covenants & promises, ecclesiology
Question: Does Hebrews 13:20 refer to the New Covenant, and if so wouldn’t that provide evidence that the church is currently under the New Covenant today? Answer: Not necessarily, but possibly (and probably) and…no. Hebrews 13:20 does not directly refer to the...
covenants & promises, theology
The first six promises of the Abrahamic promise/covenant (Gen 12:2-3a) all pertain primarily to national blessing for Abraham’s descendants who are counted through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – the nation of Israel – and will be fulfilled in an entirely still yet future...
covenants & promises, hermeneutics
Question: Is Genesis 12:2-3 actually a covenant? Wouldn’t it be more accurate to simply call these verses promises? Answer: If Genesis 12:1-3 is taken in a vacuum, then we might not consider it a covenant, simply because it is not specifically identified as a...
bible overviews, covenants & promises, israel
Daniel chapter nine finds Daniel examining the prophet Jeremiah’s declarations of a seventy-year exile (Jer. 25:14, 29:10), and responding humbly to the Lord in prayer, as the time of the exile was drawing to a close. The personal humility that Daniel demonstrates in...
bible overviews, covenants & promises, eschatology, exegesis/exposition, israel, salvation, theology
Understanding the Biblical usage of terms such as dispensation, covenant, and kingdom of God can go a long way in helping is recognize what God’s big picture is, and how He intends to fill in the details. Let’s take a look at some definitions and...
covenants & promises, israel, theology
Question: In Isaiah 42:6, doesn’t the phrase “I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations” (NASB) indicate that the Messiah was given to the Gentiles as a covenant, and thus the New Covenant is also extended to the Gentiles and the church...
covenants & promises, theology
The New Covenant promised to Israel and Judah in Jeremiah 31:31–34 includes two components that some argue are fulfilled by the church. In Jeremiah 31:33, “I will put My law within them and on their hear I will write it…” and in Jeremiah 31:34, “They will not teach...
covenants & promises, ecclesiology, eschatology, salvation, theology
Based on Romans 2:28-29, some have concluded that being Jewish is a spiritual rather than ethnic matter, and that people become “spiritual Jews” when they become Christians. Romans 2:28-29 reads, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly neither is circumcision that...
bibliology, covenants & promises, ecclesiology, spiritual gifts
As believers there are certain principles to which we must be thoroughly committed. For example, our experience cannot determine our theology. Instead, we must submit our experience and our theology to God’s word. Peter illustrates this principle for us when he...
covenants & promises, ecclesiology, eschatology, exegesis/exposition
Addressed to The Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics at Baptist Bible Seminary, on September 24, 2009, and later published in Journal of Dispensational Theology, December 2009, and currently scheduled to be included in a forthcoming single volume handling the issue...
