenant HighPriest Part 6
John G. Reisinger
1
The New Heart, The NewCovenant, and Not So New
Controversies: A Critique of theModern "Grace Movement" Part 3 of 3
Dr. J. David Gilliland
1
Galatians 6:15-16
A. Blake White3
Biblical Worship - Revelation 4
Steve West5
A Study of New CovenantTheology, Part 2 of 4
Kevin P. McAloon
7
8/22/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 199, July-August 2013
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Page 2 July-August 2013 Issue 199
Sound of Graceis a publication of Sovereign
Grace New Covenant Ministries, a tax exempt
501(c)3 corporation. Contributions to Sound
of Grace are deductible under section 170 of
the Code.
Sound of Graceis published 10 times a year.
The subscription price is shown below. This is
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Theology. We invite all who love these sametruths to pray for us and help us nancially.
We do not take any paid advertising.
The use of an article by a particular person
is not an endorsement of all that person
believes, but it merely means that we thought
that a particular article was worthy of printing.
Sound of Grace Board: John G. Reisinger,
David Leon, John Thorhauer, Bob VanWing-
erden and Jacob Moseley.
Editor: John G. Reisinger; Phone: (585)396-
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Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken
from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNA-
TIONAL VERSION Copyright 1973, 1978,
1984 by International Bible Society. Used by
Permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are
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Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Used by Permission. All rights reserved.
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ReisingerContinued from page 1
ReisingerContinued on page 4
The LORD hath sworn, and will
not repent, Thou art a priest for
ever after the order of Melchizedek
(Ps.110:4).
Nothing else is recorded about
this mysterious person in the Old
Testament Scriptures. The Jewishcommentators take little note of
Melchizedek in all of their writ-
ings. The writer of the Book of
Hebrews sees Melchizedek as one
of the most important persons in the
Old Testament Scriptures. Actually
he is shown to be a greater person
than even the patriarch Abraham.
Melchizedek is also seen as the
ultimate proof that our Lord is not
only a true high priest, but he is a
much greater high priest than was
Aaron. Melchizedek thus becomes an
extremely important man in the New
Testament theology of fulllment.
There is a sense in which this mysteri-
ous man is the bridge between the two
testaments. Melchizedek is the clear
proof that the Old Covenant made
with Israel at Sinai was an inferior
and temporary arrangement that has
been replaced by a new arrange-
ment that is in reality older than theMosaic covenant. The message taught
in Hebrews concerning Melchizedek
leaves the wavering Jews without any
excuse for even thinking about going
back to Judaism.
Hebrews introduces Melchizedek
to the New Testament.
As he saith also in another place,
Thou art a priest for ever after the order
of Melchizedek (Heb 5:6)
The writer quickly notes an impor-
tant bit of information about the atti-
tude of the Jews toward Melchizedek.
They did not like to hear about this
mysterious person.
Called of God an high priest afterthe order of Melchizedek. Of whom we
have many things to say, and hard to be
uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing
(Heb.5:19, 11).
The Jews reluctance to hear about
Melchizedek is at the heart of under-
standing the book of Hebrews. The
exposition of the Melchizedeks role
in redemptive history establishes the
biblical relationship between the Old
and New Covenants. The truth the
Jews were not interested in hearingis the very foundation of our hope,
as Gentiles, in Christ as the true
Messiah. We will come back to this
point in a moment and show that the
book of Hebrews is a masterpiece of
biblical exegesis. I used to say; You
could read those three verses about
Melchizedek in Genesis 14 a million
times and never come up with the the-
ology of the book of Hebrews. Since
learning New Covenant theology I can
see how wrong I was. Anyone usingNew Covenant principles of exegesis
will come to the same conclusions as
this writer to the book of Hebrews.
That is why the rabbinical writ-
ers are not interested in discussing
Melchizedek. They can see where it
leads and how clearly and thoroughly
it ends the Old Covenant religion of
Judaism it had established. We will
come back to this after we demon-
strate the importance of this mysteri-ous person called Melchizedek.
Melchizedek Is a Type of Christ
First of all, we must realize that
Melchizedek is a biblicaltype of
Christ. A type is an Old Testament
person or event that gives us a picture
of a New Testament truth. A type
usually foreshadows the person or
work of Christ. The bronze serpent
that Moses had placed on a pole was
a type of Christ being lifted up on thecross to bear our guilt. This is not just
our idea, but it is specically set forth
in the New Testament Scriptures:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son
of man be lifted up (John 3:14).
As we read the Old Testament
Scriptures we will often see things
that clearly remind us of something
8/22/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 199, July-August 2013
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Issue 199 July-August 2013 Page 3
WhiteContinued on page 8
them, and upon the Israel of God.
This rule (kann) here is the rule
of the new creation: neither circum-
cision nor uncircumcision matters
only the new creation matters. The
verb for walk (stoich) here is the
same one used in Galatians 5:25 for
keeping in step with the Spirit. To
keep in step with the Spirit is to keep
in step with the rule of the new cre-
ation.3This is not surprising since, as
we have seen, the Spirit is the gift of
the new age. Isaiah 32:12-18 says,Beat your breasts for the pleasant
elds, for the fruitful vine, for the soil
of my people growing up in thorns
and briers, yes, for all the joyous
houses in the exultant city. For the
palace is forsaken, the populous city
deserted; the hill and the watchtower
will become dens forever, a joy of wild
donkeys, a pasture of ocks; until the
Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and the wilderness becomes a fruitful
eld, and the fruitful eld is deemeda forest. Then justice will dwell in the
wilderness, and righteousness abide
in the fruitful eld. And the effect of
righteousness will be peace, and the
result of righteousness, quietness and
trust forever. My people will abide in a
peaceful habitation, in secure dwell-
ings, and in quiet resting places.
When the Spirit is poured out from
on high, the wilderness will become a
fruitful eld. The old creation will be-
come new. It will be a place of justice,righteousness, and peace. Israel will
abide in a peaceful habitation on the
new earth.
Peace and mercy be upon those
who follow this(houtos) rule. The
phrase, and (kai) upon the Israel of
God has proved to be controversial,
but it shouldnt be. Is Paul referring to
two different groups here? So it would
3 Ibid.
For neither circumcision counts
for anything, nor uncircumcision, buta new creation.
Verse 15 grounds verse 14. We
should boast only in the cross because
(gar) neither circumcision nor uncir-
cumcision counts for anything but
new creation counts for everything.1
In this verse, we nd the reason for
Pauls writing.
We have an inclusiohere with Ga-
latians 1:4. Christ delivered us from
the old age (creation) and inauguratedthe new creation (age). The cross,
as the pivot-point of the ages, and
the new creation are bound together.
Circumcision, as part of the old cov-
enant, is part of the old age. Schreiner
writes, Eschatology, then, plays a vi-
tal role in Galatians, for the Judaizers
were attached to the old age and failed
to see that the new had come.2
The phrase neither circumcision
nor uncircumcision counts for any-thing occurs earlier in Galatians as
well as in 1 Corinthians:
For in Christ Jesus neither cir-
cumcision nor uncircumcision counts
for anything, but only faith working
through love. (Gal. 5:6)
For neither circumcision counts
for anything nor uncircumcision, but
keeping the commandments of God.
(1Cor. 7:19)
The old distinctions no longer holdup. What matters is faith working
through love, keeping the command-
ments of God, and the new creation!
16 And as for all who walk by
this rule, peace and mercy be upon
1 The TNIV translates this verse as Nei-
ther circumcision nor uncircumcision
means anything; what counts is the
new creation.
2 Schreiner, Galatians, 350.
read, Peace be upon the new creation
people (i.e., the church) and peace
also be upon ethnic Israel. Not a
chance. This would turn the argument
of the entire letter on its head. He
has labored over the last six chapters
to show that there is no distinction
between Jew and Gentile in Christ.Tobring a distinction into the letter at its
close would utterly confuse his read-
ers. The NIV is better on this verse,
translating the kaias explicative:
Peace and mercy to all who follow
this rule to the Israel of God.
Clearly he is referring to the
church here, which consists of Jews
and Gentiles who trust Christ.4We
have seen this perspective in Pauls
other letters:Romans 2:28-29- For no one is a
Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor
is circumcision outward and physical.
But a Jew is one inwardly, and circum-
cision is a matter of the heart, by the
Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is
not from man but from God.
Philippians 3:3- For we are the
circumcision, who worship by the
Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus
and put no condence in the esh.
We also see this theology else-
where in Galatians:
3:7- Know then that it is those of
faith who are the sons of Abraham.
3:29- And if you are Christs, then
you are Abrahams offspring, heirs
according to promise.
4:28- Now you, brothers, like
Isaac, are children of promise.
4:31- So, brothers, we are not
children of the slave but of the freewoman.
6:16- And as for all who walk by
this rule, peace and mercy be upon
them, and upon the Israel of God.
4 John Barclay, Obeying the Truth, 98;
Longenecker, Galatians, 297-99; O.
Palmer Robertson, The Israel of God
(Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing,
2000), 40-46.
Galatians 6:15-16
A. Blake White
8/22/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 199, July-August 2013
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Page 4 July-August 2013 Issue 199
Levitical priest, then Christ is totally
different than the Levitical priest-
hood, and he is like the Melchizedek
priesthood. If this verse is comparing
Melchizedek the manto Jesus the
manthen the words cannot possibly
describe our Lord. Jesus, the man,
had a mother, and his beginning ofdays or birth is one the most clearly
established facts in historywe cel-
ebrate it at Christmas time. His end
of days is a public event that actually
took place in history. Besides all of
that, the two genealogies of Christ are
carefully traced in the New Testament
Scriptures. The man, Jesus, has a
clear and recorded genealogy. Lets
look at the things in the text one at
time.
First of all, ancestry was a big deal
at that point in history. It meant every-
thing in the Levitical order of priests.
An event in the time of Ezra proves
this point.
And of the children of the priests:
the children of Habaiah, the children
of Koz, the children of Barzillai;
which took a wife of the daughters
of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was
called after their name: These sought
their registeramong those that werereckoned by genealogy, but they were
not found:therefore were they, as
polluted,put from the priesthood.And
the Tirshatha said unto them, that they
should not eat of the most holy things,
till there stood up a priest with Urim
and with Thummim (Ezra 2:61-63).
These priests were considered
polluted and were not allowed to
function until a testimony from God
veried their heredity.
Secondly, the whole tribe of Levi
was assigned to do the work of the
Tabernacle. They alone were allowed
into the Holy Place. Everyone else
was shut out, or they would be put to
death.
And thou shalt give the Levites
unto Aaron and to his sons: they are
wholly given unto him out of the chil-
ReisingerContinued from page 2
about Christ, and we call this a type
of Christ. However, a biblicaltype
of Christ will always have a reference
in the New Testament Scriptures that
informs us what the type in the Old
Testament Scriptures means. John
3:14 proves that Numbers 21:8 is to beunderstood as a type of Christs aton-
ing work. Jonah being in the whales
belly is specically mentioned in the
New Testament Scriptures as a type
of Christs burial and resurrection.
The lambs slain by the Old Covenant
priests were types of Christ, the true
Lamb of God. John 1:29 states this
clearly. Hebrews 7:1-3 tells us that the
Melchizedek mentioned in Genesis
and Psalms is a type of Christ as our
High Priest.
Types are very limited in their usein that they give us only a very small as-pect of the thing which they typify. Forinstance both Aaron and Melchizedekare types of different aspects of Christshigh priestly work, but in Hebrews7:1-10 the writers whole point is toshow how totally inferior Aaron is toMelchizedek even though Aaron is atrue type of Christ. Sometimes a typeof Christ will only show one particular
thing about him or his saving work.
The rst thing to understand is
that Hebrews 7:3 is clearly stating that
Melchizedek is a type of Christ.
Melchizedeks Identity - Who, or
What, Is He?
Some commentators believe
Melchizedek was an angel, others that
this was a pre-incarnate appearance of
Christ on earth, and still others insist
that Melchizedek was a real historicalman. The evidence of the latter seems
to me to be conclusive.
First of all, Melchizedek is said to
be made like the Son of God (Heb
7:3). The writer would not say that if
Melchizedek was in realitythe Son of
God but merely like him. Secondly,
one of the specic requirements for
anyone being a high priest was that
the individual had to be a true human
being.
For every high priest takenfrom
among menis ordained for men in
things pertaining to God, that he may
offer both gifts and sacrices for sins
(Heb.5:1).
The whole argument of Hebrews
4:14-16 is designed to prove that thehumanity of Christ is the foundational
truth that gives us the courage to
come to him with absolute assur-
ance that he understands us and
can help us. It can be argued that
if Melchizedek is not a real human
being, then he lacks the essential
qualications of being a high priest.
If Melchizedek is in reality Christ
himself, then there is no legitimate
human priesthood after the orderof Melchizedek. However, the most
important reason for believing
Melchizedek is a real human being
is the point the writer is proving by
associating Melchizedek with Christ
as a High Priest. We will have to
wait until later to lay this point out
in detail. For now, remember that the
writer of Hebrews is showing that the
New Covenant believer not only has a
real High Priest, but our high priest is
of an order that predates the Leviticalpriesthood. In fact, both Aaron and
Abraham, the patriarch himself, paid
tithes to a priest in the same order as
our High Priest. More later!
I am sure many will ask, But how
do you understand the language used
in Hebrews 7:3. Those things can only
apply to Christ. Let us look at the
text carefully.
Without father, without mother,
without descent, having neither begin-
ning of days, nor end of life; but made
like unto the Son of God; abideth a
priest continually (Heb 7:3).
The writer is not comparing two
menbut two kinds ofpriesthood.
This fact unlocks the meaning of the
passage. All of the things said about
Melchizedek are exactly opposite
of the Levitical priests. When we
compare Melchizedek as a priest to a ReisingerContinued on page 6
8/22/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 199, July-August 2013
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Issue 199 July-August 2013 Page 5
through Jesus Christ. It is compellingand thrilling to all Gods children and
leaves them rejoicing in worship.
Since there is so much that could
be said about these chapters, I am go-
ing to constrain myself to three major
points spread out over two articles,
each of which corresponds to one of
the rst three songs offered in the
heavenly throne room. It is also worth
noting that each of the points made
concerns worship. The focus is in-tentionally on what these three songs
teach us about worshipping God. Be-
fore addressing these points, however,
a light sketch of the chapters will be
helpful. (Of course, it is really neces-
sary that you read these chapters in
full before nishing this ar ticle. You
would also benet from reading Isaiah
6, Ezekiel 1, and Revelation 1.)
John is in exile on the island of
Patmos. He has had a most amazing
vision of the risen Christ (Rev. 1) and
is now being called up in the Spirit to
see what is happening in heaven itself
(4:1-2). The rst thing he sees is a
throne: the signicance of this cannot
be exaggerated. Gods sovereign king-
ly reign is the rst thing pressed upon
John. Around the throne there is a
storm, indescribable light, a rainbow,
the Spirit, cherubim, angelic rulers,
and a great sea of glass. The overall
picture is a composite of Isaiah 6 andEzekiel 1 (which themselves carry
lots of connections with other biblical
motifs and passages).
Even though John has been invited
to come up to heaven by Jesus and his
vision is in the Spirit, the throne room
of God is not an inviting place. It is
surrounded by obstacles and mighty
guardians who see everything. The
One who sits on the throne cannot be WestContinued on page 14
The fourth and fth chapters of
Revelation are as beautiful as any
work of literature ever written. They
are exquisite in literary quality and
dramatic presentation. Revelation 4
and 5 reaches a high stylistic ideal and
yet also contains incredible substance.
It delights and satises intellectually,
emotionally, and spiritually. Like any
true artistic masterpiece, it does not
get exhausted by careful study and
meditation; on the contrary, it inspires
greater wonder.
These two chapters are so loaded
with theological and biblical riches
that it is hard to know where to begin.
Reading them is not like going to a
quarry to dig out some hidden gems:
it is more like being thrown into a
kings treasure room where you are
instantaneously surrounded by so
much wealth you dont know where to
focus rst. Systematic theology nds
in Revelation 4 and 5 statements aboutGods character, the nature of Christ,
soteriology, and much more. When
viewed through the lenses of biblical
theology and canonical development,
these chapters present the fulllment
of so many themes they can hardly
begin to be stated. For pastors, these
chapters provide a host of practical
opportunities in church ministry. To
name just a few: giving people ex-
posure to the atmosphere of Gods
throne room; showing people how tospot biblical allusions and how impor-
tant antecedent Scriptures are; intro-
ducing the apocalyptic genre; helping
people see they can understand at
least some parts of Revelation; in-
structing people about worship (and
much more). In my judgment, these
chapters can be used to get people to
think about Revelation properly. It is
a celebration of the victory of God
ippantly approached, or the penalty
will be death. All the attendants of his
court exist to ceaselessly praise him,
honoring him and worshiping him
with all they are and have.
John notices that there is a scroll
in the right hand of him who sits on
the throne, but nobody is worthy totake it or open it (opening it actual-
izes its contents and brings them to
pass). John is so moved by this that
he weeps and weeps. But an angel
tells him to stop weeping; there is one
worthy, promised in Scripture, the
Messiah, the Lion, and the Lamb. He
takes the scroll (in going to the throne
he does what no other being can do)
and the heavenly court explodes in
worship. The worship of the Lamb ra-diates out in concentric circles, mov-
ing to include all angels, then further
extending to include all of creation. It
is beyond jubilant.
In the sequence of the vision, be-
fore John notices the scroll and before
the appearance of Christ, the Father
is still being continuously praised
in glory. The rst song we hear is in
4:8c: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God Almighty, who was, and is, andis to come. This particular hymn is
chanted by the four living creatures.
The rst part, of course, is the same
thing that was being said to God in
Isaiah 6:3. Revelation 4 tells us that
the creatures praise God this way day
and night, and given that John lives
centuries after Isaiah, this chorus of
praise has been offered to God over
and over and over again.
Although a great deal could be
said about the signicance of the
specic content of this hymn, only a
general point will be made. Holiness
and Gods existence (who was, and
is, and is to come) refers to his very
essence or nature. To ascribe tran-
scendence to God (i.e., holy) and to
praise his everlasting, eternal nature
is to simply praise God for who he is.
I believe that is very simple yet deeply
8/22/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 199, July-August 2013
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Page 6 July-August 2013 Issue 199
ReisingerContinued on page 12
never born, or that he never died
(Jesus was born and he died); rather,
Melchizedeks priesthood had no
time or age restrictions. He abideth
apriest(not a man) continually(not
eternally) which means his priesthood
did not, like the elliptical priest-
hood, end when he was fty yearsold. Melchizedek became a priest by
Gods sovereign appointment with no
reference at all to genealogy, and he
continued in a perpetual priesthood
as long as he lived. So does our High
Priest, and since he truly does live
forever to make intercession for us,
we too will live forever.
It is signicant that Melchizedek
was both a king and a priest. Under
the Law of Moses this was not al-lowed. But Christ, like Melchizedek,
is both King and Priest. Zechariah
6:12-13 clearly foretold that the
Messiah would be both King and
Priest.
It is also clear from the titles given
to Melchizedek that he is a type of
Christ. He is King of Righteousness
and King of Peace. It is only at the
cross that these two things meet (see
Psalm 85:10). John 3:16 is text thatdeclares both Gods holy love and
his holy wrath. His holy love gave
his Son up to the death on the cross.
Gods giving his Son up to death on
the cross made his love possible. The
cross satised Gods righteousness.
Understanding the fact that God is
satised with Christs atonement
is what gives us assurance that we
are acceptable in Gods sight. We
are just as acceptable to God as is
his son. Notice the correct order.Righteousness is the only foundation
for true peace. We can only be satis-
ed when we are acceptable with God
as we see ourselves united to Christ in
his death, burial and resurrection.
In one sense, it is surprising that
Jewish writers say so little about
Melchizedek. You would think they
would love to be intrigued with the
obvious obscurity of these few verses.
dren of Israel. And thou shalt appoint
Aaron and his sons, and they shall
wait on their priests ofce: and the
stranger that cometh nigh shall be put
to death (Num.3:9-10).
Jesus himself could not have min-
istered in the priestly temple servicesince he was not a Levite. Remember
that God killed Nadab and Abihu,
the two sons of Aaron, for daring to
perform unauthorized ceremonies in
the Holy Place.
Thirdly, all priests were Levites
but not all Levites were priests. Most
of the Levites waited on the sons of
Aaron. Only the sons of Aaron were
priests, and the rest of the Levites
took care of the Tabernacle, the
grounds, and any other work associ-
ated with the Tabernacle. The priests
began their priestly functions at age
thirty, and they retired at age fty.
From thirty years old and upward
even until fty years old, all that enter
into the host, to do the work in the tab-
ernacle of the congregation. This shall
be the service of the sons of Kohath
[the linage of Aaron] in the tabernacle
of the congregation, about the most
holy things(Num. 4:3-5).Aarons sons did not begin their
lifeat age thirty, but they did begin
their priestly work at age thirty, and
they ended that work at age fty.
The signicance of the words in
the beginning of Hebrews 7:3 is not
that Melchizedek, like Jesus,had
no father, no mother, and no human
descent. That could not be true as we
have just demonstrated. The writer
is saying, Melchizedek is a priest ofan order where natural descent has
nothing at all to do with his being
a priest. Melchizedek is a priest by
virtue of his own person and by Gods
sovereign calling. The Levitical
restrictions have no more to do with
Melchizedek than they have to do
with Christ.
The later part of the verse is
not saying that Melchizedek was
The writer of the book of Hebrews
builds the whole authority for Christs
ministry as High Priest on the three
verses from Genesis and the one verse
in the Psalms.
Why Is Melshizedek So
Important?
Hebrews 7:4 raises and answers
that very question. The main purpose
of this section in Hebrews is not to
show that Melchizedek is greater than
Aaron. It does that very clearly, but
it does it in a way designed to show
that Melchizedek is also greater than
Abraham himself. The main purpose
of the writer of Hebrews in this sec-
tion is to show that the gospel of grace
not only predates both Moses and
Aaron, but it also predates the patri-arch Abraham himself. The religion
that we espouse was in existence long
before Israel and Judaism existed. The
gospel of sovereign grace is not inte-
grally connected to anything that is
Jewish. This is a masterful argument,
and we will come back to it later.
What is essential to see at this point is
that everything in the Old Covenant,
including the basic covenant docu-
ment itself, is nished, and in eachcase something much better has taken
its place.
1:1 Christ is superior to all of
the Old Testament prophets - 1:1-3
1:4 Christ is superior to the Angels
- 1:4-2:18
3:3 Christ is superior to Moses -
3:1-6
4:8, 9 Christ is superior to the Sab-
bath - 4:1-11
4:8, 9 Christ is superior to Joshua
- 4:1-11
8:6 Christ is superior to Aaron -
4:14-10:25
The Jew might be ready to re-
spond, Yes, but what about our father
Abraham? Where is it claimed that
Christ was greater than Abraham?
ReisingerContinued from page 4
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Issue 199 July-August 2013 Page 7
McAloonContinued on page 9
PROLEGOMENA: PROGRES-
SIVE REVELATION AND NEW
COVENANT HERMENEUTICS
The rst aspect of NCT that is im-
portant for understanding its approach
to all of these matters is its source
of authority. Although all believers
within the true Protestant tradition
profess tosola scriptura,NC theolo-
gians stress the fact that the specic
texts of Scripture are the one sourceof absolute truth upon which to build
all presuppositions.1It is also impor-
tant to keep in mind that this special
revelation of God has been revealed
progressively.2The Bible was progres-
sively revealed over a period of time
culminating in the ultimate revelation
of Jesus Christ, who then sent his rep-
resentatives to preach his gospel and
write his nal word to man.3This is
the emphasis throughout the inspiredletter to the Hebrews, whose author
introduces his letter by saying, God,
who at various times and in various
ways spoke in time past to the fathers
by the prophets [Old Testament], has
in these last days spoken to us by his
Son [New Testament], whom he has
appointed heir of all things, through
whom also he made the world (Heb.
1:1-2 NKJV). This is the heart of
NCT, whose theologians argue that if
1 Reisinger,Abrahams Four Seeds, i-iv,
110; and Wells and Zaspel, 22.
2 Interestingly, this includes Gods
moral law as well. See section III:
The Law.
3 Among the plethora of arguments from
both NC and non-NC theologians, see
Fred Zaspel, A Brief History of Di-
vine Revelation, in Wells and Zaspel;
and chapters 2, 3, and 5 in Tom Wells,
The Priority of Jesus Christ(Freder-
ick, MD: New Covenant Media).
Jesus Christ and his New Testament
are the apex of Gods revelation, then
we ought to read the earlier parts of
Scripture in their light.4Although
not generally encouraged by many
Old Testament academics, this is just
one of many principles we hold in
common with Carson, who could not
agree more with this position when
he says: those who come to the OT
with a hermeneutical key that fails tolook for Christ everywhere are to that
extent unbelievers. Whether it is in
the name of quite literal interpretation
or in the interest of having a complete
ethical system beforehand, it is an act
of blindness not to allow the Lord Je-
sus to have the nal word. He fullls
it all.5
This being the case, NCT begins
with the New Testament texts and
looks back to prior revelation un-derneath their light. We believe that
approaching Scripture vice versa will
lead to unnecessary errors such as
those aforementioned in the introduc-
tion. For instance, Reisinger points
out that neither the Covenantal nor
Dispensational systems can faithfully
take Paul seriously in his discussion
regarding Abrahams true spiritual
heirs in Romans 9:6-8. They both
take Genesis 17:7-8 at face value and
apply the promise to a tangible physi-cal seed, resulting in either making
unregenerate children of Christian
parents part of the Abrahamic Cov-
enant, or a sharp separation between
the plans of God with Israel and the
4 Wells and Zaspel, 1.
5 D.A. Carson, The Gospel According
to John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1991), 263; in Wells,Priority of Jesus
Christ, 70.
church. In reality, both systems end
up with a hermeneutic that makes the
OT interpret the NT.6
This is just oneexample of how such a method is both
unapostolic and dangerous. Wells
agrees, reiterating that we must not
create problem texts in the New Testa-
ment by giving the Old Testament
logical priority over the New. On the
contrary, we must read the Old in ligh
of the New, so that the Lord Jesus has
the rst and the last word.7
Although I have not seen many NC
theologians use the term, we hold to
a form ofsensus plenior, in that with
newer revelation we are now able to
look back and nd deeper and fuller
meanings of various texts. Reisinger
says that we can only know what
Abraham understood by what the
Holy Spirit has revealed to us in the
6 Reisinger, Ibid., 99.
7 Wells, Ibid., 71.
A STUDY OF
NEW COVENANT THEOLOGY
Part 2 of 4
Kevin P. McAloonKevin recently graduated from
Southeastern Baptist TheologicalSeminary, and is currently meetingwith some believers seeking Godto raise a church in Carmel, NY.His heart is for the further reforma-tion of Christ's Church back to NewCovenant power and purity, andtruly believes that New CovenantTheology and many of the churchesespousing it are God's blessing in
this generation towards that end.
While avoiding formal denomi-national afliation, Kevin cravesand welcomes all open heartedfellowship with devout brothers andsisters in Christ. He and his groupcovet your prayers. You are invitedto contact him at [email protected]
8/22/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 199, July-August 2013
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Page 8 July-August 2013 Issue 199
As Luther put it, In effect Paul is
saying, The Israel of God are those
who, along with faithful Abraham,
believe the promises of God offered
in Christ, whether they are Jew or
Gentiles, and not only those who are
physically descended from Abraham,Isaac, and Jacob.5Long before
Luther, Justin Martyr (100-165) wrote,
We have been led to God through
this crucied Christ, and we are the
true spiritual Israel, and the descen-
dants of Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and
Abraham.6
It is important to note, though, that
this vision of Gentiles being included
in Israel is not new to the New Testa-
ment. Paul isnt making this up. Forinstance, Isaiah 19:16-25 says,
In that day the Egyptians will be
like women, and tremble with fear
before the hand that the LORD of
hosts shakes over them. And the land
of Judah will become a terror to the
Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is
mentioned will fear because of the
purpose that the LORD of hosts has
purposed against them. In that day
there will be ve cities in the land
of Egypt that speak the language ofCanaan and swear allegiance to the
LORD of hosts. One of these will be
called the City of Destruction. In that
day there will be an altar to the LORD
in the midst of the land of Egypt, and
a pillar to the LORD at its border.
It will be a sign and a witness to the
5 Luther, Galatians, 303.
6 Justin Martyr,Dialogue with Trypho,
trans. Thomas B. Falls, ed. Michael
Slusser(Washington D.C.: The
Catholic University of America Press,2003), 21.
LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt.
When they cry to the LORD because of
oppressors, he will send them a savior
and defender, and deliver them. And
the LORD will make himself known
to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians
will know the LORD in that day and
worship with sacrice and offering,
and they will make vows to the LORDand perform them. And the LORD will
strike Egypt, striking and healing,
and they will return to the LORD, and
he will listen to their pleas for mercy
and heal them. In that day there will
be a highway from Egypt to Assyria,
and Assyria will come into Egypt, and
Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians
will worship with the Assyrians. In
that day Israel will be the third with
Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the
midst of the earth, whom the LORD of
hosts has blessed, saying, Blessed be
Egypt my people, and Assyria the work
of my hands, and Israel my inheri-
tance.
As Christopher Wright remarks,
The shock of reading Egypt im-
mediately after my people (instead
of the expected Israel) and of putting
Israel third on the list is palpable. Yet
there it is. The archenemies of Israel
will be absorbed into the identity,
titles and privileges of Israel andshare in the Abrahamic blessing of the
living God, YHWH.7Paul saw this
reality coming into existence after the
resurrection of the Messiah.
This perspective is found through-
out the Old Testament. Psalm 22:27-28
says, All the ends of the earth shall
remember and turn to the LORD, and
7 Christopher Wright, The Mission of
God (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2006),493.
all the families of the nations shall
worship before you. For kingship
belongs to the LORD, and he rules
over the nations. Psalm 67:1-3 says,
May God be gracious to us and bless
us and make his face to shine upon us,
that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.Let the peoples praise you, O God; let
all the peoples praise you!
In Amos 9:11-12, we read, In that
day I will raise up the booth of David
that is fallen and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins and rebuild it
as in the days of old, that they may
possess the remnant of Edom and
all the nations who are called by my
name, declares the LORD who does
this. All the nations will be called bythe Lords name! In Deuteronomy
28:9-10, we read that it is Israel that
is called by the Lords name: The
LORD will establish you as a people
holy to himself, as he has sworn to
you, if you keep the commandments
of the LORD your God and walk in
his ways. And all the peoples of the
earth shall see that you are called
by the name of the LORD, and they
shall be afraid of you.8In the latter
days, Gentiles will be included in theIsrael of God.
Zechariah 2:10-11 says, Sing
and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for
behold, I come and I will dwell in
your midst, declares the LORD. And
many nations shall join themselves
to the LORD in that day, and shall be
my people. And I will dwell in your
midst, and you shall know that the
LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
8 Ibid.,496.
WhiteContinued from page 3
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Issue 199 July-August 2013 Page 9
Again, Wright says, This is not Isra-
el plus the nations but the nations as
Israel, one people belonging to God.9
As usual, Pauls theology here has its
roots in the Hebrew Scriptures.
New Testament scholar Greg Beale
argues that Galatians 6:15-16 should
be understood in light of Isaiah 54:10
and the surrounding context, which
is very likely seeing as how many
times Isaiah 40 and following has
been referenced by Paul throughout
the letter thus far.10Isaiah 54:10 says,
For the mountains may depart and
the hills be removed, but my steadfast
love (elos LXX)shall not depart
from you, and my covenant of peace
(rnLXX)shall not be removed,
says the LORD, who has compassion[or mercy, so KJV](hils LXX)
on you.Galatians 6:16 says, peace
(rn) and mercy(elos) be uponthem. The context of Isaiah 54 has
already been noted. Verse 10 speaks
of the covenant of peace which will
fulll the previous covenants, which
are alluded to all throughout chapter
54. Verses 11-12 of Isaiah 54 allude
to the new creation, which is the New
Jerusalem: I will set your stones in
antimony, and lay your foundationswith sapphires. I will make your pin-
nacles of agate, your gates of car-
buncles, and all your wall of precious
stones.
These Isaianic promises of a new
exodus, new covenant, and new cre-
ation have come to pass in the resur-
rection of Jesus. New creation is here.
Peace and mercy be upon the eschato-
logical Israel, who follows the rule of
the new creation: neither circumcisionnor uncircumcision matters.
9 Ibid., 498.
10 Gregory K. Beale, Peace and Mercy
Upon the Israel of God. The Old
Testament Background of Galatians
6:16b.Bib 80 (1999): 204-23.
NT. We could read about the life of
Abraham in the OT a million times
and never nd what is revealed in
Hebrews 11:8-10.8This lines up with
what seems to be the intuitive herme-
neutic of many godly men throughout
history such as the patristic fathers,Augustine, Matthew Henry, Jonathan
Edwards, etc. It also resembles the
interpretative methods of the early
Antiochian school, which held to both
a denite historical reality and proper
spiritual intent of a text set within the
clear picture of the development of
revelation. Peterson believes that this
method has the advantage of offering
a more integral understanding of the
unity of the Bible.9NC theologians
would agree, and a thorough reading
and weighing of the arguments is nec-
essary in order to determine whether
or not such a method is faithful to the
apostolic practice.10
This is not to say that NC theo-
logians are Marcionites, nor do we
neglect or deemphasize the impor-
tance of the revelation God has given
his Church within the Old Testament.
On the contrary, Lehrer writes: I
believe it is invaluable not only to the
maturity of believers, but also to the
growth of our appreciation of Gods
work in orchestrating all of history,
and particularly the history of Israel,
for his elect people living in the New
Covenant era: These things hap-
pened to them as examples and were
written down as warnings for us, on
whom the fulllment of the ages has
come (1 Corinthians 10:11).11The
difference is that we insist this isonly the case when done in light of
the believers revelation of salvation
8 Reisinger, Ibid., 93.
9 Rodney Peterson, Continuity and
Discontinuity: The Debate Through-
out Church History; in Feinberg, ed.
Continuity and Discontinuity.
10 See the rst four chapters in Wells,
Priority of Jesus Christ; and Wells and
Zaspel, 1-43.
11 Lehrer, 201.
in Jesus Christ. One possible ob-
jection critics may raise to such a
position is Pauls statement in his
letter to Timothy, where he says that
all of the Old Testament is inspired
and sufcient for making one wise
unto salvation through Christ Jesus
(2 Tim. 3:15-17). NC theologians
would not disagree, but believe that
here Paul is assuming the inuence
of the doctrine of Christ on Timothy
so that all of his experience with the
OT text is now colored by the light
of Christs coming.12Again, Jesus
Christ is the ultimate revelation of
God to man and all prior revelation
must be submitted to and read in
light of him. Thus within its her-
meneutic we nd the ultimate goalof NCT, which is the the joining
together of three things: the logi-
cal priority of the NT over the Old;
the logical priority of Jesus Christ
over his godly predecessors; and the
logical priority of the theology of
the text over our own theologies and
those of others.13
THE COVENANTS
Before summarizing NCTs
views regarding the biblical cov-enants, especially the contrast
between the Old and New, it is vital
to iterate the distinction between
the Old Testamentand the Old
Covenant. Although assumed to be
a basic accepted truth, it is surpris-
ing how many conversations of this
sort go awry because of a failure to
recognize it. NC theologians em-
phasize a harmony and continuity
between the Old and New Testa-
ment Scriptures, and that the OT
Hebrew Scriptures are just as much
an authoritative part of the word
of God as they were before Christ;
however, we also stress that there
is an antithesis and discontinuity
12 Wells,Priority of Jesus Christ, 69;
and Wells and Zaspel, 202.
13 Wells and Zaspel, 22.
McAloonContinued from page 7
McAloonContinued on page 10
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between the Old and New Covenants,
where the Old Mosaic Covenant has
passed away and has been replaced
by the New (1 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 8:6-
13).14Time and time again this fact
seems to escape notice, thus hindering
discussions such as the one to follow;therefore, it is pertinent to rmly es-
tablish it as the backdrop upon which
the rest of this discussion is laid.
NC theologians generally recog-
nize six covenants found in Scripture:
1. Covenant with Creation (Gen. 1-3);
2. Noahic Covenant (Gen. 6-9); 3.
Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12, 15,
17); 4. Mosaic Covenant (Ex. 19:3-8,
20-24); 5. Davidic Covenant (2 Sam.
7; Ps. 89); 6. New Covenant (Jer.31:31-34, Ezek. 33:29-39:29).15We are
also united in our rejection of a single
and unied Covenant of Grace made
with Adam after the fall which runs
throughout history. Instead, we prefer
to use the phrase purpose of grace
which we derive from texts such as
Ephesians 1; therefore, instead of one
covenantof God with two adminis-
trations, we hold to onepurpose or
planof God which includes a contrast
between the covenants.16Also, al-
14 Reisinger,In Defense of Jesus,33; A.
Blake White, Galatians: A Theologi-
cal Interpretation (Frederick, MD:
New Covenant Media, 2011), 184.
15 Peter Gentry, Kingdom Through
Covenant: Humanity as the Divine Im-
age, The Southern Baptist Journal of
Theology12, no. 1 (Spring 2008), 16;
from White, The Newness of the New
Covenant, 4. On page 9, White uses
Hos. 6:7 and Jer. 33:19-26 to analyze
Genesis 3 and establish a Covenant
with Creation, although I am not sure
that he is being entirely consistent
with NCTs hermeneutic and thus
making the same mistakes of Cov-
enantalism that he is trying to correct.
16 See White, Galatian, 37, 84; Wells
though the other covenants are in no
way belittled by NCT, its main focus
and distinguishing emphases revolve
around the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and
New Covenants.17Because these are
the three covenants around which
NCT revolves, they will be the subject
of the rest of this section of the study.
The Abrahamic Covenant
Other than Jesus Christ, around
whom the entire corpus of Scripture
revolves and testies to (Luke 24:27),
for NCT no single character is as
important for understanding redemp-
tive history as Abraham. To quote
Reisinger:
Next to Christ himself, Abraham
is one of the most signicant men inall the Scriptures. No two people are
related to each other as it concerns
their seed as are Abraham and
Christ. The whole history of redemp-
tion revolves around Abraham and
his seed. There is no information that
will help us to see the one unifying
message of redemption through our
and Zaspel, 22, where they acknowl-
edge, In opposition to the idea of
a single covenant that runs throughhistory, most Christians have seen
the history of redemption center-
ing around two major covenants: the
Old and the New.; and Reisinger,
Abrahams Four Seeds,39, where in
regards to Gods promise to Adam,
he says thatproclaiming the gospel
of grace to a person is not the same
thing as putting that person under a
covenant of grace. This is a very im-
portant distinction of our position.
17 One desperately wishes that an in-
depth New Covenant treatise on the
Davidic Covenant would be written.
I have not come across any sufcient
material on the subject, although
White briey gives a sound rundown
inNewness of the New Covenant,
17-22.
Lord Jesus Christ in both the OT and
the NT Scriptures as much as know-
ing exactly what was promised to
Abraham and his seed and who that
seed is to whom the promises were
made. This is a signicant difference
that separates Dispensationalism and
Covenant Theology at their basicstarting point.18
What is most distinguishing to our
position is our belief that contained
within the Abrahamic Covenant is a
spiritual promise which is accompa-
nied by a physical pledge and testimo-
ny.19That is, in a sense, the Abraha-
mic Covenant contained within it both
the Old and New Covenants, where
together they serve as the physical
and spiritual fulllments of the onecovenant with Abraham. Under the
Old Covenant, God saves the physical
descendants from the Egyptians and
brings them to the Promised Land,
which is Palestine. Under the New
Covenant, God spiritually saves the
spiritual descendants of Abraham
from the world, sin, and condemna-
tion, and brings them into the spiritual
Promised Land, which is salvation
rest in the new heavens and new
earth.20
In light of Pauls statements in Ga-
latians 3:16, we hold that the true and
ultimate Seed promised to Abraham is
Christ, and that the true promise and
its inheritance are given to Abraham
as the father of Christ,not to Abra-
ham as the direct father of Jews or
18 Reisinger,Abrahams Four Seeds,
2; so agrees Blaising and Bock, see
Craig A. Blaising and Darrell L. Bock,
Progressive Dispensationalism (GrandRapids, MI: Baker Books, 1993), 135.
19 Reisinger,Abrahams Four Seeds, 8.
20 Most of this is taken from Lehrer, 29.
Also, many Covenantal theologians
such as Henry and Edwards held to
similar views.
McAloonContinued from page 9
The highest sin and the deepest despair together cannot bafe the power of Jesus.
C. H. Spurgeon
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Issue 199 July-August 2013 Page 11
the church. Thus Reisinger goes on to
say, Union with Christ that is pro-
duced by the regenerating work of the
Holy Spirit by electing grace is the
only ground for any person being the
object of the spiritual promise given
to Abraham and his seed (Rom. 9:11,
23, 24).21In other words, Christ is theonly Heir, and the elect only partake
of these Abrahamic promises by vir-
tue of their being a part of his body.
I believe that this language which
advocates an intimate union of Christ
with his elect church can also be seen
throughout numerous passages in the
OT, such as 2 Sam. 7:14 where the son
of David is said to be punished by suf-
ferings brought on by human hands
when he does wrong. His physical
body suffered at the hands of men for
his peoples sins at Calvary, and his
spiritual body has been disciplined for
its sins by means of the hands of men
throughout its history. NC theologians
believe both Covenantalism and Dis-
pensationalism err by not taking this
sort of language into account. They
contradict Pauls statement in Gala-
tians 3:16 by holding that the promise
to Abraham and his seed (singular)
involves either Jews and their physicalchildren (plural), or Christian par-
ents and their children (plural). Any
seemingly small error we make when
it comes to these foundational mat-
ters has far reaching consequences on
church life and unity. As Reisinger
points out, the real difference between
a historic Baptist and a Paedobaptist
is not the mode of baptism, but rather
who they believe to be the true heir of
Gods promise to Abrahams seed.22
NCT also interprets the land prom-
ises in light of New Testament revela-
tion. In Joshua 21:43-45, we read that
the Lord gave Israel all of the land
along with rest on every side, and
that every one of the Lords promises
to Israel was fullled; however, the
author of Hebrews explicitly says that
21 Reisinger,Abrahams Four Seeds, 7-8.
22 Reisinger, Ibid., 5.
Joshua had not given them rest, and
there still remains a Sabbath-rest for
the children of God (Heb. 4:8-11).
The physical fulllment of the land
promise was merely typological. The
wilderness generation was not allowed
to enter Gods rest, viz. the real
Promised Land. This is understoodin Hebrews 3 to mean that they did
not obtain salvation; however, Joshua
did indeed take the Israelites into the
Promised Land and they were given
rest. NC theologians reconcile this by
seeing the author of Hebrews as point-
ing past a physical fulllment con-
cerning a physical land and rest from
war to spiritual rest. The promise
of Canaan as an everlasting posses-
sion is nally and ultimately fullled
with the everlasting possession ofthe elects eternal salvation.23There-
fore, just as the Abrahamic Covenant
included within it a spiritual seed with
a physical type and testimony, even
so did it contain a spiritual Promised
Land with a physical type and testi-
mony which foreshadows and nds its
fulllment in the New Covenant.
The Mosaic Covenant
In regards to the Mosaic Covenant,NCT takes a position that depends
heavily on the writings of Paul and
has much in common with Reformed
Theology. The Old Covenant came in
as a picture and means to bring about
the fulllment of the Abrahamic
Covenant and the redemption of those
who belonged to it. Its direct pur-
pose was not for the salvation of the
ethnic Israelites of that time.24On the
contrary, the Old Covenant and Gods
dealings with Israel pictured the needof forgiveness of sins through sacri-
ce, examples of disobedience and
apostasy, and even the redemption of
the Israelites out of physical bondage;
all of which were intended ultimately
not for their spiritual salvation, but
23 Most of this paragraph is from Lehrer,
35-36, which includes a great discus-
sion.
24 Wells and Zaspel, 278; and Lehrer, 62.
for ours. This is supported by Pauls
statement that these things happened
to them as examples and were writ-
ten down as warnings for us, upon
whom the fulllment of the ages
has come (1 Corinthians 10:11). God
orchestrated the birth and multiplica-
tion of the physical nation of Israel;delivered them from the Egyptians;
had them rebel and die in their sins in
the wilderness; and placed them under
the Old Covenant until the coming of
the Messiah. Lehrer says that this was
all to teach the elect, and that one of
Gods primary purposes in orches-
trating the history of Israel as he did
was for us to learn from it and have a
richer understanding of the serious-
ness of our sin and the glory of our
redemption, similar to Pauls state-ments regarding the reprobate in Ro-
mans 9:21-24.25This is very similar to
the Anabaptists interpretation of the
relationships between the covenants
and their laws, in that the difference
was between shadows and gures
and light and fulllment. These
gures consisted of physical signs
and manifestations, whereas their ful-
llment consisted of spiritual realities
they pointed to.26
Furthermore, NCT afrms that
the Mosaic Covenant was a Covenant
of Works made with a nation that
was mostly unregenerate. The major-
ity of Israelites throughout history
were in some way recipients of grace
and blessing in that they werephysi-
callyredeemed, but not spiritually.27
The Mosaic Covenant came in as a
works-based arrangement to make
25 Lehrer, 62-63; Andrew Murray alsodeals with this topic very well in
chapters II-III in his book, The Two
Covenants (Old Tappan, NJ: Spite
Books, n.d.).
26 See David. M. Moft, Anabaptists
and the New Covenant,Kindred
Minds Ministries http://www.kin-
dredminds.org/Articles/anabaptists_
nc.html(accessed July 29, 2011).
27 Lehrer, 50.
McAloonContinued on page 13
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Page 12 July-August 2013 Issue 199ReisingerContinued from page 6
This writer responds to this possible
objection. Have you not read how
Abraham was blessed by a priest after
the order of our High Priest? Surely
you agree that the lesser is always
blessed by the greater. You also know
that Aaron, your High Priest, actu-
ally paid tithes, because he was in
Abrahams loins at the time, to a priest
named Melchizedek. The crown-
ing argument of this section is that
Melchizedeks blessing of Abraham
and receiving tithes from him is posi-
tive proof that Melchizedek is greater
than Abraham himself, and Christ is
greater than Melchizedek.We must
see this master stroke in the argument
of the book of Hebrews.
Before we come down too hard on
these people who are dull of hear-
ing, must we not admit we are the
same way? It is a very short step to
move from traditions to traditional-
ism.Some people do not feel they
have really worshipped if either the
music or worship format was differ-
ent from their Church. It is amazing
how dull of hearing we become
when we hear something that isnt
part of our particular creed or that ourfavorite preacher has never men-
tioned. It was a failure to keep look-
ing to Jesus alone that created the
problem of dullness in these Hebrews.
The Setting and Context
Before we look at these verses
about Melchizedek in detail, let
me remind you of the setting and
purpose of the letter to the Hebrews.
Many Jews believed that Jesus was
the Messiah and that he had died
and risen again from the dead. They
believed he had ascended into heaven.
They had accepted these facts as
true. The problem with many of these
believers was their refusal to accept
the clear implications and certain
consequences that owed from those
facts. If Calvary was the true and nalDay of Atonement, and if Christ had
indeed risen from the dead and as-
cended into the true Most Holy Place,
and if the rending of the veil was the
voice of God from heaven ending the
Old Covenant and all of its attendants,
then it follows that Christ is our true
Great High Priest in Gods presence,
and Aaron and Judaism are nished.
Aaron has been replaced, and Judaism
and all it stood for is gone.
If all of this is true, then Aaron,
the Prophets, the temple worship,
the sacrices, the holy days and holy
places have all been done away and
been replaced with the reality that
they were only a shadow or type.
A.W. Pink has said it better than I
could:
In Hebrews 5:11 the apostle
declared, Of whom we have many
things to say and hard to be uttered,
seeing ye are dull of hearing. Thedifcultylay in the strong disinclina-
tion of man to relinquish that which
has long been cherished, which
nowhere appears more evident that
in connection with religious things.
To say that Christ was a High Priest
after the order ofMelchizedek
was tantamount to afrming that the
aaronicorder was divinely set aside,
and with it, all the ordinances and
ceremonies of the Mosaic law. This,
as we said in an earlier article, was
the hardest thing of all for a Hebrew,
even a converted one, to bow to, for it
meant repudiating everything that was
seen, and cleaving to that which was
altogether invisible. It meant forsaking
that which their fathers had honored
for fteen hundred years, and espous-
ing that which the great majority of
their brethren according to the esh
denounced as Satanic.1
It is interesting that Pink, an ardent
covenant theologian, cannot bring
himself to say, The Mosaic Law
(or even the Old Covenant) is set
aside. It was not only the ordinances
and ceremonies that were done
away at the cross, but the whole Law
Covenant, including the Tables of the
Covenant, or Ten Commandments,
were all done away and replaced with
a better covenant (Heb 8:6). Christcanceled the written code(Tablets of
Stone), with its regulations,(whole
Law of Moses) that was against us
and that stood opposed to us. He took
it(the written code that was against
us) away, nailing it to the cross (Col.
2:14). The text clearly distinguishes
between the written code(Tables of
the Covenant) and the regulations
that administered that covenant. See
the same truth set forth in Hebrews
9:1-4.
The Greatness of Our High
Priest
In Hebrews 2:17 the writer intro-
duces Christs priesthood. He empha-
sizes the merciful and sympathetic
character of our Priest. It is this that
1 A. W. Pink,An Exposition of Hebrews,
vol. 1 (Swengel, PA.: Baker Book
House, 1954), 357.
ReisingerContinued on page 22
If you cannot bear with your imperfect brother, take it for certain that you are very imperfect yourself... [and] being soimperfect we ought not to condemn. Remember also that if we are not patient and forbearing there is clear proof thatwe are more imperfect than we thought we were. Those who grow in grace grow in forbearance. He is but a merebabe in grace who is evermore saying, I cannot put up with such conduct from my brother.
C.H. Spurgeon
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Issue 199 July-August 2013 Page 13
guilty people even guiltier (Rom.
5:20), and it is a blessing to us and the
elect believers under the old dispensa-
tion because it teaches both of us of
our need for a Savior.28That is not to
say that there were not any justied
believers during the Mosaic dispensa-tion; however, they did not receive
forgiveness based upon any Mosaic
promises or provisionsindeed the
only ones one seem to nd are do
this and live (Deut. 4:1)rather they
were justied on the basis of their
faith, and their sins were passed over
because they would eventually be paid
for by the Savior who would come
and die for them (Rom. 3:25).29Again,
this is only in reference to the Old
Covenantwhich Moses revealed inthe Pentateuch; not the Old Testament
which includes the promises to the
patriarchs, the writings, and prophets.
This Covenant was a blessing to Israel
in that within it God revealed himself
to themalthough because of their
own depravity they were unable to
fulll itand it was and is a blessing
to Gods elect because it teaches us
the futility of trying to earn salvation
by obedience to the law, and exposesour need for a Savior.30
The New Covenant
For NCT, all of redemptive history
is designed for and points towards the
fulllment of Gods purpose of grace
and his promises made to Abraham
and his seed. This fulllment is found
in the death and resurrection of his
Son and his establishment of a New
Covenant. To begin with, the New
Covenant actually is a better covenantmade with better promises (Heb. 8:6-
7). It is better because it is not likethe
28 Ibid., 53-55; this is also the main
emphasis in Murrays, The Two Cov-
enants, where he says that the Mosaic
Covenant served to convey our need
both in the objective (justication) and
subjective (sanctication) sense.
29 Ibid., 50.
30 See Ibid., 55.
Mosaic Covenant which God made
with Israel, in that under the New
Covenant God has promised to put his
law into all of his covenant peoples
hearts and forgive them of their sins
(Jer. 31:31-34). This contrast proves
that the Old Covenant was indeed
a covenant of works and ministra-tion of death (2 Cor. 3:7). The Old
Covenant said, If you obey, then you
will be blessed (Ex. 19:5, 6, Deut.
4:1), but the New Covenant says, I
have obeyed for you, believe and live
(Heb. 10:14-22).31Not only does this
New Covenant provide the forgive-
ness and grace that the Old lacked
(John 1:17), but also unlike Mosaic
dispensation, it provides the desire
and power to carry out its laws. To
quote Reisinger, The Old Covenantcarried a footnote that said, Batter-
ies not included. The New Covenant
remedies this deciency by the gift of
the Holy Spirit.32
Furthermore, it must be noted that
Jeremiah could not be more explicit
that all those under the New Covenant
will know God and have their sins
forgiven(v. 34). This is why all NC
theologians hold to Baptistic eccle-
siologies and ordinances. Paul couldsay in reference to the Old Covenant
people not all Israel is Israel, but the
same situation cannot be true under
the New Covenant. Under the Mosaic
Covenant, circumcision was a physi-
cal picture of regeneration signifying
that a person was physically born into
the physical covenant people of God:
Israel. Under the New Covenant, bap-
tism is the outward sign that regenera-
tion has occurred, signifying that a
31 Reisinger,Abrahams Four Seeds, 74;
also see A. Blake White, Indicative/
Imperative Gospel Logic, in The Law
of Christ: A Theological Proposal
(Frederick, MD: New Covenant Me-
dia, 2010).
32 John G. Reisinger,But I Say Unto You
(Frederick MD: New Covenant Media,
2006), 14; quoted in White,Law of
Christ, 70; this is the primary empha-
sis in Murray, The Two Covenants.
person has been spiritually born into
the spiritual people of God: the church
which is comprised of both Jew and
Gentile.33In the words of beloved pas-
tor Charles Leiter when responding to
Paedobaptist theology, We do baptize
infants, except they arespiritual
infants.34
More will be said regarding these
distinctions and the contrast between
life under the Old and New Cov-
enants. What is most important to
take away from this section is the vita
importance of the relationship be-
tween the covenants in NCT, and how
they are different and distinct means
which serve towards the end of one
continuous and unied goal. We will
conclude and summarize this sectionwith a quote from Wells:
[The relationship is a teleological]
unity in which each covenant con-
tributed something to the fulllment
of redemption history, but what each
contributed could be quite different
from the contributions of the other
covenants. For example, the Noahic
Covenant (Gen. 9:8-17) provided a
continuing earthly scene on which
redemption could take place. TheAbrahamic Covenant with its prom-
ises outlines the course of redemptive
history, while setting forth two kinds
of redemptions and two peoples to ex-
perience them. Then the Mosaic Cov-
enant regulated the course of redemp-
tive history by producing the people
who would write the Scriptures and
bring forth the Messiah. Each of these
covenants, if they did no more than I
have suggested here, would serve the
same ultimate purpose, to bring gloryto God in the salvation of a people
that no man can number.
33 Taken from Lehrer, 108.
34 Charles Leiter, Law of Christ (Part
2),Granted Ministries http://www.
grantedministries.org/products/Law-
of-Christ-%7C-Charles-Leiter.html
(accessed August 18, 2011).
McAloonContinued from page 11
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Page 14 July-August 2013 Issue 199
WestContinued from page 5
profound. God is intrinsically worthy
of praise. He is literally amazing.
The creatures that are closest to him,
who see him most often, and who are
themselves incredible beings can-
not help but be moved to cry out his
praise. They look at him and exclaimabout his superlative holiness (holy
repeated three times). As time passes,
they marvel at his aseity and eternal
existence. There is none like him.
Biblical worship, then, recognizes
the inherent worth of God. This is
where it begins. Gods greatness
needs to be acknowledged: the heart
of sin is not considering this God
worth knowing which results in fail-
ing to give him thanks and praise (cf.Romans 1). Even though Gods tran-
scendent holy nature and eternal es-
sence is the subject matter of the song,
all of Gods attributes should inspire
praise. We should worship God for
his omnipresence and love. We should
let our minds be boggled by his
omniscience. Our weakness should
compel us to glorify the One who can
actualize any noncontradictory, good
state of affairs (i.e., omnipotence).
Systematic theology is not merely anacademic discipline: if pursued in a
spiritually sensitive way, it is an exer-
cise in worship.
The second song proclaims: You
are worthy, our Lord and God, to re-
ceive glory and honor and power, for
you created all things, and by your
will they were created and have their
being (Rev. 4:11). The rst line seems
to ascribe to God properties that he
already has. We do not enrich hisglory by perceiving it, nor do we give
him more power than he already has.
What the beings are doing is recog-
nizing that all glory, honor, and power
in the universe is derived from God
and properly belongs to him. They are
not attempting to give him something
he is lacking; rather, they are tracing
these elements back to their eternal
source.
In that sense the rst line of the
second song has a very similar point
to the rst song: God is innitely
worthy of praise and worship accord-
ing to his eternal essence and divine
nature. There is a new development,
however, in the focus of the second
line. This innitely worthy God hascreated. The One who exists in ab-
solute perfection has brought into
existence other beings (and a home for
them to live in). God has created all
things. He is not like Platos demiurge
whose craftsmanship is limited by the
raw materials he has to work with.
Matter is not coeternal with God. On
the contrary, all things are created by
God. The logical implication of this
is that God has, in fact, created ex ni-
hilo. The power, wisdom, knowledge,and sheer imagination of this act of
creation are enough to elicit shouts of
praise.
Beyond this the creatures recog-
nize that God not only created all
things but he also sustains them. The
initial act of creation and its ongo-
ing existence is entirely dependent
on nothing more or less than Gods
volition. He wills all things to exist.
(Small wonder the created beings cryout for him to have power! His power
and good pleasure is all that keeps
them in existence.) When we consider
that our lives are entirely dependent
on the will of our creator, we must
confess to him that we literally owe
him all that we are and have. Any
reective adults from good homes
should be profoundly thankful to their
parents for caring for them and bring-
ing them up: this thankfulness andgratitude should be innitely higher
towards God.
Thinking about this line of praise,
however, reveals another general
category in which we are to honor
the living God. He is to be praised
because of the works of his hand. God
has acted; he is doing; he is accom-
plishing. He has seen t in the counsel
of his will to bring the universe into
existence and to sustain all creatures
in it. These are acts of the living God.
When we clap after a concert or cheer
during a virtuoso sports performance,
we do so in recognition of the value
of the achievement and the skill of the
achiever. Naturally enough, there is
nothing in creation that is nearly asimpressive as creation! What God has
done and is doing should inspire songs
of praise.
Part of our problem (which is one
reason why we need to constantly
meditate on Scripture) is that we are
so acclimatized to living in Gods
universe that we scarcely notice it. We
are like sh who are so used to being
in water we dont even know were
wet. Our environment is so familiarto us that we barely register the fact
that we are in an environment. We
are so used to breathing that we do
not reect very often on the fact that
we need air to breathe. Yet even all of
the necessities of life (air, water, sun,
nutrients, heat, bodies, other people,
gravity, etc.) on which we depend are
only efciently necessary, not ulti-
mately necessary. In other words, they
are means God has ordained to enable
us to survive. But their existence, inturn, depends on him. Ultimately our
dependency traces back through all
mediate entities to God himself. If C
depends on B and B depends on A,
then ultimately C depends on A.
Yet this second song of praise is
ascribing more to God than the fact
that he is the head of the causal chain
of our dependence. Everything is
equally and immediately dependent
on him at all times. His mind fath-omed this world, his will actualized
it, and his pleasure sustains it. The
grandeur of the universe with its in-
tricate unity and astounding diversity
should cause us to praise the Lord.
The fact that we are part of Gods
creation should thrill us and move us
to praise. God, The One Who Sits on
the Throne, cares about us. It seems
entirely backwards that God cares
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Issue 199 July-August 2013 Page 15
more for us than we care about him,
given that we are sinners and he is the
Lord of glory. He actively sustains our
very existence at every moment, but
we tend to ignore him. Indeed, what is
man that God is mindful of him?
Part of the greatness of God is
that his love and compassion are so
innitely rich that he cares for beings
that are so far beneath him. This isnot to denigrate humans; we are the
image bearers of God and above all
other creatures of the earth. But we
are innitely below God himself. He
is incomprehensible and incomparable
in his majesty. And it is out of his rich
intrinsic perfection that God delights
in his people.Hisvalue is completely
bound up in who he is, and ourvalue
is completely dependent on who he is
also. All value, purpose, and mean-
ing are rooted in his being, but they
overow to his creation. Our value is
derivative; his is innate.
God could have existed in utter
harmony and innite love as the tri-
une God without making anything
else. Nothing forced him to create.
He is praised for creating by the
sheer force of his will and his ownintentions. Since he is so internally
fullled and lacking nothing, our
creation is literally gratuitous (i.e., of
grace). He brings conscious beings
into existence to share and exalt in
his perfection. Revelation 4 shows the
proper response when beings real-
ize the eternal, independent God has
brought them into existence so they
can participate and delight in his life.
Gods life is necessary, and our life
is notsince God chooses to will us
into existence, this means life is truly
a gift.
These two songs in Revelation 4
teach us that true worship honors the
essential value of the gift-giver and
also thanks him for the gifts he gener-
ously gives. God is to be worshiped
and praised both for who he is andwhat he has done. As believers know
through both revelation and personal
experience, there is one particular
thing that God has done through
Christ which elicits our highest
praises of his name. That, of course, is
Christs work of redemption which is
the subject of the new song in Revela-
tion 5 and will be the subject of our
article next month.
No one can appreciate the size or shape of a forest without ying overtop to view thebig picture. The Bible is like a forest and individual books are similar to trees. Study-
ing small portions of Scripture is worthwhile and necessary. Nevertheless one of therst steps of discipleship after salvation should be an understanding of the big picturein the Bible. God's Unfolding Story of Salvation teaches believers that the biblicalstoryline is Christ-centered.
Often people think of redemptive history only in terms of its promises in the Old Tes-tament and its fulllment in the New Testament. There is much more to the story thanthat. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit also points to Christ through preparation forhis birth, pictures or types, and anticipation. Since God's story ultimately affects eachone of us, it is worth the time and effort required to understand it. If you do this, you
will discover a pearl of great value.
Forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with God are the greatest needs of everyone past, present, and future. Thisredemption story brings glory to God and benets believers.
God's Unfolding Story of SalvationThe Christ-Centered Biblical Storyline
HEATHER A. KENDALL
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"If you are looking for a personal or group study with lessons that cover the whole Bible, and have a concern for goodtheology, comprehensiveness, and practical usefulness, then this book will meet your expectations. Heather Kendallhas carefully selected the highlight sections of Scripture and, chapter by chapter, utilizes the fabric of New and OldTestament passages to weave together the grandiose picture of the whole redemptive story. Heather demonstratesa great grasp of God's Word and astutely puts forth all the key elements of the biblical storyline with a Christocentrictheme that pervades all of Scripture. You won't be disappointed."
Gary George, Pastor, Sovereign Grace Chapel, Southbridge, Massachusetts
8/22/2019 Sound of Grace, Issue 199, July-August 2013
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Page 16 July-August 2013 Issue 199GillilandContinued from page 1
GillilandContinued on page 17
as good and as faithful as some would
suggest, God would have sent a book
instead of his Son.1But what does
this suggest about the role of the writ-
ten word? Has the Word not always
been efcacious to the end for which
it was intended? For as Isaiah record-ed, It shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which
I purpose, and shall succeed in the
thing for which I sent it (Isa. 55:11).
And Browns perspective is certainly
not consistent with what the apostle
Paul writes in Romans 10:17 regard-
ing the means of our justication:
So faith comes from hearing, and
hearing by the word of Christ.And
neither does is comport with what
the Lord Jesus prayed in John 17:17regarding the means of our sanctica-
tion, Sanctify them in the truth; your
word is truth. Brown continues, The
greatest cause for our not getting bet-
ter is our obsession with not getting
better. Sanctication becomes a
reality in those believers who dont
obsess over their own sanctication.2
While agreeing that the pejorative
term obsessmisses the mark, there is
certainly an intentional earnestnessreected in Pauls statement in Philip-
pians 2:12, Work out your salvation
with fear and trembling. Brown, on
the other hand, seems to be asserting
that any intentionality in the process
is a characteristic of the esh! If that
is the case, his personal philosoph