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Hello, and welcome to Doctrine Matters, a weekly podcast exploring the rich theology of the Christian faith.
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Each week we want to take hold
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of one aspect of our faith and try to understand theological concepts that sometimes have been debated, controversial, or maybe just hard to understand. And hopefully we can look at them in a way that is clear, concise, and accessible. The goal is that believers would be encouraged and edified and that God would be glorified so we can love him
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more, know him more, enjoy him forever.
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I'm Kevin DeYoung, your host and teacher, and this is Doctrine Matters.
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We are back this week talking about covenant theology, moving through the various administrations of the one covenant of grace. It's a distinctive feature of traditional reformed covenant theology, this bicovenantal structure that the covenant of works. So God initiated with Adam in the garden. He failed that then he promises and initiates a covenant of grace, which is the outworking of the covenant of redemption from eternity. The Davidic covenant is one of those administrations of this one covenant of grace. We can think of the Davidic covenant as a covenant of kingship. It marks out the arrival of the glorious kingdom in Israel and anticipates a glorious king to come. So the Davidic covenant consolidates the promises of the previous covenants, so they build on each other, and it sets the stage for a richer fulfillment that's coming in the years and the centuries ahead. And of course, ultimately with the coming of David's son, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Like much of the Old Testament, the promises of the Davidic covenant find their fulfillment in type and antitype, or we might call it shadow and substance, in the near fulfillment and in the ultimate fulfillment. So the kingdom that's promised to David and the promise for his son that does find some fulfillment under Solomon, the kingdom of Israel reaches its its height geographically, politically, militarily under Solomon. But of course, ultimately the covenant finds his truest fulfillment in a greater son. That's the promise of Isaiah 9, Isaiah 11. About the only thing the Jews seem to have reliably understood about the promised Messiah is that he would be a son of David. That's why the crowds ask in amazement, can this be the son of David? So they did understand from texts like 2 Samuel 7, the parallel passage in first Chronicles 17. And then there are different psalms that use the same language that God had established this covenant, and he had promised to David that there would be forever one of his sons to sit upon the throne. And so the Jews understood that the Messiah would be a son of David, and that was a Shorthand designation for the Messiah and all that he would bring when he would come. The pilgrims on Palm Sunday shout hosanna to the Son of David. Matthew begins his Gospel by referring to the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of Abraham, the son of David. So just as God lavished blessing on Abraham, revealed his commandments to Moses, so God established through David that the plan of salvation would depend upon a kingly. We think of that, but also a filial. That means a son, a kingly, and a filial mediator to come. So the the Messiah is both a son of David and he is the king after David, fulfilling all that David was and all of the promises to David. Which brings us then to the New Covenant. There's so much we could talk about with the New Covenant, not least of which is due to the fact that here's the significant difference between Baptist or progressive covenantalism, certainly dispensationalism, but all manner of other kinds of covenant theologies, rather than traditional Reformed theology, have to do with the newness of the New Covenant. So let's just think about the New Covenant for a bit. The New Covenant refers to the constellation of promises that find their yes and amen in Christ. The New Covenant. That phrase, berit kadasha, occurs only once in the Old Testament in that classic passage, Jeremiah 31:31. The larger section there, Jeremiah 30:33, is sometimes called by scholars the Book of Consolation because it's a unique bit of Jeremiah's prophecy. It's. It's a few chapters of good news in the book of a. In the midst of a book that's almost entirely bad news. These four chapters, 30, 31, 32, 33, focus on the days that are coming. We see that language five times. The days that are coming. Jeremiah is looking forward to the merciful restoration of Israel's fortunes. And most centrally in that passage, Jeremiah 31, 31, 34. The heart of that book of consolation is where we have the promise of the New Covenant. In order to interpret Jeremiah 31 correctly and understand the nature of the New Covenant, we must keep in mind a few realities. First, the New Covenant is new, and in another sense, not new. The New Covenant is new with relation to the Mosaic Covenant. That's what the New Testament means talks about, and that's what Jeremiah is prophesying. It is new with relationship to the Mosaic Covenant. As God explains the New Covenant, he uses categories and symbols created by older covenants. So we might say the New Covenant is refreshed more than it is brand new. New, like never happened before, never promised before. No, the New Covenant intensifies and brings to completion elements already present within the covenant of grace, especially as seen in the Abrahamic covenant. So the New Covenant is immutable, like the Abrahamic covenant is immutable. The New Covenant promises a religion of the heart. Well, the Mosaic covenant did that too. Deuteronomy 36. Then the Psalmists often talk about the law is on our hearts. The New Covenant promises the forgiveness of sins. Well, God offered through the Old Testament many times the forgiveness of sins. And the New Covenant promises an immediate knowledge of the Lord. Not that such a faith did not exist already, but that in the days to come there would be direct access to God through a single mediator. So there is a newness, and yet it is not completely new, like nothing had ever been heard of before, but rather an intensification and a bringing to completion these various elements which are already there. So when we look at all of those things, you're going to have forgiveness of sins. Well, that was in the Old Testament. You're going to know God. Well, it was a heart religion, a personal religion, to know God. The second category. So just talking about how to understand the New Covenant. So first, the New Covenant is new and in another sense, and it is bringing up what is old. Second, the New Covenant is individual and corporate. Now there is a personalized dimension to the covenant. The law will be written on our hearts. Each person will know the Lord. But the covenant was not made with individuals. Remember that. It was made with a corporate body. It was made explicitly with the house of Israel in the house of Judah. That's the language of Jeremiah 31, 31. In fact, Jeremiah 32, 39 reinforces the familial principle, affirming that the good news highlighted by the New Covenant will quote, be for their own good and the good of their children after them. So the language is right there. We need to zoom out and see the context. These whole chapters are dealing with the New Covenant, not just those four verses in Jeremiah 31. And so we see in that entire section that this promise of the New Covenant is still for families, for their children. So this corporate principle. Now, yes, Baptist friends will hear that this is different than their understanding of the newness of the New Covenant. I'm arguing that the New Covenant is bringing to greater and clearer fulfillment things that had already been promised in, most pertinently and poignantly, the Abrahamic covenant. And there still is a corporate dimension. The third thing to keep in mind is that the New Covenant is already and not yet. Just like the Abrahamic covenant had a near fulfillment. Isaac, prosperity, Canaan, all those promises to Abram. He saw some of them in his life. And yet there was a far Christ. Spiritual riches, heavenly inheritance. This is how every prophecy, virtually every prophecy in the Old Testament works. So we should not be surprised that this prophecy of the New Covenant is also going to have elements that are inaugurated without being fully accomplished. Do we want to suggest that in the New Covenant there is no teaching and there are no teachers? Because that's literally what Jeremiah says. You will not need anyone to teach you anymore. No, we know that there are still teachers. Or might we say that that literal fulfillment is a statement in the future, at the final consummation? We don't need teachers in the sense now that we don't need another mediator between God and man. The priests were called to be teachers and mediators. Well, we don't need a priest. We have one final high priest. But we've not yet reached the final consummation where knowledge will be complete. Complete. We enjoy the blessings of the New Covenant now, but there is more yet to come. When we think then about the newness of the New Covenant, let's rely on one of theologians we all know and love, Francis Turretin. He helpfully expounds eight differences between the Old and the New Testaments. He says, how do these two differ? He says, they differ as to time. The Old preceded Christ, the New follows him. The Old and the New Covenants differ as to clarity. The New reveals what the Old had veiled. They differ as to their easiness. That is, the signs and service required were more burdensome under the Old Testament. Just think about all that you had to do with your animals and your sacrifices and your pilgrimages. It is a much simpler and less burdensome practice and what we're called to do. And yet we have to offer now our whole lives as an act of worship. For there's a difference, Turton says, as to the sweetness that is grace is greater and more extended under the New Covenant. There's a difference as to perfection. The shadows of the Old have given way to the substance of the New. There's a difference as to freedom. We know more fully the spirit of adoption as sons under the new. 7. There's a difference as to amplitude. Turretan means the Old was restricted largely to one nation. Now you could be brought into that nation, but largely one nation on the earth, while the New extends purposefully to every nation. And there is a difference as to duration. The old was temporary, the new is without end. The use of Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8 underscores that Christ is a better mediator, a better covenant. He enacted this better covenant on better promises, and this has rendered the first covenant obsolete. Likewise, the use of Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 10 underscores that Christ's death was once for all. No other sacrifice for sin is necessary. Hebrews does not teach that every covenant arrangement has been annulled, only that the Mosaic covenant has been abrogated. This isn't because the law was a mistake. In fact, the two long comments about Moses in the Book of Hebrews are both positive, so it's not negative on Moses. Moses isn't bad. The point is, Jesus is better. That's what Hebrews wants us to see about the covenant that Jesus executes. This covenant established in Christ is new, and it is second, it is after, and it is better, and it is eternal. What is said about the Spirit regenerated Christian, can be said about the age of the Spirit more broadly. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come.
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You've been listening to Doctrine Matters with me, Kevin DeYoung, your host and teacher. If you'd like to learn more about the topics we talked about today, you can check out my book Daily Doctrine. It's available in print or audio from Crossway.org and you may want to talk to your pastor or a trusted friend who can recommend other good resources. The Doctrine Matters podcast is produced by Crossway, a non profit ministry that exists solely for the purpose of proclaiming the truth of God's Word through publishing gospel centered content. To learn more, visit Crossway.org until next week, I'm Kevin DeYoung and this has been Doctrine Matters. Thanks for joining us.