“In part the covenant is new because the law governing the covenant is new. But by new, we do not mean ‘freshly invented’ but rather ‘back from the dead.’ There cannot be a change in the priesthood without a corresponding change in the law. But the priesthood has been bestowed on Christ on the basis of His power of an indestructible life.”
How the Law Bears Fruit
“When Jesus died, the law died. And when He rose again, so did the law . . . the law has complete continuity in the same way that the body of Christ had continuity with His resurrection body. It was the same body that rose from the dead (John 20:27). The law has discontinuity in the sense that the resurrection changes the meaning and nature of everything.”
Sinners With No Hands
“Stop trying to pick up grace. You have no hands. Grace picks you up, out of the miry clay, and sets your feet on the rock. A true heart knows this.”
Two Kinds of Readers
“The Word of God is unified, but the reason we see it as divided is that we have to account for two kinds of people, each group seeing the Word as unified, but in different ways. But the Scriptures are not divided up into law portions in one section and grace portions in another. We do, however, have law-readers and grace-readers.”
Sons of Belial
“What are we to make of the phrase ‘sons of Belial’? In every instance of the phrase in the Old Testament, it always refers to members of the covenant whose lives were completely at odds with the terms of it, and whose hollowness was exhibited in their behavior.”
Infidelity Within the Covenant
“Mark this well: adultery is not the same thing as divorce. It is certainly covenantal unfaithfulness and is grounds for divorce, but if there is no divorce, then the marriage remains binding on both parties. An adulterous husband is a covenant-breaking husband, not an ex-husband. In short, we must distinguish covenant-breaking from covenant-separation.”
My, What Big Ears You Have
“We should note that the sheep don’t have to go to graduate school to find out the difference between a shepherd and a wolf.”
All the Way Down Aaron’s Beard
“So what problem is created by the heretic? For instance, we have some who reason that since these other fellows (liberals, etc.) are certainly part of the visible Church, then our relationship with them should be collegial. In other words, we should schmooze with one another all the way down Aaron’s beard. Others reason that ‘if that lesbian bishop is a Christian, then I’m a Hottentot.’”
Breakable Covenants
“We like to pretend that the New Testament is filled with automatic covenant blessings, but the only way to maintain the illusion is to come up with an invisible covenant that no one can point to in such a way as to prove us wrong. We like to pretend that this is a point of distinction between the old and new covenants, whereas in fact it is one of the places where the New Testament draws parallels, with solemn warning. In this respect, the New Testament church was no different than the church of Jews in the wilderness. Jews in the wilderness apostatized; Christians in the first century apostatized. Much of the New Testament was written with this concern front and center.”
A Most Unfortunate Typo
“But breaking covenant occurs because of unbelief, lack of faith, and because of lack of good works.”
“But breaking covenant occurs because of unbelief, lack of faith, and not because of lack of good works.”
#1 “Reformed” Is Not Enough, p. 134, original #2 “Reformed” Is Not Enough, p. 134, there, fixed it