TiL- Reformed Covenant Theology p 7

Cling to the cross.

Then.

Put both arms around it hold to the crucified and Never let him go. Come afresh to the cross at this moment and rest there now and forever.

Then.

With the power of God resting upon you go forth and preach the cross.

Covenant Theology, Purity, and the Goal of God’s Glory

Welcome to the truth in love podcast. We are grateful to be back with you and we have been joined. Another co-host has joined the truth in love podcast. Welcome Claude Ramsey. We'll do a better introduction here in a second, but we're back in reform.

Covenant theology part chapter Number seven. Stick with us. Okay, finally, we were back. How's it going brothers. Oh.

Maybe maybe when we are glorified bodies will be as will look as cool as the avatars that you had for us on the intro.

One can only hope.

Let let me tell you what I typed into AI to get those pictures. I typed in muscular bald man with dark beard from the 1920s. Turned out pretty good. You look good, man. Yeah.

Got to somewhere.

Well, we are happy on the truth love podcast to be joined by Claude Ramsey. He is gonna be joining us as a co-host hopefully for a good while. But we appreciate him being with us on Monday night and we are going to continue our talk in reform covenant theology by Harrison Perkins.

Before we get started I wanted to share with these guys and I wanted to share with you a little bit about my experience. From this weekend from my church several men went to a neighboring church to a men's conference and the conference was.

On.

Purity. Abstaining from sexual immorality along those lines and it was a it was a really good conference the the teacher. Really great. I would take Every bit of his advice. I wouldn't put aside any of it.

But I was as I was of course listening to everything that he was saying I couldn't help but think through all those things through the eyes and mind of this covenant theology that that we've been working through and so I was filtering everything through that and You know, we talked about from the beginning you have the covenant works that God made with Adam and Adam.

Messed it all up. Brought sin into the world and so therefore God brought the covenant of grace, which was his son coming to redeem mankind and All this is part of the covenant of redemption. Where where God makes a covenant the Trinity makes a covenant with within themselves to redeem mankind.

And so since man couldn't do it I mean here here was the key that I was holding on to since man couldn't do it God had to do it and God made this covenant amongst himself. So that he so that he could show off his grace his loving-kindness his redemption his forgiveness To his elect and so as I'm listening to this teaching and it was beautiful teaching it was really good, like I said, I would I would share all of his advice, but Here's the motivation and and I'm you know guilty of it and and you guys can chime in and tell me your thoughts on my conclusion but I'm guilty of it.

So many of us are guilty of it, but but here's where we start normally in in our Trying to persuade people here's your motivation for listening and applying this teaching so if you If you're obedient to God and and you remain pure and you don't fall into sexual immorality then There's blessing their success.

But if you if you fall into sexual immorality and you and you're not pure. Especially if you um, and of course the most recent example He didn't use any names, but many of us knew he was talking about the most recent example of a pastor 70-some years old falling because of sexual immorality you Have you have all this ministry all this good ministry built up and now everything has been Taken down because of sexual immorality.

And so your your kingdom will fall. Every everything will come crashing down. You'll you'll lose it all especially if you've worked so hard in in ministry and trying to lead others to Christ and I'm like I Feel like we We're still missing the main point if that's our motivation because I don't I don't want my Motivation to be that my kingdom doesn't fall that might that my ministry ultimately primarily that my ministry doesn't fall.

Or that my ministry is successful. I don't want to be remain pure so that my ministry will be successful. I was reflecting on God's Word where he says my word will not return to me void. So There's there's this idea that God's Word primarily.

We were going through Proverbs chapter 7 and it was reminded to us that God's Word is a protection for us God's Word is a sanctifier for us but primarily and ultimately God's Word is not for us is going to return to him and and if you think about the passage where It's the word that washes the bride, but the bride is ultimately Given over as a as a gift to the father.

So the the word does its work and and yes, we receive a blessing from it. We receive fruit from the word, but it's ultimately going back to the father and blessing him. It's it's not about my satisfaction.

It's about his satisfaction. And so my obedience in in this area of purity Sexual immorality or whatever other teaching that we're listening to I felt like. That's maybe the better place to start that my motivation is to glorify God because his word is not primarily about my happiness or about my Satisfaction, but it's about his and so therefore when he is satisfied I can I'll receive the fruits from that.

Does that make sense to you guys? It does it does. In fact, I just preached on this Yesterday as we found out Sunday was yesterday. I forgot about that but first Peter 4 starting verse 7 says the end of all things is at hand talking about we're all on a collision course with the judgment seat of Christ.

And it says therefore be of sound thinking sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. You need to Be of sound mind for the purpose of your prayer your relationship with God above all. Keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins.

We love one another we Let things go between each other. We forgive each other. Verse 9 be hospitable to one another without grumbling. These are all things that we do now. Look at what happens at the end of it.

These are things we're called to do and be as Christians. Verse 10 as. Each one has received a gift employ it and serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God for Whoever speaks is one speaking the oracles of God.

Whoever serves is one serving by the strength which God supplies so that You're doing all these things. You're trying to remain pure. You're trying to love your neighbor. You're trying to do all the things that God says so that.

Where'd I go.

So that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and might forever and ever. Because what happens is When we show ourselves to be faithful to what God is saying and what he has done in us to the redemption That he's brought to us.

What we're doing is saying Christ has conquered me. He has planted the flag in me saying here. I'm gonna do something great and awesome. I'm gonna do it in this individual. So as we respond and we do things that are positive and right we do maintain purity.

We look out for each other. We pray for one another we serve our neighbor the best way that we can. We we do keep our ministry free from sin. We do it all so that God can get the glory in the end. Because that is God showing his grace in us as we go out through our daily lives.

Amen sounds very similar to Question and answer one to the Westminster, right? What is the chief end of man?

Glorify God and enjoy him forever.

And and do you think that order is purposeful. Glorify him number one and then enjoy him forever. Try.

That's right.

But let me read the passage that the chapter opens up with chapter 7 in in the book. It says. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom from any mark.

Chapter 10 verse 45. Chapter 7 is the last Adam and his people. Then lead us all.

Sure.

Well, first off who was the first Adam. Adam. Yeah. And I asked that because I just got done with the I wasn't but I just got done with this class. Yesterday the class got over and the class was on origins and the very last paper I had to write was a a defense of a historical Adam because there are a lot of interpretations out there where Adam was either wasn't a real guy or.

He was some storm of sort like heidel. They call him homo Homo heidelberg us or somewhere. He was he was before the Neanderthal man and.

That.

I'm about seven hundred fifty thousand years ago and that God said well All right at this point in redemption or this point in evolution. I'm gonna make that the first. So he sectioned off a tribe and Caused them to know God.

It's like oh my goodness. I what are y 'all gonna do when we get to Romans 5?

We.

We're looking at the second Adam then the first Adam needs to be a real guy created by God exactly like you said made from the dust of the ground. So I wasn't trying to get y 'all. I'm just saying it was important.

Yeah choked up over there that was that was sarcasm that I was using. You all said I'm here for entertainment purposes.

I'm.

It makes no sense to you know, Dana we were talking about a couple episodes ago we were talking about Defense of young earth creation and then you have all these different theories of how God created things.

Well if you have Adam before the fall before the fall. It makes absolutely no sense according to Scripture. I can't Can't understand how a Christian can Believe that man was before the fall.

Man man had to be before the fall, but I think we know what you're trying to say.

Yeah, you know what? I'm trying to say.

Right.

Right if man had died before the fall. Yeah. Yeah. There was no death before the fall. But but there was death and death came through Adam and Adam sin and that's kind of what the chapter is getting at.

Because we had our first representative Adam Who was made by God put in the garden called to Tend it and take care of it to be fruitful fill the earth multiply. To only eat of all to eat of all the trees of the garden except for that one right over there and.

Then since he disobeyed God ate of the tree and fell. Now what? And so he's done a lot in the previous chapters talking about you know, what has God done is he's playing this out. You know, what of redemption?

What's what's coming the inner workings of the Trinity? You know as much as we can peer into those because we can't now obviously no other anything other than what's revealed to us. So when come to this chapter he likens not just him.

The Bible theologians throughout the whole of church history likened the Christ to the last Adam so as we were Made human the first Adam. Then we fell into sin. We're now made into a new humanity in Christ perfect and sinless throughout all eternity.

My head hurt after that one.

Let me ask you this question. This is just on the next page and this question comes from Me wrestling with this question, and I'm sure many others like us Hopefully have wrestled with this question but it says David Dixon speech at the Scottish General Assembly in 1638 was the was the first occurrence of the term Covenant of Redemption.

The Westminster Assembly began its work in 1642 shortly after the term first appeared. So we're speaking of We're teaching on talking about believing in a covenant of redemption covenant works of grace.

But here he's kind of giving us a confessional history of the term and so We we want to rely primarily on Scripture When we're studying to get our theology understanding of God and We have these conversations all the time, especially in eschatology right now.

It's popular who has the oldest, you know eschatology is historic free meal dispensational free trip. Postmillennialism, you know, which one is the oldest and is that credible because one's newer. How do you how do you wrestle with that?

You know here he's confessing that this term wasn't used until 1638 but we're saying it's a biblical term and maybe the Not a complete history of this in particular, but a defense on how do we wrestle with that?

I think he was directing it's you Dan. Oh.

I was I was waiting for the he kind of abruptly ended the questions. I Didn't know if there was more. Yeah, we have terms that pop up all the time. Terms just start when people start using them so what what he does is he goes to show that the term was first used in 1638 and I think he does that because the the name of the book is a reformed covenant theology, so he's trying not to only give a biblical defense, but also a a Traditional defense as well.

So this is what we have believed and here's why. So when he says it it was in 1638. He said he notes that to say it was just before the Westminster Assembly came together. So you do see the idea sprinkled all throughout the Westminster Confession the shorter larger catechism the larger catechism if you a little bit.

But still there the idea is still there. Even if the term might not necessarily be there as much as other terms are there. But then he goes on further to talk about different different folks I believe is Irenaeus and some other folks who while they didn't use the term Covenant of Redemption talked about the inner Trinitarian Covenant.

Between the members of the Godhead before the foundation of the earth. And that's really what he was trying to get at was to show that just because the term wasn't coined till the 1600s. Doesn't mean that the idea wasn't in Scripture and throughout church history.

Already present so we see where we're. Things to talk about Christ being the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Plan that worked itself out in eternity past different things, you know through the Psalms and different places.

Where you see God working out salvation from like this was his plan this wasn't a plan B. It's not like he'd caught him off guard and he had to react to it. He was. He planned this out from from the get-go and that's what the Covenant of Redemption is really trying to get at with that term.

That God has planned out salvation. How it's going to work how it's going to end and you know, is it going to be efficient sufficient? Now, how's it gonna work out? God worked it out and he did it then we call that the Covenant of Redemption because it wasn't just one person of the Trinity it was all three of them working to.

Still weird to say it was the tri unity of God working together for the one purpose of God. In salvation in the salvation of mankind. So that's that's why he brought it up that the term wasn't around until.

Mid.

1600s for the audio people only. Let me read the question. What would y 'all say to the thought process that? Oldest system doesn't mean that much because even the churches the Apostle Paul planted found themselves in grievous error before the end of the canon.

Mr. Mr. Troy. Offer that question. Go ahead. Caught up. I'm talking a lot.

Like the thing says I'm the third wheel. I'm just glad to be here y 'all We're glad to have you but again to that so so to direct right to Troy's question there. What would y 'all say to the thought process that the oldest system doesn't mean that much?

Again, I think that. What what Dan said here here right at the beginning here in and actually even before we went on air Dan talked about how that the book is really going through this the understanding of covenant theology from a biblical theology perspective as opposed to a systematic theology perspective, so we see the the over the overall Aim and focus of God's covenants and how they relate to to man.

So To say that the oldest Is the best or the newest is the best? Is I think deviating in a very real sense from the just the biblical theology that The focus of this chapter seems to be and again, I'm coming in directly.

This is my first chapter in this book with you all but what I'm seeing is that In understanding the idea. Good evening. The idea in the overarching theme of the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation is Redemption and that had to be.

The.

Had to be the foundation. That's the covenant of redemption, right? That's what that foundation is. That's that umbrella that arcs over the covenant of works in the covenant of grace. That is the covenant of redemption.

That.

Everything comes and comes from. So what Troy said is absolutely correct there because again even New Testament churches found themselves in error over matters of Covenant theology right. Because there was always trying to be a blending of the two covenants there.

So.

Yeah.

Go ahead. Oh, I would add on to that that The the the oldness oldest is that thing. Anyway, how old a system of doctrine is. Is a good indication of whether or not. Let me take that back or reword it a little bit.

If something it finds its way all the way back in church history. It's a good thing to take seriously as you look into it. Obviously things that just there was no. Recording of it for the first, you know, 1600 years of the church, you know, probably shouldn't put a lot of.

No.

Credence to it, but if it goes all the way back you should at least look into it. But we don't look into it based on the history itself. If it doesn't have an exegetical basis in the text of Scripture the the historicity of The system or the doctrine doesn't Really matter all that much if it's not rooted and grounded in the Word of not it being historical.

We know that that the Holy Spirit leads his church in all truth. So you're going to see the truth taught throughout church history. But it's got to have that basis in the exegesis of the text and it's got to be found there first Before it can be found throughout history.

And it seems like the test for that would be if you're going to use old as an argument. Then it needs to still be legitimate today and so that. So that would be. That would. That would kind of be throwing in what you're talking about then.

So it has been tested. People have Looked into Scripture based on that. So just just using the word a old or just because of its age doesn't necessarily necessarily mean it's Scriptural. But if it's scriptural and still has legitimate legitimacy today.

It's because it's been tested by Scripture right. Gnosticism is old, but we shouldn't be Gnostics, right? Right, but the Trinity is also old. We should be Trinitarian because it's found.

Yeah comes to it comes to discernment and discernment based on the standard of the scriptures.

The Last Adam, Active Obedience, and Recapitulation

Ready for you to take us to our next sounds good. Where were we? Let's get into this theme of the the last Adam he starts. Picking up the theme of the last Adam so that way we can start to understand, you know, what's what's going on in the scriptures.

He picks it up In the Gospels. Well, actually in first Corinthians, but he picks up in the Gospels. I would say That's the first thing I wrote down. I don't know what it was that he wrote down. It's the first note that I took was that he put something in the Gospels.

But what was interesting about it was that he he brought up the fact that the Gospels kind of read they don't just record Christ's Redemption in his passion burial and resurrection. He also records Christ's redemption as he secured righteousness for us through his his active obedience.

Which I thought was a really good point to bring up. Because it's not just the fact that he was sinless and then died it was the fact that he was actively Righteous throughout his life. Doing the things that we did not do and he contrasts that with our first Adam.

The first Adam who being given everything created by God, you know dust to the ground. Here's all here's everything you need to succeed and he fell into sin. Now. Here's the second Adam. Here's people trying to kill you from your birth.

Here is no a governmental system. That's not great. Here are some whiny people who don't like water and they'd rather have some wine, you know, there's a whole bunch of stuff here. Here's the blessing of God Upon him as he was baptized and then came up the Holy Spirit.

This is my son to whom I am well pleased and then worse where? Adam was tempted in the garden by Satan and fell. Christ was tempted by By Satan in the wilderness and He succeeded. He didn't fall where Adam fell.

Christ did not so where Adam was was was Bad at bad man, I don't know bad humanity humanity gone wrong Crisis that redemption of humanity going forth. I thought I thought that was an incredible point to make what do y 'all think about that?

It reminds me that this quote that I was just looking at. He says this is from Perkins. So the covenant of redemption clarifies Christ's work precisely and how he succeeded. Where Adam failed and earned?

Citizenship in the new creation for those whom the father gave to him. I.

Like it. Yeah.

In.

Relationship to what you were talking about, too, and you may have wanted to get to this later on but I Have our time understanding as well those folks who have a hard time Justifying, you know substitutionary coma.

How can you not but then just like you were talking about? I think we sometimes are also guilty of leaving out That part that what you're talking about of Christ Redemptive work we we lay a big emphasis on penal substitutionary atonement Christ Taking our place on the cross.

And we we don't emphasize enough His his righteousness his obedience to the father the life that he lived. Just looking back over my lifetime and I think that the case more times than not that we emphasize this.

Which is good. We should but we fail to Emphasize his life the righteousness that he he earned when he pleased the father and also Gives to us.

Yeah.

You put it as. The Gospels are not as long introductions that lead to Christ's crucifixion and resurrection like the the long introduction means something.

Yeah, where are you gonna say Claude. I was just gonna say that relation to the doctrines of the passive obedience of Christ and the active obedience of Christ.

I think that's that's that has.

Been over the years one of the.

The.

Lesser details of the gospel that have been left out by many Preachers of the gospel right they it's like it's like a vehicle right nobody we don't think about it. We get in the car. We push a button.

We hit the gas. We hit the brake and we go right until We're out of gas, you know, but then we got a lot that tells that Not how the engine works and it's the same. It's that it's that very same concept when it comes to the active and the passive obedience of Christ.

Very few people are concerned about the inner workings of salvation. Right, and again, this is not necessary. This is not something that You know someone has to be able to articulate before they can Have a valid profession of faith, but it is something very much that strengthens the believer that aids the believer in appreciating and Loving God for what he has done in sending his son and in appreciating the Son of God who did these things for us, right and Appreciating the Holy Spirit who applies this work of Christ To the elect of God so it comes down to that.

It's it's just It it's something that folks think they don't need to know but once they know it it's like man I wish I would have known that 25 years ago. Man I thought I was happy in the Lord then but now man, this is this is even better.

Yeah, and even that active obedience of Christ in and of itself that has its own depths that we Dig out those treasures, but even even more than that I think this is also part of it and he brings it out in this chapter how I think he uses the word read recapitulates.

I keep hoping I use that word correctly that you know here here was Adams life. This is what he did and this is you know where he felt and in Christ. This is. He followed that same pattern but was successful and but and you but you see that all throughout the Old Testament as well.

Where here was Israel here was Israel and then here was Christ. He was Christ. He's he's the better Israel. He went through the wilderness. He was tempted. Um. We are beginning to preach through acts at church and in small group Sunday.

I couldn't help but think wow. How deep could we go in acts when we're we're beginning to look at? Pentecost and we're looking at Mount Zion and the the 40 days in the 50 days. What does that reflect in this recapitulation?

The the depths and the beauty of this. The the treasures that we could find would be amazing.

Dan you you mentioned the the significance of the first Adam in the second Adam and then Rob just brought up Recapitulation again. This is the scarlet thread of redemption that runs throughout the Bible from beginning to end.

It's a telling starting in Genesis a retelling.

Right.

Failure of in the sin of Adam and the result of that and then in the New Testament. It's what makes the New Testament new. It's what makes the New Covenant a better covenant right. Because it's based on better promises by better sacrifice so on and so forth, but it's a it is that recapitulation that that retelling from different angles all over the place of the story of Fall and redemption.

Sorry, if I jump ahead of anything there. I gotta get.

I.

Did want to pose this to you guys too because that that small group and going through the beginning of acts there Made me think about this this come up. This was a in one of our earlier episodes in this book Dan we were talking about how What it would have looked like, you know for Adam, you know, he he was told to be obedient in these areas.

And so if if sin had not entered the picture God had a God had a plan for him. That was even better than the garden and he was In his obedience, he could have worked towards that plan. Christ did it. He did it successfully and the Transfigured or the translation from for him was the the Ascension.

Because we were trying to just imagine what it would have been like for Adam, you know, if he would have continued in in perfect obedience. What what that Transition would have been like for him. Do that and I.

What would have been like when he he was Adam obedient but not Glorified or rewarded. Versus what would Adam have been like rewarded, right? Really what you're looking at it. If you look at it through Christ is Christ Before his glorification and afterwards.

What he purchased for us was Redemption and that redemption leads to a future glorification where now obviously he never had sin. But we'll gain that but also all of those other benefits where we were able to go before the throne of God we're able to see into Heaven and have a deeper relationship.

Our his body worked differently when he was glorified. Apparently anyway, I mean, I guess we don't really know it may have been divine working or you know I don't know how he showed up in a room. No, I don't know if that I don't know how that worked.

But there's there's something there to it where our bodies our experience will be much more different much more glorious and much more able to enjoy the presence and Glory of God. Not just enjoy it but to show it we'll be able to show it better.

And this is a this is an area where we can glory in Christ even more because you we talk about the Recapitulation he he went through what Adam went through and was successful and because he was successful he was able to Experience the reward that you're talking about which Adam did not right.

So we can glory in him because of his success.

Yeah.

So.

Romans 5, Federal Headship, and Christ’s Righteousness for His People

This is a good time to bring up Romans 5 I believe because it Really contra it digs down kind of into that contrast between the first Adam and the last Adam. So y 'all got your Bibles. We could just kind of run through that for I don't know the next 17 years or so.

But you're trying to you try to knock it out in the next few minutes. Just keep things moving. I Don't know where we want to stop. You get started. In Romans, it's hard to quit. We'd every pay every every lines of gold mine in there anyway.

512 sorry 512. All right. Let me back up. I'm not gonna read it, but chapter 5 Starts off. Therefore I said what no read it I'm going to. Therefore having been justified by faith with peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ He's saying that we are justified or made right declared righteous in the sight of God on the basis of faith With in Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ has done upon the cross.

So.

Then when he comes back into it then he goes on. He explains that a lot when he gets back into verse 12. He says therefore therefore. Because of what Christ has done because of our being justified on the basis of faith on the basis of what Christ has done for us.

He says therefore just as through one man say that entered into the world and death through sin. So just like Adam had death enter into the world through sin. And so death spread to all men because all sin.

For.

Unto the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who had not Sinned in the likeness of the trespass of Adam.

So even if you didn't do exactly what Adam did You still were a sinner to my wife. My wife had to tell the kids this the other day. Oh Flickering who will see what happens she said if if you're on a team and one person commits a foul the whole team Gets penalized for it.

Yeah, that makes sense. So Adam represented us in the garden. Adam sinned For humanity. So that means that now all of us Have that sin on our plate. And we all sin on our. And then she said we all sin on our own even if we don't do it like he did.

Man, that's that's good stuff, babe. And that's what is getting out here even if we hadn't sinned in the way that we all have sin on us.

Uh.

Who had not sinned in the likeness of the trespass of Adam who is a type of him who was to come so Adam was a type. He was a forerunner one who shows an Aspect of who Christ is the one who was to come.

So now you run into verse 15. This is where it starts getting into the the really really good stuff. But the gracious gift that be salvation through Jesus Christ by faith Is not like the transgression so it is but it's not.

It's like it like this for if by the transgression of the one many died Much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abound to the many. So here's the thing if you are going to be held Responsible for Adam's sin because we are human and we are and that sin passed on to us.

Not only that it came with its own guilt, but that we want to sin and do sin, too just so Christ came to give life to mankind As well and for those who repent of their sins and trust in Christ. They find that redemption that perfection that was in Christ given to them because just as Christ was Perfect in his active and passive obedience.

He had righteousness. Righteousness not only as Divine in heaven, but he came as a man upon the earth and was perfectly righteous there, too. That humanity is now passed on to all who are his just as the sin of Adam was passed on to all for his.

The righteousness of Christ is passed on to all who were his as well. And that is just Incredible. I mean, that's Like what did we do to deserve the righteousness of Christ?

Nothing.

Absolutely, nothing you say. Well, it's not fair that I'll be blamed for Adam sin. Well, it's not fair that God would save you on the basis of Christ's righteousness either. That's right trust in Christ and believe in him knowing that He will produce righteousness in you just like the sin of Adam produced right or sin in you when you went off sinning.

Which is by the way, first Peter says that is times past. The time for sinning is over. Those things are going to be judged. So please have everyone repent believe in Christ Jesus today. Find that second Adam to be your Savior.

Y 'all say something. We're gonna go on to verse 16.

Well that goes back to verse 1 believe right believe. Because in believing that's where you have peace with God.

It's the verse 16. And the gift Which is salvation is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For on the one hand judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation. But on the other hand the gracious gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.