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Your King Has Come - Indelible Grace
The Present Reality of the New Covenant
Posted by Brian Thornton on May 31, 2008
The New Covenant is different from the previous one. For starters, the previous covenant was a collective, or a group covenant, and included all manner of people within the nation of Israel, both believer and unbeliever alike, both elect and reprobate alike. The New Covenant, as described by God in Jeremiah 31, is quite different in that it is NOT LIKE the one made before it, which those within it broke. The New Covenant is a specific, or personal covenant, one in which every member meets the description which God has put forth. The New Covenant, according to God in Jeremiah 31, is one in which ALL those who are granted access to it are believers, all are elect. Jeremiah records God saying that, in the New Covenant, they (those who are in it) will all know Him, they (those who are in it) will all have His law written on their hearts and minds, and they (all those within it) will all have their iniquity forgiven and their sin remembered no more.
Paul, in 2 Corinthians, Chapter 6, demonstrates that this is a present reality and not something which is yet to happen. Unlike the previous covenant which purposefully included believer and unbeliever alike, those within the New Covenant are instructed to, first of all, not yoke themselves to unbelievers and, second of all, to remove unbelievers from their midst. Here is what Paul says:
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord,and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. - 2 Cor. 6:14-18
Why does Paul instruct those within the church not to join in any endeavors with unbelievers? I think one reason is because those truly within the church, the body of Christ, had been specially called out from the world. They were members of a New Covenant, one in which there was to be no inclusion of those in the world.
Paul also says, “we ARE the temple of the living God”. Here and now, not sometime in the future, but right here, and right now. The true church, the body and Bride of Christ IS the temple of the living God. The context of what Paul is saying is that, God has already made His dwelling among those who have Christ, He IS their God, and they ARE His people.
This is not some future promise for us. This a present reality. Therefore, we are to keep Christ’s body holy, clean, pure and righteous, as Paul said, “what fellowship has light with darkness?”
Les Prouty said
Brian, as you might expect I will respectfully disagree with some of what you say here.
I have said elsewhere that most Presbyterians like me believe that unbelievers are in fact, in some sense, considered part of the New Covenant until the consummation of all things at Jesus’ return. At that time the 100% of Jeremiah’s prophecy will be fulfilled.
But I just have a couple of things I wonder if you could elaborate on from your perspective.
During this era (between Christ’s 1st and 2nd coming) what does this part of Jer. 31 mean? “34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.”
1. Do you believe we still need teachers in our time and if so, how does that fit your view of this present 100% fulfillment of the prophecy?
2. “from the least of them to the greatest…” It appears elswhere in Jeremiah’s usage of this phrase that he doesn’t mean “all without exception.” cf. Jer. 6:12-13; 8:5-10; 42:1-3; 44:11-14. Do you believe that Jeremiah’s usage here in chapter 31 is an exception to his previous usage?
Thanks.
Brian Thornton said
Do you believe we still need teachers in our time and if so, how does that fit your view of this present 100% fulfillment of the prophecy?
ANSWER: We definitely still need teachers in our time. The prophecy here is not concerning the need (or lack thereof) for teaching with respect to discipleship, but God is simply saying they (the ones in the New Covenant) will all know Him personally. In other words, everyone in the this new covenant will truly be a child of God, which is unlike the makeup of the previous covenant. The previous covenant consisted of two groups: those who knew God, and those who did not. This new covenant, according to God in Jer. 31, will only consist of those who actually know God, have His law written on their heart, and have their sin forgiven.
In the previous covenant, since its makeup included those who did not know the Lord and those who did, it was necessary to teach another member of the covenant by telling them to know the Lord, because they did not know Him. In the New Covenant, according to God, that will not be necessary because everyone in this new covenant will already know Him. As John says in 1 John 2:27, “As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.”
But, since Paedos start out with a presupposition that infants should be baptized (many of which they know will NOT know the Lord), and since Paedos consider the present reality of the New Covenant to consist of elect and non-elect alike, then they must assume that this covenant really isn’t in effect yet, and that what God promised in Jeremiah 31 is yet to be fulfilled until the next dispensation. Which leads us back to my previous post where my overarching distinction between Paedos and Credos was that Paedos equate the New Covenant with the visible church, and Credos equate the New Covenant with the Bride of Christ, or invisible church.
We probably don’t need to keep going round and round on this point, but I think God’s promise in Jer. 31 is perhaps the most clear and unambiguous detail we have that the New Covenant ONLY includes the elect (which, as He says, is NOT LIKE the previous one)…it only includes those who know God, those who have His law on their heart, those who have had their sin forgiven.
Joshua M said
I was just wondering if you thought that Christians should separate themselves completely from unbelievers? We should should not engage in what the world says OR does engage in. But do you think that means complete separation from unbelievers?
Brian Thornton said
Joshua,
Good question. To put it simply, I think we should be IN the word, but not OF the world. Being in the world, there is no way, short of secluding yourself in a remote compound, to completely separate yourself from unbelievers…nor do I think Christians should do that. We are to be salt and light to a dark and tasteless world, which necessitates living among them. But when it comes to things like marriage, business, and even true friendships, I think Scripture is clear that we are not to be unequally yoked with the world.
danny said
Like a scuba diver. He is completely submersed in the water (in this case, being in the world) and yet, he is breathing something totally different (not of the world).