Featured Christocentric Theology (New Covenant Theology): The Big Nothing Burger

I think we all know that Christ is the primary Subject of Scripture (regardless of what method one used to interpret the Bible).

So you already squandered your time with this post

We are not talking about Christ being all through God's Word as the Primary Subject. We are talking about different approaches men take to understand Scripture as a whole.

Since you are working on a sermon that little oversight can be forgiven. Sometimes when we have too many irons in the fire something of less importance (like posting in an online forum) simply gets away from us. That is probably what happened here with your post.

 

Kinda.

The idea with Dispensationalism is that Divine Economy is viewed through God's actions with mankind through different ages.

The idea with Covenant Theology is that Divine Economy is viewed through various covenants, of prime importance are covenants that are derived from Scripture rather than in the text of Scripture.

The idea with NCT is that Divine Economy is viewed through the New Covenant.

I understand you think it is nothing (it is only "something" insofar as Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology is "something"....we all read of "covenants" and "dispensation" in the Bible as well).

But I would argue that history shows us exactly how these "nothings" change the conclusions Christians reach.

That said, in and of themselves, these methods are not doctrines. They are approaches to Scripture.


I am not sure where you got the idea that NCT holds the Mosaic Law obsolete. The belief is that the Mosaic Law is fulfilled in Christ and established by the New Covenant (the very opposite of obsolete).

In other words, the moral commandments of the Mosaic Law show us how our actions should be (the Law is a "school master" that shows us our sin). The New Covenant shows us who we are to be.

Again, this is viewing Scripture through the lens of the New Covenant. Covenant Theology would claim NCT has it backwards, and NCT would claim Covenant Theology has it backwards. Where you see the Sermon on the Mount as explaining the Old Covenant Law I view the Sermon on the Mount as explaining the Law of Christ (the life in the Spirit).

And to be fair, regardless of where we draw the distinction a distinction must be drawn because the Bible tells us that the New Covenant itself is the righteous of God manifested apart from the Law.

 

I think, maybe, what I should have said in terms like f explaining the Mosaic Law and the Law of Christ is that with the New Covenant that which was external (Torah) was made internal (walk in the Spirit).

I was raised a Baptist. In the 1970's and 1980's the way we looked at Scripture was NCT. Dispensationalism was later discussed, but that was more in the "big churches".

If your pastor was replaced by a NCT pastor you probably wouldn't notice a difference in teaching (except Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism may be missing). As far as Scripture, we all have the same Bibles.

I never have been a member of a Reformed Baptist church. But NCT is associated with Reformed Baptists. So, like Dispensationalism, it can cross denominational boundaries.

 

Sorry...I didn't answer you (I had a thought and just posted it).

NCT does view the Old Covenant Law as ending with the New Covenant (they say stuff like God took it away and nailed it to the cross).

But not ending in terms of being obsolete. We still learn from the Old Testament.

Look at it this way - we are not under the Old Covenant sacrifice system. Baptists don't bring their lambs to be slaughtered and presented to God by the senior pastor (not even by the deacons). That system pointed to Christ and is fulfilled in Him. But we don't pretend it does not exist. And it is not obsolete. The meaning, however, to us is not covering our sins but the work of Christ as our High Priest.

We are not under the Old Covenant Law. It does not apply to us. But we can still learn from it. At a minimum we can know that if we live immoral lives we are not walking in the Spirit. But we remain under the Law of Christ (not the Old Covenant Law). If we live by the Law of Christ then we will fulfill the moral standard of the Old Covenant Law. God tells us His Law is not written in stone but on our hearts.

If I murder somebody because I have not read "thou shalt not kill" then something is wrong because if I were obeying the Law of Christ and walking in the Spirit then I would not have disobeyed that commandment regardless of whether I ever read it.

As far as a layman one thing to keep in mind is that, unlike Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology, NCT came out of the churches. Rather than being developed in the academic arena it came from Christians studying their Bibles.

That does not mean it is correct. But of the three it is probably the closest to the actual text of Scripture (no derived covenants, no figuring out an everlasting covenant between the Father and Son in eternity past, no determining what would have happened if Adam refrained from eating that fruit; no dividing a timeline based on God's interactions)...just the Bible.

So If say NCT is the layman's method (the layman not already exposed to another method, anyway,). It is a method developed from what you can actually highlight or underline in the Bible.

 

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The "groundbreaking" part is that it is on those that the Law hinges.

The man was asking Jesus which was the greatest commandment. He was thinking as many do today - a list of commands to obey. But if you keep those two then you fulfill the whole.

That is a good example of what we were discussing about the Old Covenant Law being established on the Law of Christ.

 

Could you imagine sitting down teaching a child and saying-

"Now Johnny, we need to treat others as we want to be treated. No biting, no poking out eyes, no spitting, no hair pulling, no punching...".

The first sentence was all that was needed to obey.

The following merely showed Johnny his disobedience when he poked out Ben's eye and pulled Cindy's hair.