Short NCT Videos

Here.

Good Lookin' Out: Center Church

This is gonna be good.

Read the OT in Light of the NT

My wife and I are following the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan this year and read Amos 9 this morning. Amos 9:11-15 reads:

"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, 12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name," declares the LORD who does this. 13 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. 14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them," says the LORD your God."

This is one of the passages that Dispensationalists like to grab hold of. "God made these promises to Israel and he will keep his promise to bless just like he kept his promise to curse. Israel has a special future," says the Dispensational theologian. I confess that if all I had was Amos, I might arrive at the same conclusion. Thankfully we have a divine commentary on Amos through the Holy Spirit and James. In Acts 15:12-19, we read this:

"And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, "Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, 16 "'After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, 17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.' 19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God," 

So it turns out that James sees this passage in Amos as having fulfillment in the new covenant, the new community of Jews and Gentiles - that is, the church. I think I will go with James over Scofield. I'd encourage you to do the same. 

Chrysostom and New Covenant Theology

"The Law, then, as it was our tutor, and we were kept shut up under it, is not the adversary but the fellow-worker of grace. But if when grace is come it continues to hold us down, it becomes an adversary; for if it confines those who ought to go forward to grace, then it is the destruction of our salvation. If a candle which gave light by night kept us, when it became day, from the sun, it would not only not benefit, it would injure us. And so does the Law, if it stands between us and greater benefits. Those then are the greatest traducers of the Law who still keep it, just as the tutor makes a youth ridiculous by retaining him with himself when time calls for his departure."

-Commentary on Galatians 3:25-26

"What is New Covenant Theology" Book

***UPDATE*** (4/26/12) - This book is now available here.

I am very excited about a current project seeking to define New Covenant Theology. It seems to me that what is lacking in the NCT movement is a balanced, clear, concise treatment of the essentials of NCT. There is a growing amount of theological literature available that I consider NCT, whether or not they use the label (see this book list).

I am currently about half way finished writing a "layman's guide" to NCT. I am seeking to articulate the core of what NCT is about in an accessible way. It has 7 chapters unpacking 7 essential points. Here they are:

Chapter 1 – One Plan of God Centered in Jesus Christ

Chapter 2 – The Old Testament Should be Interpreted in Light of the New Testament

Chapter 3 – The Old Covenant was Temporary by Divine Design

Chapter 4 – The Law is a Unit

Chapter 5 – Christians are Not Under the Law of Moses, but the ‘Law’ of Christ

Chapter 6 – All Members of the New Covenant Community Have the Holy Spirit

Chapter 7 – The Church is the Eschatological Israel

I hope to be finished by May 2012 and would love your prayers!

R. Longenecker & New Covenant Theology 4

"Christians today often have difficulty understanding their faith vis-a-vis the Mosaic law. Legalism is not too difficult to define and renounce. But nomism continues in large measure within the Christian church generally and the lives of many believers in particular. Galatians, however, sets out a mandate for freedom, not only with regard to access before God but also with regard to a Christian lifestyle." (219)



"Most often Galatians is viewed as the great document of justification by faith. What Christians all too often fail to realize is that in reality it is a document that sets out a Christ-centered lifestyle - one that stands in opposition to both nomism and libertinism. Sadly, thought applauding justification by faith, Christians frequently renounce their freedom in Christ by espousing either nomism or libertinism, and sometimes (like the Galatians) both. So Paul's letter to the Galatians, though directly relevant to the Galatian situation, speaks also to our situation today." (235)


--Taken from his Galatians

ESV 2011 Update

Crossway has provided a complete list of the changes made for the 2011 Text Edition here.

Halloween Candy Joke

Spurgeon Bio Rap