The Teleological Relationship between the Covenants1

Covenant RelationshipNoahic Provision of a continuing earthly

scene on which redemption could take place.

Abrahamic Outlines the course of redemptionhistory, while setting forth the two kinds of redemption and twopeoples to experience them.

Mosaic Regulated the course of redemption history by producing the people who would write the Scriptures and bring forth the Messiah.

1 Wells & Zaspel, New Covenant Theology, nowhere address the relationship of the Davidic covenant to theearlier or later covenant(s).

Systems of Theology: Charts © 2004 by R W Glenn Chart 5.1

Chart 1.2

InnocencyConscience

Human Government Promise

LawGrace

Kingdom

Chart 2.2

His Purposes Earthly HeavenlyThe People Israel and Gentile nations

alive at Christ’s return who persevere in the Great Tribulation

OT saints who failed to realize God’s earthly purpose, the entire church, and the martyrs of the Great Tribulation

The Goal of the Purposes Liberty from the curse and restoration of humanity

Liberty from sin and deliverance to the presence of the Lord

The Beginning of theFulfillment of the Purposes

Inaugurated at the beginningof the Millennium

Inaugurated at the resurrection

The Consummation of the Purposes

Consummated at the close of the Millennium and experienced in perpetuity on the New Earth

Consummated and experienced in perpetuity in the New Heaven

The Final State of the People

Perpetually earthly—NOresurrection

Perpetually heavenly—resurrection

Chart 3.2

Insertion of the church age—unforeseen in OT

The Church Age

Redemption of Israeland Gentile Nations

Resumption of earthlyredemption

Chart 4.2

A Given Utterance in the OT(E.g., people, offspring, land, blessing, command, etc.)

Earthly: Israel and Gentile nations Heavenly: the Church Literal and historical meaning Spiritual meaning

Chart 5.2

Abrahamic Covenant Earthly fulfillment Heavenly Fulfillment

Mosaic Covenant Earthly fulfillment only1 No heavenly fulfillment

Palestinian Covenant Earthly fulfillment only No heavenly fulfillment

Davidic Covenant Earthly fulfillment only No heavenly fulfillment

New Covenant C.I. Scofield

Earthly fulfillment Spiritual Fulfillment J.N. Darby: One New Covenant

Earthly fulfillment Heavenly fulfillment L.S. Chafer: Two New Covenants

New Covenant 1 New Covenant 2 Earthly

fulfillment only No heavenly fulfillment

Fulfilled in the church

Heavenlyfulfillment

1 That a covenant has an earthly fulfillment only does not mean that its fulfillment is not everlasting, for it will be literally fulfilled commencing with the Millennium and culminating in the eternal state.

Chart 6.2

Present In the preaching of Jesus Present In mystery form in Christendom Future In the Millennium

Chart 1.3

The Perspective The Definition From God’s Perspective An Economy From Man’s Perspective A Responsibility From the Progressive Revelation point of view A Stage

Chart 2.3

Classic Dispensationalism Revised DispensationalismEarthly: Israel Heavenly No such hermeneutical distinctionLiteral and historicalmethod

Spiritual or AllegoricalMethod

Grammatico-historical method only

Chart 3.3

His Purposes Earthly HeavenlyThe People Israel and Gentile

nations alive at Christ’s return who persevere in the Great Tribulation

OT saints who failed to realize God’s earthlypurpose, the entire church, and the martyrs of the Great Tribulation

The Goal of the Purposes

Liberty from the curseand restoration ofhumanity

Liberty from sin and deliverance to the presence of the Lord

The Beginning of the Fulfillment of the Purposes

Inaugurated at the beginning of theMillennium

Inaugurated at the resurrection

The Consummation of the Purposes

Consummated at the close of the Millennium and experienced in the New Heaven or the New Earth

Consummated and experienced in the New Heaven or the New Earth

The Final State of the People

Resurrection Life, yet forever Israel

Resurrection Life, yet forever the church

Chart 4.3

Redemption of Israel

Resumption of Israel’s Redemption

Insertion of the Church Age

An Interlude in God’s Program for

Israel

4.1

The Purposes of God in Redemption Covenantalism Classic

DispensationalismRevised

DispensationalismProgressive

DispensationalismOne Unified

Purpose:Spiritual

Redemption

Multiple Purposes: Earthly, National, Political, Social,

and Spiritual

Multiple Purposes: Earthly, National, Political, Social,

and Spiritual

One Unified Purpose:

The Manifestation of the Kingdom of

GodThe Covenant of

GraceEarthly/Heavenly

DualismChurch/Israel

DistinctionUnity with Distinctives

4.2

The Centrality of the Kingdom1

Divine Presence and Power Revealed in Progress of Redemption Future

DispensationPast Dispensations Jesus Christ Present

Dispensation

Millennial Eternal

The Eschatological Kingdom of God TheKinglyActs of

God

TheKingdom

of God In the person of

Christ

In the communityof Christ,

the church (while he is ascended)

In the millennialempire of

Christ(after he has descended)

In eternal fulfillment

(after he has descended)

1 This chart is a modified (but very close) version of one found in Blaising and Bock’s Progressive Dispensationalism 55.

A Synopsis of the Systems

Emergencein History

MajorProponents

Purposes of God

The Covenants The AbrahamicCovenant

The Old Covenant The DavidicKingdom

Relationship of the Church to

IsraelCovenantalism Late 16th,

early 17th

century

Rollock,WestminsterDivines

Unified:Redemption

All biblicalcovenants aremanifestationsof the Covenantof Works orCovenant ofGrace

Foundational Administration of theCovenant of Grace; God’sunchanging moral lawexpressed in the Decalogue; binding for believers

Already andnot yet

The church isspiritual Israel

ClassicDispensationalism

Late 19th,early 20th

century

J N Darby,C I Scofield,L S Chafer

Bifurcated:Earthly andHeavenly

Some covenantsare heavenlyand some are earthly and some are both heavenly and earthly (seeChart 5.2)

Foundational Belongs exclusively to thedispensation of Law; not at all binding for believers

Not yet The church is discrete fromIsrael, an intercalation intothe biblicalhistorical timeline

RevisedDispensationalism

20th century CharlesRyrie, JohnWalvoord,DwightPentecost

Bifurcated:Earthly andHeavenly

Some covenantsare heavenlyand some are earthly and some are both heavenly and earthly

Foundational Belongs exclusively to thedispensation of Law; generallynot binding for believers

Not yet The church is discrete fromIsrael, anintercalation intothe biblicalhistorical timeline

ProgressiveDispensationalism

20th century CraigBlaising,DarrylBock,RobertSaucy

Unified:Manifestationof theKingdom

The covenantsrepresentdifferentmanifestationsof the kingdomof God

Foundational Functions in biblical history tomanifest an aspect of thekingdom of God; generally notbinding for believers

Already andnot yet

The church is insome ways discretefrom Israel and in other ways is notdiscrete from Israel

NewCovenantalism

21st century JohnReisinger,Fred Zaspel,Tom Wells

Unified:Redemption

The covenantsstand in teleologicalrelationship toone another

Foundational Functions in biblical history toregulated the course ofredemption by producing thepeople who would write theScriptures and bring forth theMessiah; binding only insofaras it has been fulfilled andterminated in Christ

Already andnot yet

The church is thefulfillment of Israel

Systems of Theology: A Synopsis of the Systems © 2004 by R W Glenn 6. 1