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  • From: "rabbisaul" <tim AT rabbisaul.com>
  • To: "Corpus-Paul" <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] 'Faith working through love' Jewish versusProtestant view
  • Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 18:07:04 -0700

John, I have much to do, so cannot respond point by point to your post. I appreciate that you are attempting to understand my position.

For now, I will simply note a few points.

1. After the fall of Adam, God renewed a covenantal relationship with Adam and Eve. That is why God could "establish" (or confirm) His covenant with Noah later.

2. It is less accurate to identify this renewed covenant as being made with "all men," however. It is true that at the time of the fall and the time of the flood, all living humans at the time were included in the covenant. But as the case of Cain shows, it was also possible to be disinherited and no longer have covenantal standing. This lies behind the strong antithesis we find between the lines of Seth and Cain in Genesis 4-5. Thus here we do not speak of abrogation, but of defaulting from the covenantal relationship through rebellion.

3. In my reading of Paul, the case of the Mosaic and Abrahamic covenants is quite different. In Gal 3.15ff, Paul describes the Mosaic covenant as a temporary measure introduced until the coming of the Christ. Unlike the Adam/Noah scenario, with Christ there is a new eschatological epoch, and this is what underlies the removal of benefits from the Mosaic covenant. The promise has arrived, and therefore there is now no looking back.

4. The substitutionary and participationist aspects of sacrifice are intended to be complementary rather than alternatives. In Pauline theology, the self-offering of the believer does not simply stand parallel with the self-offering of Christ, in some sort of synergism. As I noted earlier, Christ's self-offering is depicted by Paul in Rom 3 as the effectual demonstration of God's righteousness. It brings about a new salvation-historical situation; the self-offering of the believer does not. It seems to me that in Paul's view, the participationist aspect is founded squarely upon the substitutionary, and if you don't have the substitutionary, you cannot arrive at participation in Christ's self-offering at all. It is because Christ died "for" us that we can die "with" Him.

Gotta go.

tim

Tim Gallant
Pastor, Conrad Christian Reformed Church
(Conrad, MT)

On the Web:
http://www.biblicalstudiescenter.org
http://www.covenantrenewal.com
http://www.rabbisaul.com
http://www.testimonium.org
http://www.paedocommunion.com
http://www.pactumbooks.com

Weblog:
http://www.upsaid.com/rabbisaul






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