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Ask FGBC #22: What is the New Covenant in the Reformed Baptist view?

Jim Butler · 2024-11-11 · 726 words · 5 min

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Next question is related to the 
last one. What is the New Covenant in the 
Reformed Baptist view? And how does this Reformed Baptist 
view compare to the Dispensationalist view of the New Covenant? I guess 
this could be a long answer, so we should maybe not go too 
long. I can answer to what the new covenant is in Reformed Baptist 
thought. We would say that the covenant 
of grace is the new covenant, is the historical expression 
of the covenant of grace. In chapter 7 of our confession, 
Paragraph two describes what the covenant of grace is and 
what is offered to sinners and it's salvation by Jesus Christ, 
requiring of them faith in him that they may be saved and promising 
to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life, his 
Holy Spirit to make them willing and able to believe. And so it 
is God's mercy towards his elect and that he offers salvation 
unto them, which we would agree with our Paedo-Baptist brothers 
and sisters, but we disagree on how it's, the outworking of 
it, how it's packaged. And so many Paedo-Baptists would 
say that the Abrahamic covenant is the covenant of grace, and 
many would say the Mosaic covenant is the covenant of grace. Whereas 
we recognize that only the New Covenant is the covenant of grace. 
The Abrahamic points ahead, the types and shadows of the Mosaic 
point ahead to the New Covenant, but the New Covenant is the historical 
expression of the covenant of grace. It's ratified in the blood 
of Christ. Christ says, this is the blood 
of the New Covenant. And so that is where we see that historical 
outworking, namely by way of the covenant of grace in that 
new covenant. And then as far as dispensationalism is concerned, 
it's again tough because there's been a lot of iterations of dispensationalism. So it started off in the 1800s 
under Darby and who's the other guy? Schofield. Schofield, yeah. But arguably it's been modified, 
shifted, changed quite a bit such that you have progressive 
dispensationalism, you have old school dispensationalism. So, 
it's really sort of difficult to nail it down, but basically, 
dispensationalism, at least historically, looked at the various dispensations 
in the Bible as God's ways of dealing with people. So, you 
had, you know, basically law for salvation in the old dispensation. So, no Reformed Baptist would 
ever argue that. We believe that you're always 
saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Another 
thing that is very absolutely crucial for dispensationalism 
how this touches on the covenant of grace, I'm not sure, but I 
do think it's important to understand the distinction between the Jews 
and the Gentiles. So, without that, you don't have 
dispensationalism. So, basically, God deals with 
the Jews in the Old Testament basically cuts them off because 
they rejected Jesus who offered himself as a king and then God 
turns his attention to the Gentiles. So, it would really be hard to 
maintain the covenant of grace sort of approach throughout, 
you know, redemptive history. And then, of course, once the 
Gentile church phase is over, that church will be raptured 
into Heaven and then begins the Millennial Kingdom where God 
specifically has in mind blessings upon ethnic Israel. So, you know, 
I don't know. I haven't been a dispensationalist. I guess I should talk more to 
them, but would they affirm the theological covenants, covenant 
of redemption, covenant of works, covenant of grace? I'd like to 
think they do, but the RB or Particular Baptist Second London 
Confession approach to the covenant of grace, is dissimilar to what 
you find in Dispensationalism. There's, you know, a lot of differences 
there. Pete It's like you said, I think 
there's a lot of differences. I think many would, as I understand, 
reject some of the more theological terminology, covenant of grace, 
redemption, and works, because it's not found in the Bible. 
And so, certainly there are literalistic, hermeneutic plays a part in that 
as well. And so I think that's why they would focus in on Jeremiah 
31, which we focus in on Jeremiah 31 as well, but Hebrews 8 and 
10 is very clear that it's, and then the institution of the Lord's 
Supper is very clear that that starts with Christ's death and 
resurrection.