Covenant Theology and Sovereign Grace

[Deleted member 12919 by request]

I know someone on the fence between Arminian and Calvinistic soteriology.

Would it be fair to say that a person struggling to “see” in scripture God’s sovereign election and preserving grace because the respective Calvinist and Arminian proof-texts (in their mind) don’t offer conclusive evidence either way could be helped by a better understanding of Covenant Theology?

In other words, would Covenant Theology help flesh out the scriptural proof-texts that exist regarding God’s electing and keeping of his people?

 

[Contra_Mundum]

On the one hand, Scripture being an integrated whole leads me to think: broad CT should contribute something to the soteriological inquiry more narrowly conceived. What the manner of the contribution would be is harder to say.

On the other hand, you have dispensational Cavinists like JMcArthur, for whom there is no conception of union between the "five points" and a CT position. Clearly, someone like that has simply followed exegetical rules and logical principles to come to a functional agreement with the soteriological doctrines as confessed by the Reformed/Presbyterian churches (which are still true to their Confessions).

 

[Deleted member 12919 by request]

On the one hand, Scripture being an integrated whole leads me to think: broad CT should contribute something to the soteriological inquiry more narrowly conceived. What the manner of the contribution would be is harder to say.

On the other hand, you have dispensational Cavinists like JMcArthur, for whom there is no conception of union between the "five points" and a CT position. Clearly, someone like that has simply followed exegetical rules and logical principles to come to a functional agreement with the soteriological doctrines as confessed by the Reformed/Presbyterian churches (which are still true to their Confessions).

Good points.

 

[Eyedoc84]

On the one hand, as an Arminian, I rejected Covenant Theology as speculative. On the other hand, studying covenant theology helped lead me out of Arminianism as I started to see the glorious cohesiveness of scripture. And by the way, it also led me out of credobaptism and into household baptism!

 

[Romans678]

On the one hand, as an Arminian, I rejected Covenant Theology as speculative. On the other hand, studying covenant theology helped lead me out of Arminianism as I started to see the glorious cohesiveness of scripture. And by the way, it also led me out of credobaptism and into household baptism!

Amen.

 

[aaronsk]

I think you can get to the Doctrines of Grace without CT but with it you have a strong foundation. The doctrine of perseverance is bolstered by the Covenant of Redemption. This is how it went for me anyways: DoG and then CT and boy did CT become the bedrock of even doctrine I received before it. Also it switched my position on baptism to paedo.