Jonty Rhodes - Covenants Made Simple: Understanding Gods Unfolding Promises to His People

Jonty Rhodes

Jonty Rhodes 2013

First published in the UK by Inter-Varsity Press in 2013 under the title Raiding the Lost Ark: Recovering the Gospel of the Covenant King

North American edition issued 2014 by P&R Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwiseexcept for brief quotations for the purpose of review or comment, without the prior permission of the publisher, P&R Publishing Company, P.O. Box 817, Phillipsburg, New Jersey 08865-0817.

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, published by HarperCollinsPublishers, copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Anglicized edition 2002 HarperCollinsPublishers.

Scripture quotations marked niv are taken from the New International Version Anglicized, niv Copyright 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotation marked gnt is from the Good News Bible 1994 published by the Bible Societies/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd UK, Good News Bible American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992. Used by permission.

Scripture quotation marked rsv is taken from The Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, 1957 and 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-59638-975-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-59638-976-2 (ePub)
ISBN: 978-1-59638-980-9 (Mobi)

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014943848

For Georgina and Charlotte

Contents

Acknowledgments 11

Introduction 13

1. The Covenant of Works 15

2. Covenant Cursed 29

3. Covenant Conflict 42

4. Abraham and the Covenant of Grace 54

5. Moses and Covenant Obedience 66

6. David and the Covenant King 81

7. The New Covenant 94

8. The Covenant of Redemption 111

9. Covenant Salvation 128

10. Covenant People 145

11. Covenant Life 163

Notes 177

Acknowledgments

My discovery of the covenants is almost entirely down to two people: Dr. Garry Williams, now of the John Owen Centre, whose classes both there and previously at Oak Hill Theological College were hugely eye-opening, and Rev. Dr. Mark Pickles, for seven years past my boss and for many more to come, I hope, my friend. I am heavily indebted to both men. Anything useful in the pages to come is likely to have been stolen from them. Needless to say, the mistakes are entirely my own.

Im grateful to a number of fr iends for reading through early drafts of the manuscript, especially Matthew Roberts, David Gibson, James Buchanan, and Ted Watts; their comments
and critiques have made this a much better book. Likewise, my wife Georgina has patiently read and reread chapter after chapter, improving them each time. Much of the material in chapter 3 Ive learned fr om Dr. Daniel Strange, and chapter 10 Id particularly like to dedicate to Dan, Jeff, Reuben, and Dave: tolle lege , as they say. Thanks too to Kieran Harrod for making my terrible illustrations look professional and editor Eleanor Trotter for her endless encouragements along the way.

Finally, as I hope youll pick up in the pages ahead, the covenants reveal the significance of the church in Gods plan. Most of this material was first worked through with the members of Christ Church Derby, and its worth you knowing that it is now being published with the permission and blessing of my fellow elders there, Tim Houghton and Matt Newboult.

Introduction

Evangelical Christians are known for their insistence that Christianity is centered on a relationship with God. Rightly so. But what is the nature of that relationship? I have one relationship with my wife, quite another with my neighbor. My relationship with my daughter could be fairly described as unconditional; that with my boss rather less so.

Covenant is the word God uses to describe his relationship with his people. At each stage of the Bibles story, including our own, God relates to his people through a series of these interlinked covenants. That relationship is more complex than we sometimes imagine. God is a Father who loves his children unconditionally, yet in Corinth he strikes some of those same children dead when they disobey him. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who will never lose a sheep, yet Judas, one of the original twelve, never makes it home. Christ died for the sins of the world, yet not everyone is saved. We are saved by grace alone, yet John tells us well still be judged according to what weve done. These examples provoke all sorts of questions in thoughtful Christians. Can I know Im saved? Does how I live have any effect on how God treats me? Can I lose my salvation? What does God expect from me?