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THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY. THE PROBLEM OF SIN. How Does This Fit?. Sin Exists In God’s Universe. God is Good. God is All Powerful. THE PROBLEM OF SIN.

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THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

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  1. THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Theological Anthropology 2

  2. THE PROBLEM OF SIN How Does This Fit? Sin Exists In God’s Universe God is Good God is All Powerful Theological Anthropology 2

  3. 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. Theological Anthropology 2

  4. THE DEFINITION OF SIN • Sin is lawlessness, I John 3:4 • Sin consists of attitudes contrary to the law of God, Ex. 20:17; Matt. 5:22,28 • “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of the law of God” S.C. Q. 14 Theological Anthropology 2

  5. 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 Adam’s Sin to Us Our Sin to Christ Christ’s righteousness to us Romans 5:14; I Corinthians 15:22, 45; II Corinthians 5:20 ORIGINAL SIN Theological Anthropology 2

  6. 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. Theological Anthropology 2

  7. Parties: God and Adam, Gen. 1:15-17 Promises: Eternal Life, Gen. 2:9 Conditions: Faith and Obedience, Gen. 2:15-17 Sanctions: Death, Gen 2:17 Hosea 6:7, “But like Adam, you broke my covenant and sinned against me” Romans 5:12, “When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.” I Cor. 15:21ff COVENANT OF WORKS Theological Anthropology 2

  8. 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.” COVENANT OF WORKS Theological Anthropology 2

  9. John Murray’s 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, 2:49 Considerations for students under care of presbytery COVENANT OF WORKS Theological Anthropology 2

  10. COVENANT OF GRACE • Parties: “your God and the God of your descendants,” Gen. 17:7 • Promises: “I will be your God,” Lev. 26:12 • Conditions: “You will be my people,” Deut. 6 • Faith • Obedience • Rewards: “He will live with them and they will be his people,” Rev. 21:3 Theological Anthropology 2

  11. Adamic Covenant- Hosea 6:7 Abrahamic Covenant- Genesis 12:1-5; chapters 15,17 Mosaic Covenant- Exodus 6:1-8; 19:5,6; 32:13; Deuteronomy 6; 7:6 Davidic Covenant- II Samuel 7; Psalm 89 New Covenant-Ezekiel 34:22-31; 36:25-37; Jeremiah 31:3,31-40; 33:15-26 Fulfillment- Luke 22:20; Hebrews 9:15 COVENANT OF GRACE Theological Anthropology 2

  12. A Garden, Gen. 2:15 A Tree of Life for our parents, Gen. 2:9 Greater and Lesser Lights, Gen. 1:16 Presence of God in cool of evening, Gen. 3:8 Perfect Creation, Gen. 1:31 A City, Rev. 21:2 A Tree of Life for the healing of all nations, Rev. 22:2 The Lord is the Light, Rev. 22:5 Dwelling of God is with men, Rev. 21:3 Perfect re-creation, Rev. 21:1 STRUCTURE: Bookends Theological Anthropology 2

  13. STRUCTURE: Centrality of Christ • Gen. 3:15- the seed of the woman to bring about the destruction of Satan • Isa. 7:14, the virgin-born “Immanuel” • Matt. 1:22,23, the fulfillment, the “Immanuel” born to Mary • John 1:14, the Word became flesh, “tabernacled” among us • Matt. 26:28, Luke 22:20, the new covenant in my (Jesus’) blood Theological Anthropology 2

  14. STRUCTURE: The Covenant Formula • Lev. 26:9-13a, “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 year’s 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” Theological Anthropology 2

  15. 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) Theological Anthropology 2

  16. STRUCTURE: Covenant w/Adam • Gen. 2:15, “the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” • Gen. 3:8, “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 Theological Anthropology 2

  17. STRUCTURE: Covenant w/Adam • According to Hosea 6:7, 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 3:21 • BUT- the principle is established that it is only when the innocent takes the place of the guilty that the covenant can be restored Theological Anthropology 2

  18. STRUCTURE: Covenant w/Abraham • GOD MADE COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM: Gen. 17:7 • From the individualism of Adam’s 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. 3:7, all who believe- are children of Abraham • Promise of land, an inheritance for his people (Rom. 4:13) heir of world Theological Anthropology 2

  19. STRUCTURE: Covenant w/Abraham • Covenant is established by God: Gen 15:12-21 • Covenant is bilateral: involves mutua obligatio • Promise (“I will be your God”) • Obligation (“you will be my people”) • Gen. 17:7, “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants” • Gen. 17:9, “you must keep my covenant” • Gen. 17:14, “any uncircumcised male . . . will be cut off” • Gen. 18:19, “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” Theological Anthropology 2

  20. STRUCTURE: Covenant w/Moses • Deut. 5:2ff, “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. 19:6 (Cf. I Peter 2:5,9) • 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. 7:6 • Tent of Meeting- dwelling presence of God (God with us) but only through Mediator, Ex. 33:7ff; 40:34-38 Theological Anthropology 2

  21. STRUCTURE: Covenant w/Moses • This covenant was not in opposition to the Abrahamic covenant • The law did not set aside the Abrahamic covenant, Gal. 3:17 • The Mosaic covenant was one of the “covenants (plural) of promise,” Eph. 2:12 • The law is not opposed to the promises of God- and was never intended to be the means by which righteousness comes, Gal. 3:21 • The obligation to keep the commandments comes only after the redemptive prologue, Ex. 20:2, Deut. 5:6 Theological Anthropology 2

  22. STRUCTURE: Covenant w/David • II Sam. 7:11, “the Lord himself will establish a house for you”; 7:14, “I will be his father and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him . . .” • Psalm 89:20-29, “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 7:13 Theological Anthropology 2

  23. STRUCTURE: New Covenant • Jer. 31:31-3, “‘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.” Theological Anthropology 2

  24. STRUCTURE: New Covenant • Eze. 34:23ff, “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. 36:24-28, “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.” Theological Anthropology 2

  25. STRUCTURE: New Covenant • From an earthly kingdom to a kingdom of priests, Jer. 33:21,22 • 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 Theological Anthropology 2

  26. STRUCTURE: New Covenant established by Christ • John 1:14, “tabernacled among us” • Matthew 1:23, “Immanuel, God with us” • Luke 22:20, “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 13:34 • After Transfiguration, Luke 9:30, “his exodus” • He leads redemptive journey from sin to promised land • REMEMBERED IN LORD'S SUPPER Theological Anthropology 2

  27. STRUCTURE: New Covenant established by Christ • Jesus guarantees a better covenant, Heb. 7:22 • Jesus has a permanent priesthood, Heb. 7:24 • Jesus mediates a better covenant, Heb. 8:6, 9:15 • Jesus makes the first covenant obsolete, Heb. 8:13 • Jesus enters the perfect tabernacle, Heb. 9:11,24 • Jesus offers one perfect sacrifice, Heb. 10:10,14 Theological Anthropology 2

  28. Anticipation Types and Shadows Blood of bulls and goats Aaronic/Levitical Priesthood Temporary Moses, the servant, as Mediator Fulfillment Reality Once-for-all offering of Christ Melchizedekan Priesthood Eternal Christ, the son, as Mediator STRUCTURE: Old vs. New Covenant Theological Anthropology 2

  29. 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. 2:16,17; Rom. 14:5-8; Heb. 9:10 Theological Anthropology 2

  30. 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 God’s grace, and respond to that grace • In Faith • And Obedience, LC 32 • The covenant, in its outworking, is bilateral and conditional • See Turrettin’s comments on “duties” Theological Anthropology 2

  31. COVENANT SUCCESSION • “The covenant promise of God today is the same promise of God’s 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. Theological Anthropology 2

  32. 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 Theological Anthropology 2

  33. 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” Theological Anthropology 2

  34. THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Theological Anthropology 2

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