By God's providence, this subject will be addressed from our Pulpit in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I received this comment from one of our pastors. I thought it was quite good.
Basically, New Covenant theology teaches the following:
1. The Mosaic covenant has been abolished in its entirety and has
been replaced by the New covenant. (Amen!)
2. The Mosaic Law has been abolished in its entirety with the
abolition of the Mosaic covenant.
3. The Mosaic Law has been replaced by the higher "Law of Christ."
The basic effect of this teaching is that the Old Testament is
not binding upon our consciences or ethics; the New Testament alone is
sufficient for us without the Old. Also, there is a strong tendency
to deny that we are saved, not only by Christ's death, but also by His
perfect righteousness imputed to us, a righteousness which consists of
His perfect obedience to the Mosaic Law.
Basically New Covenant theology is nothing more than
Dispensationalism dressed in the Emporer's new clothes! Some of the
second generation NCT men are already taking this teaching to its
logical conclusion: our liberty in Christ gives us the freedom to
marry our sisters, for instance. If they are consistent, then
spanking our children with the rod is no longer a necessity, since the
NT never commands us to do so. Where does the NT explicitly condemn
bestiality or uncovering another's nakedness?
Of course, our stance as a church is:
1. The Mosaic covenant has been abolished in its entirety and has
been replaced by the New Covenant (upon this we are agreed!)
2. The Mosaic Law is perpetual in its entirety under the New Covenant.
3. The APPLICATION of the Mosaic Law is DIFFERENT under the New
Covenant that it was under the Mosaic Covenant. (It is here that the
triplex understanding of the Mosaic Law comes into play. The moral
Law continues to bind us, the ceremonial and civil laws do not bind
us, at least not in the same way. Examples: I no longer have to be
circumcised in my body to be a part of the people of God, but I MUST
be circumcised in my heart! I no longer have to be sure to not muzzle
my ox while it treads the grain, but we must pay our pastors. I am
under no obligation to observe the year of Jubilee every 50 years, but
the Mediator of the New Covenant came to earth specifically to
proclaim the "favorable year of our Lord": He came to set prisoners
and slaves free and to cancel all our debts; not carnally but
spiritually!)
Matthew 5:17-19 hit me like a ton of bricks this week! I have
always thought of this text as an argument for the perpetuity of the
Decalogue. It does indeed teach this, but what Christ is saying is
that the entire canon of the 39 books of the Old Testament ("every jot
and tittle of the Law and Prophets") is binding upon our consciences,
not until His death on the cross, but until this present heaven and
earth pass away! He then tells us that if we break the least of these
commandments and teach others to do so, then we shall be called least
in the Kingdom of heaven. Yet, both Dispensationalism and New
Covenant Theology teach the radical abrogation of the ethically
binding nature of the Old Testament. Would not Christ say that by
teaching such things they will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven?
Also, Paul asked the question in Romans, "Do we then make void
the Law? No, on the contrary, we establish the Law." Spurgeon once
said, "a mutilated Law will lead to a mutilated gospel." I think he
is right! If the gospel we preach does not establish the Law, but
makes it void, are we not right to conclude that it is not the gospel
of Christ and of Paul?
Of course, the fact that the OT Law is different in its
application under the New Covenant leaves us with many interpretive
difficulties and challenges, but I believe that only a classic
covenantal and credobaptistic interpretation of Holy Scripture will
give us an adequate hermeneutic to do so!
So, in case you missed my point, in response to your request I
can only say "Amen! and Amen!" I intend to preach these things when I
get to the first blessing of the New Covenant: "I will write My Law
upon their hearts."
