THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

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THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
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THE PROBLEM OF SIN
How Does This Fit?
Sin Exists In Gods Universe
God is Good
God is All Powerful
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THE PROBLEM OF SIN
The biblical doctrine leaves us with mysteries
beyond our comprehension, but these are, as
Laidlaw says, 'solvents, not sources of
difficulty. Into the problem of evil, Scripture
introduces elements of explanation. It accounts
for man's present moral and physical condition,
for the broad phenomena of life and death in a
way that is thinkable and intelligible'. The
humble Christian is content to contain these
unresolved problems. They do not disturb his
peace of mind because, in the last analysis, the
ground of all peace of mind is the conviction of
the sovereignty, justice, goodness of God. What
he cannot resolve he believes God does. It is the
apex of Christian piety to trust in God, just as
it is also the foundation, to say, 'I do not
know, but I do know that God does'. Christian
piety leaves unresolved problems in the hand of
God, remembering that, if we knew all, then we
would be as God, and worship and adoration would
be at an end. Clouds and darkness are round about
him but justice and judgment are the habitation
of his throne. Murray, CW, 1,76.
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THE DEFINITION OF SIN

• Sin is lawlessness, I John 34
• Sin consists of attitudes contrary to the law of
  God, Ex. 2017 Matt. 522,28
• Sin is any want of conformity unto, or
  transgression of the law of God S.C. Q. 14

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ORIGINAL SIN

• We become sinners because we are in Adam
• Really, we are his physical posterity
• Spiritually, he is our covenant head and we are
  represented by him
• This is the federal or covenantal view

• Three Imputations in Scripture
• Adams Sin to Us
• Our Sin to Christ
• Christs righteousness to us
• Romans 514 I Corinthians 1522, 45 II
  Corinthians 520

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SIN AND SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
All the reformers of the sixteenth century,
including even the gentle Melanchthon and the
compromising Bucer, under a controlling sense of
human depravity and saving grace, in extreme
antagonism to Pelagianism and self-righteousness,
and, as they sincerely believed, in full harmony
not only with the greatest of the fathers, but
also with the inspired St. Paul, came to the same
doctrine of a double predestination which decides
the eternal destiny of all men. Nor is it
possible to evade this conclusion on the two
acknowledged premises of Protestant orthodoxy-
namely the wholesale condemnation of men in Adam,
and the limitation of saving grace to the present
world. -Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, 1,451.
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COVENANT OF WORKS

• Parties God and Adam, Gen. 115-17
• Promises Eternal Life, Gen. 29
• Conditions Faith and Obedience, Gen. 215-17
• Sanctions Death, Gen 217
• Hosea 67, But like Adam, you broke my covenant
  and sinned against me
• Romans 512, When Adam sinned, sin entered the
  entire human race. Adams sin brought death, so
  death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. I
  Cor. 1521ff

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COVENANT OF WORKS

• Larger Catechism refers to this as a covenant of
  life Q.20 What was the providence of God
  toward man in the estate in which he was created?
  A. The providence of God toward man in the estate
  in which he was created, was the placing him in
  paradise, appointing him to dress it, giving him
  liberty to eat of the fruit of the earth putting
  the creatures under his dominion, and ordaining
  marriage for his help affording him communion
  with himself instituting the Sabbath entering
  into a covenant of life with him, upon condition
  of personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience, of
  which the tree of life was a pledge and
  forbidding to eat of the tree of the knowledge of
  good and evil, upon the pain of death.

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COVENANT OF WORKS

• John Murrays reservations This Adamic
  administration has often been denoted The
  Covenant of Works. There are two observations.
  (1) The term is not felicitous, for the reason
  that the elements of grace entering into the
  administration are not properly provided for by
  the term works. (2) It is not designated a
  covenant in Scripture . . . Murray, Collected
  Works, 249
• Considerations for students under care of
  presbytery

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COVENANT OF GRACE

• Parties your God and the God of your
  descendants, Gen. 177
• Promises I will be your God, Lev. 2612
• Conditions You will be my people, Deut. 6
• Faith
• Obedience
• Rewards He will live with them and they will be
  his people, Rev. 213

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COVENANT OF GRACE

• Adamic Covenant- Hosea 67
• Abrahamic Covenant- Genesis 121-5 chapters
  15,17
• Mosaic Covenant- Exodus 61-8 195,6 3213
  Deuteronomy 6 76

• Davidic Covenant- II Samuel 7 Psalm 89
• New Covenant-Ezekiel 3422-31 3625-37 Jeremiah
  313,31-40 3315-26
• Fulfillment- Luke 2220 Hebrews 915

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STRUCTURE Bookends

• A Garden, Gen. 215
• A Tree of Life for our parents, Gen. 29
• Greater and Lesser Lights, Gen. 116
• Presence of God in cool of evening, Gen. 38
• Perfect Creation, Gen. 131

• A City, Rev. 212
• A Tree of Life for the healing of all nations,
  Rev. 222
• The Lord is the Light, Rev. 225
• Dwelling of God is with men, Rev. 213
• Perfect re-creation, Rev. 211

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STRUCTURE Centrality of Christ

• Gen. 315- the seed of the woman to bring about
  the destruction of Satan
• Isa. 714, the virgin-born Immanuel
• Matt. 122,23, the fulfillment, the Immanuel
  born to Mary
• John 114, the Word became flesh, tabernacled
  among us
• Matt. 2628, Luke 2220, the new covenant in my
  (Jesus) blood

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STRUCTURE The Covenant Formula

• Lev. 269-13a, I will look on you with favor and
  make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and
  I will keep my covenant with you. You will still
  be eating last years harvest when you will have
  to move it out to make room for the new. I will
  put my dwelling place among you, and I will not
  abhor you. I will walk among you and be your
  God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord
  your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that
  you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians

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STRUCTURE Ancient Near Eastern Treaty Pattern

• Preamble
• Historical Prologue
• Stipulations
• Blessings, Curses, Ratification
• Succession
• This is the pattern found in the Book of
  Deuteronomy, as noted in the work of Mendenhall
  and Kline (2d millennium B.C. treaty patterns)

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STRUCTURE Covenant w/Adam

• Gen. 215, the Lord God took the man and put him
  in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of
  it
• Gen. 38, the Lord God as he was walking in the
  garden in the cool of the day
• Elements of this covenant
• Gracious- creation not required was free act of
  God
• Relationship- meet in garden in evening,
  condescension
• Responsibilities- covenant fulfillment, tend
  garden (no great burden)
• Promises- life (tree of life)
• Warning- covenant breaking leads to death

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STRUCTURE Covenant w/Adam

• According to Hosea 67, this was a covenant
• Yet, when Adam broke covenant
• God still sought after him
• God provided means to make covenant breaker once
  again become covenant keeper, Gen 321
• BUT- the principle is established that it is only
  when the innocent takes the place of the guilty
  that the covenant can be restored

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STRUCTURE Covenant w/Abraham

• GOD MADE COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM Gen. 177
• From the individualism of Adams children to a
  family and tribe With Abraham and his seed-
  everlasting covenant/covenant sign
• Promise of Seed who would be a blessing to all
  nations
• basis of Great Commission
• Gal. 37, all who believe- are children of
  Abraham
• Promise of land, an inheritance for his people
  (Rom. 413) heir of world

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STRUCTURE Covenant w/Abraham

• Covenant is established by God Gen 1512-21
• Covenant is bilateral involves mutua obligatio
• Promise (I will be your God)
• Obligation (you will be my people)
• Gen. 177, I will establish my covenant as an
  everlasting covenant between me and you and your
  descendants
• Gen. 179, you must keep my covenant
• Gen. 1714, any uncircumcised male . . . will be
  cut off
• Gen. 1819, I have chosen him, so that he will
  direct his children and his household after him
  to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is
  right and just, so that the Lord will bring about
  for Abraham what he has promised him

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STRUCTURE Covenant w/Moses

• Deut. 52ff, The Lord our God made a covenant
  with us at Horeb
• From a tribe to a nation, a kingdom of priests
  and a holy nation Ex. 196 (Cf. I Peter 25,9)
• Moses the mediator of the old covenant
• He establishes the covenant code (Ex. 20, Deut.
  5)
• He leads redemptive journey from Egypt through
  baptismal waters of Red Sea to promised land
• Redemption REMEMBERED IN PASSOVER
• Israel becomes God's treasured possession- his
  own dear children, Deut. 76
• Tent of Meeting- dwelling presence of God (God
  with us) but only through Mediator, Ex. 337ff
  4034-38

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STRUCTURE Covenant w/Moses

• This covenant was not in opposition to the
  Abrahamic covenant
• The law did not set aside the Abrahamic covenant,
  Gal. 317
• The Mosaic covenant was one of the covenants
  (plural) of promise, Eph. 212
• The law is not opposed to the promises of God-
  and was never intended to be the means by which
  righteousness comes, Gal. 321
• The obligation to keep the commandments comes
  only after the redemptive prologue, Ex. 202,
  Deut. 56

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STRUCTURE Covenant w/David

• II Sam. 711, the Lord himself will establish a
  house for you 714, I will be his father and
  he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will
  punish him . . .
• Psalm 8920-29, I will maintain my love to him
  forever and my covenant with him will never fail
  (vs. 28)
• From a nation to a Kingdom
• God promises a kingdom without end
• God promised to establish a throne in
  righteousness
• God promises to bring about this rule by his
  power
• God promised to establish a temple through
  Solomon- a place to meet with his people, II Sam
  713

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STRUCTURE New Covenant

• Jer. 3131-3, The time is coming declares the
  Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the
  house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It
  will not be like the covenant I made with their
  forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead
  them out of Egypt, because they broke my
  covenant, though I was a husband to them,
  declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will
  make with the house of Israel after that time,
  declares the Lord. I will put my law in their
  minds and write it on their hearts. I will be
  their God and they will be my people.

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STRUCTURE New Covenant

• Eze. 3423ff, I will place over them one
  shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend
  them he will tend them and be their shepherd. I
  the Lord will be their God, and my servant David
  will be prince among them. I the Lord have
  spoken. I will make a covenant of peace with them
  . . .
• Eze. 3624-28, For I will take you out of the
  nations I will gather you from all the countries
  and bring you back into your own land. I will
  sprinkle clean water on you and you will be
  clean I will cleanse you from all your
  impurities and from all your idols. I will give
  you a new heart and put a new spirit in you I
  will remove from you your heart of stone and give
  you a heart of flesh . . .you will be my people
  and I will be your God.

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STRUCTURE New Covenant

• From an earthly kingdom to a kingdom of priests,
  Jer. 3321,22
• God would write his law on the heart
• All would come to know the Lord
• None would need to be taught
• Their sins will be forgiven

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STRUCTURE New Covenant established by Christ

• John 114, tabernacled among us
• Matthew 123, Immanuel, God with us
• Luke 2220, the new covenant in my blood
• From a Nation to the church catholic
• Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant
• He establishes covenant code
• New commandment, John 1334
• After Transfiguration, Luke 930, his exodus
• He leads redemptive journey from sin to promised
  land
• REMEMBERED IN LORD'S SUPPER

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STRUCTURE New Covenant established by Christ

• Jesus guarantees a better covenant, Heb. 722
• Jesus has a permanent priesthood, Heb. 724
• Jesus mediates a better covenant, Heb. 86, 915
• Jesus makes the first covenant obsolete, Heb.
  813
• Jesus enters the perfect tabernacle, Heb. 911,24
• Jesus offers one perfect sacrifice, Heb. 1010,14

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STRUCTURE Old vs. New Covenant

• Fulfillment
• Reality
• Once-for-all offering of Christ
• Melchizedekan Priesthood
• Eternal
• Christ, the son, as Mediator

• Anticipation
• Types and Shadows
• Blood of bulls and goats
• Aaronic/Levitical Priesthood
• Temporary
• Moses, the servant, as Mediator

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STRUCTURE Continuity?

• Epochal shifts (from one covenant to next) are
  organic
• There are similarities
• There are differences
• There is an underlying unity
• Dispensationalism tends to overemphasize
  differences
• Theonomy tends to overemphasize similarities
• Old Testament teachings and requirements still
  applicable unless clearly stated otherwise
• Cf. Col. 216,17 Rom. 145-8 Heb. 910

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CONDITIONALITY

• God initiates the covenant in its origin, the
  covenant is unilateral and unconditional
• Christ is the Mediator and the fulfillment of the
  covenant his role as covenant-keeper is complete
  and fulfills the pactum salutis
• The people of God are in the covenant by Gods
  grace, and respond to that grace
• In Faith
• And Obedience, LC 32
• The covenant, in its outworking, is bilateral and
  conditional
• See Turrettins comments on duties

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COVENANT SUCCESSION

• The covenant promise of God today is the same
  promise of Gods fatherly love, the forgiveness
  of sin, and eternal life made before to Abraham
  and it similarly embraces children with their
  Christian parents. Rayburn, Presbyterion, 22.2,
  76-112
• The children of believers are baptized not in
  order that they who were previously strangers to
  the church may then for the first time become
  children of God, but rather that, because by the
  blessing of the promise they already belonged to
  the body of Christ, they were received into the
  church with this solemn sign. Calvin, ICR,
  4.15.22.

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COVENANT SUCCESSION

• For it is very clear from many testimonies of
  Scripture that circumcision was also a sign of
  repentance. Then Paul calls it the seal of the
  righteousness of faith. For although infants, at
  the very moment they were circumcised, did not
  comprehend with their understanding what that
  sign meant, they were truly circumcised to the
  mortification of their corrupt and defiled
  nature, a mortification that they would afterward
  practice in mature years. To sum up, this
  objection can be solved without difficulty
  infants are baptized into future repentance and
  faith, and even though these have not yet been
  formed in them, the seed of both lies hidden
  within them by the secret working of the Spirit.
  Calvin, ICR, 4.16.20

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COVENANT SUCCESSION

• The Real Problem
• The Evangelical Paradigm Decisional
  Regeneration
• Is Arminian and not Calvinistic
• Is Missional and not Covenantal
• The Question of Conversion Experience
• Is the Wrong Question
• The Right Question is a Relationship Question
• Often, it is difficult to pinpoint the beginning
  of a relationship, There are Christians who can
  give the day and hour of their conversion, but
  the great majority do not know at exactly what
  moment they were saved. Machen, Christianity and
  Liberalism, 140
• That is the expectation in the model of the
  covenant succession of children
• Are you trusting in Jesus, not Have you had
  this experience

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THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY