Hello Pilgrim,
You wrote:-
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"PB's" don't impose anything upon Christ!
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I'm afraid they do! Because they confuse Abraham's physical seed with his spiritual seed, they insist upon imposing unbelievers upon the New Covenant. 'Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham' (Gal 3:7 ).
You continued:-
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Methinks you should do a bit more study in the area of Biblical Theology. Geerhardus Vos would be probably the best to begin with.
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I'm sure you do think that. In just the same spirit, may I suggest to you a reading of the works of James Haldane, especially his commentary on Galatians and its various appendices (Particular Baptist Press: ISBN 1-888514-17-5 ). Excellent stuff for understanding the covenants.
You continued:-
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Again, the "Covenant of Redemption" is that eternal covenant established between the members of the Godhead, which was then applied beginning with Adam in Gen 3:15, albeit in seed form, which then was progressively unfolded throughout biblical history in the various "covenants of promise" as you would like to term them. ALL who believed in those promises of the coming Redeemer Christ were saved no differently and just as surely as those who believe upon Him looking back on the promise fulfilled in the Lord Christ and His atoning work. It's all the "Covenant of Grace"..... not some fractured (aka: dispensational) composite parts.
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Unfortunately your hyper-covenantalism <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/coffee2.gif" alt="" /> has led you into a number of non-biblical hypothetical constructs. I asked J.Edwards where I could find the term 'Covenant of Redemption' in the W.C.F. It certainly isn't in the Bible. He hasn't come back to me. Perhaps you can help? What's that? It's in Geerhardus Vos? Oh! Well, that's alright then! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/bow.gif" alt="" />
That there was a covenant made in eternity between the Persons of the Trinity is evident from Eph 1:3-14 etc. That it was revealed in figures to Adam, Abraham etc is also evident, 'which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ' (Col 2:17 ). That the OT saints were saved in just the way we are as they looked forward to Christ is also beyond doubt (Heb 11:13ff). But to make Christ just the final step in a series from Adam is to downgrade Him wretchedly. 'He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.' Adam and Abel didn't look to Abraham, Abraham to Moses, Moses to David and David to Christ. Of course not! They all looked to Christ, the Author and Finisher of faith. They were the shadows, and the shadows flee away (Song 4:6 ) when the day breaks and the Sun of Righteousness appears.
Paedo-Baptists seem, like Peter, to want to build one tabernacle for Christ, one for Moses and one for Elijah, imposing the law and the prophets upon the New Covenant. We need to hear God say, 'This is My beloved Son, HEAR HIM!', and then we need to see Jesus only. I'm sure that Peter 'had no doubt of the superiority of Christ to Moses and Elijah, notwithstanding the glory in which they appeared. He had no doubt that Jesus was now to assume the government of His kingdom and reign without a rival; but he imagined that Moses and Elijah were to continue upon the earth, that as His servants they might assist in the administration; hence his proposal to make tents for them. This is the error of the Presbyterians; they admit the supremacy of Jesus, but insist on retaining the observance of the ordinances of Moses (Slightly adapted) for which Elijah had been so zealous.'
[Last paragraph adapted from J. Haldane's commentary on Galatians]
