# Unbelievers in the New Covenant?



## madavilla (Jul 3, 2008)

What texts can I use to show that unbelievers can be and are included in the New Covenant? Are there any texts that explicit state that? I keeping hearing that being in the New Covenant can only mean you are saved, and therefore no unbeliever is in the New Covenant. Is that true?


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## Simply_Nikki (Jul 3, 2008)




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## Neogillist (Jul 3, 2008)

Are you referring to the New Covenant in NCT, or to the convenant of grace according to CT?

According to NCT, only believers are part of the new covenant. According to CT, most of the early covenant theologians and high calvinists taught that indeed, only believers are part of the covenant of grace, but I think that modern CT (especially since Charles Hodge) teach that the covenant of grace was made with all mankind, or at least with believers and their children, whether the children be elects or not. I personally repudiate the idea that the covenant of grace was made with all mankind, since being a paedo-baptist, this would imply we need to go and baptize all mankind. I personally take the view that only believers are part of the covenant of grace, which was the view of most early CT theologians like Whitius and Matthew Henry, etc. The children of believers are baptized as an initiation to the covenant of grace, but it does not mean that they are necessarily part of it.


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## danmpem (Jul 3, 2008)

I thought John 17 showed us that the covenant was between the Father and the Son and that the elect were inside of that covenant. Or am I talking about something different that what is being discussed here?


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## Contra_Mundum (Jul 3, 2008)

The substance of the Covenant of Grace is eternal. The WLC puts it very well:Question 31: With whom was the covenant of grace made?
Answer: The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the elect as his seed.​What we see with our eyes, what we personally experience in this world, or have any believers in the Seed of Promise, are the this-worldly administrations of the CoG. That would be Abraham's covenant, Sinai covnant, NEW covenant, etc.

Now, a baptist ordinarily disagrees. For him, the fundamental "NEW" of the New Covenant is that it has no this-worldly administration. It is an eschatological NOW. Therefore, being co-extensive with the Covenant of Grace in its full reality (the NC _*being*_ the CoG present in fullness, in this view), _ipso facto_ no unregenerate person can be a member of the NC.

We disagree. We say it is plain that persons can indeed partake in the administration of the CoG visibly, just as much now as in any other time in this world since the fall. An unregenerate person may well be "in" the covenant, in nothing but an outward fashion. And he is in a dreadful state, if he does not receive a heart-condition that comports with his identification. For texts, I would point to the Hebrews warning passages, most famously 6:4-8; or 4:11; 2:2-3, etc. And I would not neglect Mt. 22:1-14, esp vv11-13.


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## Christusregnat (Jul 3, 2008)

Excellent passages!

There are also historical incidents of people once reckoned among the saints (in the visible church, and administration of the CoG), but later demonstrated to be in the bond of iniquity, and gall of bitterness. Elymas, Judas, Demas, and I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting. Oh, John mentions an indiscriminate group that "went out from us because they were not of us". Implying that such people at one time were "with us" in the church.

Cheers,

Adam





Contra_Mundum said:


> The substance of the Covenant of Grace is eternal. The WLC puts it very well:Question 31: With whom was the covenant of grace made?
> Answer: The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the elect as his seed.​What we see with our eyes, what we personally experience in this world, or have any believers in the Seed of Promise, are the this-worldly administrations of the CoG. That would be Abraham's covenant, Sinai covnant, NEW covenant, etc.
> 
> Now, a baptist ordinarily disagrees. For him, the fundamental "NEW" of the New Covenant is that it has no this-worldly administration. It is an eschatological NOW. Therefore, being co-extensive with the Covenant of Grace in its full reality (the NC _*being*_ the CoG present in fullness, in this view), _ipso facto_ no unregenerate person can be a member of the NC.
> ...


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## Leslie (Jul 3, 2008)

Don't the parables of the wheat and the tares, and the good fish/bad fish teach that not all who seem to be genuine really are and there will be surprises in the last day? There are multiple passages in the NT which stress that only the obedient will finally be saved. It's just a matter of definition if the tares and the bad fish are part of the covenant or not part of the covenant. In any case, they won't make it into heaven.


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## Contra_Mundum (Jul 3, 2008)

Leslie,
Jesus' parables must be handled with care; they aren't allegory.

Nevertheless, the points that you note are _generally_ valid. The world is a mixed bag, and so is the church in her midst.

But, remember that in the parable of the tares, Jesus tells us: "The field is *the world*" (Mt 13:38). The _world_, and not the church, and we are focusing here with reference to the New Covenant, an identification that few would throw around the whole world, and with good reason. Jesus is the Ruler of the Nations, but he is King of kings in a different capacity from his headship in the Mediatorial covenant.


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## JOwen (Jul 3, 2008)

Parable of the 10 virgins, parable of the talents, parable of the fish in the net, parable of the sower. These all show that there is an external aspect to the CoG that is not partaking in the "fatness and marrow of the branch", as Owen puts it.

"Not all Israel is of Israel" is another example. I have an article somewhere on it which was published by Beeke's Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth magazine. I think it was also published by The Clarion. I'll try and find it and post it. It is not that long.


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## JOwen (Jul 3, 2008)

Here it is...

*Presbyterian Federal Holiness*

By Rev. J Lewis
Lacombe Free Reformed Church

Under the Old Testament administration of the Covenant of Grace, the covenant was largely a physical covenant with a spiritual remnant imbibing in promises and blessings. Under the New Testament administration of the Covenant of Grace, the covenant is not primarily physical with a spiritual component, but primarily spiritual with a physical component (Hodge 130). Hebrews 8 and Jeremiah 31 are very descriptive as to the nature of the New Covenant in contrast with the _status quo_,



> Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)


Obviously there was a change of administration in the New Covenant as well as a change of emphasis. The Covenant of Grace today is so overtly spiritual, one can almost speak of it _exclusively in ethereal terms_. Indeed the Westminster Confession of Faith does so by insisting that the Covenant of Grace is made with the* elect only* (Chapter 7; LC 30, 31, 32). Yet the Westminster Standards also speak of a secondary and subordinate sense of the Covenant of Grace that is objective and physical. Larger Catechism Q & A 166 says,



> Q166: Unto whom is Baptism to be administered?
> 
> A166: Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible church, and so strangers from the covenant of promise, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him, but infants descending from parents, either both, or but one of them, professing faith in Christ, and obedience to him, *are in that respect within the covenant*, and to be baptized. (Emphasis mine)(Westminster Larger Catechism, 256)



Some have contended that the Westminster Larger Catechism holds within itself a tension regarding with whom the Covenant of Grace is made (Baldwin). It is argued that in Larger Catechism Q & A 31, the Covenant of Grace is made with the elect only, while Q & A 166 teaches that the Covenant of Grace is made with the members of the Visible Church. One can see the apparent contradiction.

But is this a valid criticism and a real tension? Or is it the case that the Larger Catechism is speaking about _two different aspects_ of the Covenant of Grace, one spiritual and unbreakable, the other conditional and breakable? To answer this question we may turn to one of the greatest of all Westminster Divines, Samuel Rutherford.

*Samuel Rutherford*

In his monumental and rarely read book _The Covenant of Life Opened_ (1654), Rutherford discuses the Covenant of Grace in two important ways. First he insists that the Covenant of Grace is only made with the elect in Christ, and that the Covenant is manifestly to be understood in such term (94). After establishing this indisputable fact Rutherford opens up the Covenant in a twofold way, first in _abstracto_ by visible profession, in which the covenant is "professed, visible, and conditional," and then in _concreto_, where the covenant is, "internal, real, and absolute"(94). It is for this reason Rutherford finds no tension in the Larger Catechism and has no problem saying that the unregenerate, _in one way_, are in the Covenant of Grace:



> It is no inconvenient [sic] that the Reprobate in the Visible Church, be so under the Covenant of Grace, as some promises are made to them, and some promised to them conditionally, and some reserved special promises, of a new heart, and of perseverance belong not to them. For all the promises belong not the same way, to the parties visibly and externally, and the parties internally and personally in Covenant with God.(94)


By _in abstracto_ Rutherford means, " formally, in the letter as a simple way of saving sinners", in which contains only "the will of precept". Rutherford argues for a external and breakable Covenant that is made by baptism and profession only._ This is not the true spiritual, real, and unbreakable Covenant of Grace_; it is a temporary perceptive membership that is not savingly covenantal (94).

Under the marginal heading, How visible professors are really within the Covenant, & not really within it, Rutherford Writes,



> The adverb (really) relates to the real fruit of the fulfilled covenant, and so such as are only externally within the Covenant, are not really within the Covenant, for God never directed, nor intended to bestow the blessing Covenanted, nor grace to perform the condition of the Covenant upon them. But they are really Covenanted and engaged by their confessed profession to fulfill the Covenant. And as the commands and threatenings of the Covenant of Grace lay on a real obligation, upon such as are only externally in Covenant, either to obey or suffer, so the promises of the Covenant imposes an engagement and obligation on such to believe the promise, but some times, we say the promises of the Covenant of Grace are not really made to the reprobate within the Visible Church, because God intends and decrees to, and for them, neither the blessing promised, nor the saving grace to fulfill the condition to believe. (92)



In this way says Rutherford, "all within the Visible Church are in the Covenant of Grace" (94). It is in this same way Rutherford can speak of a Federal Holiness that allows for Larger Catechism 166 to remain non-contradictory with Larger Catechism 31. Federal holiness is not necessarily a saving holiness but a setting apart by covenant promise. Rutherford is very clear that true holiness while set in the context of a federal promise, is truly predicated upon God's secret decree. Observe:



> But as touching real holiness, it is not derived from a believing father, or to make the son a believer, Scripture and experience say the contrair. Nor is internal and effectual confederacie with God, that, by which one is a son of promise. 1. For no man is chosen to life in his father, because the father is chosen. A chosen father may have a reprobate son. 2. Election to life is not of nations, or houses, or societies, but of single person. (85)



Needless to say, Rutherford believes that _mere_ Federal Holiness is no true holiness unless regeneration has taken place. Yes, there is a _physical aspect_ to the Covenant of Grace which has blessings and cursing; however, for it to carry any lasting benefit, it must be a personal work wrought by the effectual converting power of the Holy Spirit in _a one-to-one correlation_ between election and regeneration.

*James Bannerman*

Likewise, another great Presbyterian who wrote extensively on the nature of the Church (and the Covenant) also found no tension in the Westminster Standard's regarding the Covenant of Grace. In his two volume work, The Church of Christ, James Bannerman, taught an important contrast between the members of the Church visible and invisible. "The Church invisible stands, with respect to its members, in an inward and spiritual relationship to Christ, whereas the Church visible stands to Him in outward relationship only" (Bannerman 29).

The visible/invisible distinction according to Bannerman cannot go unnoticed. Observe how he uses visible Church and external covenant synonymously.



> The external relationship in which the members of the visible Church stand to Christ, as having been brought into a Church state from out of the world, has been often spoken of by theologians under the name of an _external covenant_ or _federal relationship_. Whatever name may be given to it, there is no doubt there is a real and important relationship into which the members of the visible Church have entered... (30)


Later he reinforces this same idea when he states, "This relation of the mere formal professor and member of the visible Church to Christ may be called an _external covenant _and an _outward federal union_, or not. But under whatever name, it in important to bear in mind that there is such a relationship involving both real responsibilities and real privileges. (Emphasis mine)(32)

Bannerman is equally clear as Rutherford insisting the true, vital, saving, unbreakable nature of the Covenant of Grace as it stands in eternity, is made with the elect alone.



> In so far as the Church invisible is concerned, the truth of this statement will be admitted by all. There can be no difference of opinion on this point. The proper party with whom the covenant of grace is made, and to whom its promises and privileged belongs is the invisible Church of real believers. It is this Church for whom Christ died. (30-31)


He goes on to say, "The case is all together different for with the visible Church. It stands not in an inward and saving relationship to Christ, but in an outward relationship only, involving no more than the promise and enjoyment of outward privileges" (31).

In this regard, to suggest that the Covenant of Grace has a works component upon its entry is to misunderstand its function entirely. Every good Presbyterian will agree that salvation is by grace through faith alone, apart from any works of the law. This _federal and outward separation_ that is called "sanctified" and "holy" in 1 Corinthians 7:14, "broken off branches" in John 15;1-8, and "unwise virgins" in Matthew 25, is meant to convey how God sets aside certain people to be objects of physical, covenantal blessings. These outward blessings (which are not saving), such as hearing the Word preached, observing or participating in the sacraments, and involvement in the fellowship of the covenant community, are the means by which God brings the unregenerate soul within earshot of the call of the Gospel; inviting all to come from darkness to light, from the temporal covenant into the Everlasting Covenant. Bannerman says, "To the external privileges of that visible society even sinners are invited,- not that they may rest there, but that they may go on to the invisible and spiritual society within." The visible covenant blessings are meant to cause the sinner to "seek for something higher and more blessed" (33).

The spiritual blessings and promises of the Covenant of Grace must be the dominant theme in all federalist teaching and preaching. Bannerman reminds us that in the separation between Rome and Protestantism the visible/invisible Church distinction, "...lies at the very foundation of the controversy between them. The strong desire and tenancy with Popish controversialists is to deny the existence of the invisible Church; or when they are not bold enough to do that, at least to give the decided precedence to the Church visible"(37).

This should be avoided at all costs. The invisible Church is the true Church, it is the "glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph 5:27).

*Conclusion*

When we speak of Federal Holiness it should always be in light of its goal- a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, the Elect One. To simply think of Church members as being in confederacy with Christ by baptism and profession is to forget the most vital portion of the equation. Indeed many today are so emphasizing the mere federal element of the Covenant of Grace they are(practically speaking), omitting the weightier matters of the Covenant.

Inward union is the only true union with Christ. Any substitution of Church-ism in place of the internal operation of the Spirit is to supplant the roll of the Visible Church and turn the gospel on its head. We must be diligent in both our understanding and application of every aspect of Christ's Church and of His gracious covenant.

Bannerman's conclusion is a good one:



> [N]othing but a clear discernment of the principles that connect and yet distinguish the Church invisible from the Church visible, and a right application of these to explain the statements of the Word of God on the point, will save us from mistakes fraught with the most ruinous consequences both in doctrine and practice. (40)





Bibliography

1. Baldwin, Bill. Several Quick Arguments That The Covenant of Works is Not Gracious. <http://www.upper-register.com/ct_gospel/several_quick.html#note3> 2002.

3. Hodge, Archibald. Commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1965.

2.Rutherford, Samuel. The Covenant of Life Opened. Edinburgh: 1654.

3. Bannerman, James. The Church of Christ. London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1960.

4. Westminster Divines. Westminster Larger Catechism. Glasgow: Free Presbyterian Publications, 1995.

Reactions: Love 1


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## R Harris (Jul 4, 2008)

Christusregnat said:


> Excellent passages!
> 
> There are also historical incidents of people once reckoned among the saints (in the visible church, and administration of the CoG), but later demonstrated to be in the bond of iniquity, and gall of bitterness. Elymas, Judas, Demas, and I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting. Oh, John mentions an indiscriminate group that "went out from us because they were not of us". Implying that such people at one time were "with us" in the church.
> 
> ...


[/QUOTE]

Yes, this is an excellent point.

I remember years ago talking with an SBC pastor about this. I said, "you realize that the Apostles baptized non-believers, do you not?"

He looked at me stunned. He said, "and your example of that is?"
And then I would list off the people you mentioned above - all people thought to be "believers" who ended up falling away. The I John 2:19 verse is perfect for demonstrating that point. He had never heard of that point before or thought about that matter in that way, even though he had obviously read I John 2:19 and Acts 8 many times. 

Absolutely amazing.


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## Christusregnat (Jul 4, 2008)

Randy,

It is not unique to SBC pastors; unfortunately, it is all too easy to be blinded or insensible while reading scripture. Sad but true.

That said, this is a huge blind spot for many people. The concept of a regenerate church membership is thought to be achieved by a change in the way the church is administered in the New Covenant, whereas Jeremiah says nothing about the change of administration in Jeremiah 31. BUT, he makes the point that God's Spirit will be more present among the houses of Israel and Jacob. In other words, we don't rely on human policy, and excluding our children and those not making some kind of ultra-holy profession. We rely on the Power of God's Spirit.

Cheers,

Adam





R Harris said:


> Christusregnat said:
> 
> 
> > Excellent passages!
> ...



Yes, this is an excellent point.

I remember years ago talking with an SBC pastor about this. I said, "you realize that the Apostles baptized non-believers, do you not?"

He looked at me stunned. He said, "and your example of that is?"
And then I would list off the people you mentioned above - all people thought to be "believers" who ended up falling away. The I John 2:19 verse is perfect for demonstrating that point. He had never heard of that point before or thought about that matter in that way, even though he had obviously read I John 2:19 and Acts 8 many times. 

Absolutely amazing.[/QUOTE]


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