New Covenant Theology emphasizes Christ as the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament promises
New Covenant Theology is not monolithic when it comes to the question of future Israel. Within the New Covenant Theology movement there are those who believe there will be a future for national Israel, there are those who believe there will be a future for ethnic Israel (Israel as a people group), and there are those who believe there is no future for national or ethnic Israel. However there are some things that most New Covenant Theology proponents tend to agree on when it comes to this controversial subject.
But before I give a brief summary, it should be noted that there are two fundamental premises of New Covenant Theology that underlie whatever it holds to be true about the future of Israel:
1. The New Testament interprets the Old Testament. While this hermeneutical principle is not unique to New Covenant Theology, NCT applies this principle more consistently (IMHO) than those who identify themselves within Covenant Theology affirming the same principle.
2. The entire canon is primarily about Jesus. "Christ in all of the Scriptures" is a fundamental hermeneutical principle for New Covenant Theology. Again, while there are those within Covenant Theology (and some within Dispensational Theology) who have the same hermeneutical presupposition, the same presupposition within New Covenant Theology is more consistently a factor in its exegesis and exposition. NCT insists that the hermeneutic and storyline of Scripture are Christocentric, not Israel-centric. Israel and her future are not a barometer of proper Biblical interpretation.
Those two hermeneutical considerations are not the only hermeneutical considerations for New Covenant Theology, but these have the most direct bearing on answering this question of Israel's future. In having these two hermeneutical principles on the front burner, New Covenant Theology puts Christ front and center of its attention. As Tom Wells has stated, Jesus is the Priority of Scripture.
Having said this, here's something regarding New Covenant Theology I wrote last year as part of answering the question, "What isNCT?": http://bit.ly/izTNmx
But before I give a brief summary, it should be noted that there are two fundamental premises of New Covenant Theology that underlie whatever it holds to be true about the future of Israel:
1. The New Testament interprets the Old Testament. While this hermeneutical principle is not unique to New Covenant Theology, NCT applies this principle more consistently (IMHO) than those who identify themselves within Covenant Theology affirming the same principle.
2. The entire canon is primarily about Jesus. "Christ in all of the Scriptures" is a fundamental hermeneutical principle for New Covenant Theology. Again, while there are those within Covenant Theology (and some within Dispensational Theology) who have the same hermeneutical presupposition, the same presupposition within New Covenant Theology is more consistently a factor in its exegesis and exposition. NCT insists that the hermeneutic and storyline of Scripture are Christocentric, not Israel-centric. Israel and her future are not a barometer of proper Biblical interpretation.
Those two hermeneutical considerations are not the only hermeneutical considerations for New Covenant Theology, but these have the most direct bearing on answering this question of Israel's future. In having these two hermeneutical principles on the front burner, New Covenant Theology puts Christ front and center of its attention. As Tom Wells has stated, Jesus is the Priority of Scripture.
Having said this, here's something regarding New Covenant Theology I wrote last year as part of answering the question, "What isNCT?": http://bit.ly/izTNmx
1. The New Covenant is now in force and finds its fulfillment in Jesus, the antitypical New Israel.
2. New Covenant Theology sees in Christ a fulfillment of promises that, in their Old Testament context, seemed to be addressed to Israel as a nation. It is in Christ, the New Israel, that the church enjoys the blessings of the promises that seemed to be addressed to Israel as a nation in the Old Testament Scriptures.
3. New Covenant Theology denies that there is a one to one correlation between Israel and the New Covenant church. Israel was not the church in the Old Covenant, which consisted of an admixture of those who participated in faith and those who did not. In Christ, the New Israel, the church is not an admixture of believer and unbeliever, but is entirely by faith.
4. Under the Old Covenant, Israel was the people of God. Under the New Covenant, the church is the people of God anticipated in and foreshadowed by national Israel in the Old Testament scriptures.
5. In the Old Covenant, Israel, the second Adam, was a demonstration and proclamation of Jesus as a type. Israel typified the New Israel and His redeemed New Covenant people of God. That which was true of Israel, in type, is now true of Jesus as the federal head of His new covenant people in fulfillment. Thus, the supreme covenantal formula promised to Israel is now true of the church: Jehovah is our God, and we are His people. Christ, the New Covenant, now dwells among His people.
Here's what Blake White has published on his blog:
"God unconditionally promised Abraham that his seed would be the Messiah. The seed promised to Abraham is Christ!" -- John Reisinger, "Abraham's Four Seeds", p. 119
In a nutshell, New Covenant Theology emphasizes Christ as the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament promises. As the One who fills up the OT promises to their fullest and highest meaning, Christ is also the New Israel (Matthew 2:15). Because the church is in Christ (Who is the fulfillment of those promises), writers of the New Testament applied promises made to Israel about the New Covenant to the church (Hebrews 8:8-12, 10:16-17). Jews and Gentiles together make up the One New Man, a New Creation *in Christ*, never again to be divided (Eph. 2:15). The church is the nation and race of import in the New Covenant (1 Peter 2:9). What happens to national Israel, then, is a non-issue in NCT. For NCT, Christ, not Israel, is the primary figure of what lies in the future because Christ is the primary hermeneutical figure of the entire canon. NCT doesn't necessarily deny an expectation of future gospel blessing for ethnic Israel (see Rom. 11). NCT simply insists such an outpouring of gospel blessing will occur as part of the same two-age reality that the church currently enjoys of the now/not yet.
2. New Covenant Theology sees in Christ a fulfillment of promises that, in their Old Testament context, seemed to be addressed to Israel as a nation. It is in Christ, the New Israel, that the church enjoys the blessings of the promises that seemed to be addressed to Israel as a nation in the Old Testament Scriptures.
3. New Covenant Theology denies that there is a one to one correlation between Israel and the New Covenant church. Israel was not the church in the Old Covenant, which consisted of an admixture of those who participated in faith and those who did not. In Christ, the New Israel, the church is not an admixture of believer and unbeliever, but is entirely by faith.
4. Under the Old Covenant, Israel was the people of God. Under the New Covenant, the church is the people of God anticipated in and foreshadowed by national Israel in the Old Testament scriptures.
5. In the Old Covenant, Israel, the second Adam, was a demonstration and proclamation of Jesus as a type. Israel typified the New Israel and His redeemed New Covenant people of God. That which was true of Israel, in type, is now true of Jesus as the federal head of His new covenant people in fulfillment. Thus, the supreme covenantal formula promised to Israel is now true of the church: Jehovah is our God, and we are His people. Christ, the New Covenant, now dwells among His people.
Here's what Blake White has published on his blog:
- Those who have faith in Christ are the children of Abraham (i.e. Israel) (Gal 3.7)
- If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed (Gal 3.29)
- The present Jerusalem is in slavery, but the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother (Gal 4.26)
- Like Isaac, we (believers) are children of promise (Gal 4.28)
- We are not children of the slave woman - Hagar who represents Sinai, but of the free woman (Gal 4.31)
- Those who walk in line with the rule that circumcision or uncircumcisioin means nothing but the new creation means everything (i.e. Christians) are the Israel of God (Gal 6.15-16)
- A Jew is one inwardly, not outwardly and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not the letter (Rom 2.28-29)
- We (Christians) are the circumcision (i.e. Israel), who serve God by the Spirit, who glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh (Phil 3.2-3)
"God unconditionally promised Abraham that his seed would be the Messiah. The seed promised to Abraham is Christ!" -- John Reisinger, "Abraham's Four Seeds", p. 119
In a nutshell, New Covenant Theology emphasizes Christ as the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament promises. As the One who fills up the OT promises to their fullest and highest meaning, Christ is also the New Israel (Matthew 2:15). Because the church is in Christ (Who is the fulfillment of those promises), writers of the New Testament applied promises made to Israel about the New Covenant to the church (Hebrews 8:8-12, 10:16-17). Jews and Gentiles together make up the One New Man, a New Creation *in Christ*, never again to be divided (Eph. 2:15). The church is the nation and race of import in the New Covenant (1 Peter 2:9). What happens to national Israel, then, is a non-issue in NCT. For NCT, Christ, not Israel, is the primary figure of what lies in the future because Christ is the primary hermeneutical figure of the entire canon. NCT doesn't necessarily deny an expectation of future gospel blessing for ethnic Israel (see Rom. 11). NCT simply insists such an outpouring of gospel blessing will occur as part of the same two-age reality that the church currently enjoys of the now/not yet.
posted by Chad Richard Bresson at 3/28/2012 11:34:00 PM
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