Sovereign Grace Community Church

The new creation God has inaugurated in Jesus is the lens through which Paul penned his Galatian epistle (as all of his epistles), and he notably set his own biographical presentation within this "once-but-now" perspective. In reminding the Galatians of the divine source of his gospel and his apostolic calling, Paul described his own journey in terms of his former life as a zealous Israelite and who he had now become: a citizen and promoter of God's new-creational kingdom and an ardent servant of the messianic King he had formerly sought to destroy.

Paul insisted to the Galatians that any gospel other than his own was a deviation from the truth and amounted to departure from God Himself. This was an astonishing claim, which Paul knew he would have to defend. After confronting the charge that he was a man-pleaser, Paul began his defense of his gospel by identifying its source and showing how it was utterly alien to his former pharisaic understanding and convictions. So much so that what he now insisted on and proclaimed to all men, Jew and Gentile alike, he had formerly sought to eradicate.

Paul left no doubt regarding the seriousness of his letter by immediately following his greeting with a pointed rebuke. There was no "catching up" with the Galatian believers or gradual transition into the reason for penning this correspondence. No, he was writing with great concern and a compelling sense of urgency, having learned that they were already moving away from the gospel he had only recently brought to them. And to move away from his gospel was to forsake the God who had called them and to whom they had responded in faith.

More than a sterile greeting in which he simply identified himself and his original readers, Paul's salutation provides an important window into his perspective, concerns and intentions in penning this epistle. This message seeks to open up that window and lay a solid foundation for interpreting the balance of this marvelous and crucial important letter.

Many believe that Galatians' primary contribution to the Church is its treatment of justification by faith. While the epistle does interact with this doctrine, it does so with a perspective and intent that are often missed by its readers. Paul wasn't addressing the issue of how sinners obtain the righteousness they need to be saved; rather his focus was on the new creation inaugurated by Jesus' death and resurrection and what that means for the Church's faith and practice.

This second introductory message examines the two primary theories regarding the epistle's audience, and also discusses important historical circumstances that lie behind the epistle's concerns and Paul's intent in writing it.

This first message in our Galatians series considers some of the important historical and theological factors that have driven the general Protestant interpretation of Paul's Galatian epistle and his concerns and instruction in it.

This message addresses some further summary considerations and concludes this series on the biblical covenants. In particular it shows how the covenants provided the basic structure of the salvation history, and are the vehicle that carried it forward to its climax in the person and work of Jesus the Messiah. And since the Old Testament scriptures are the record of the salvation history, and the New Testament writings address that history's fulfillment in Jesus, it follows that the covenants are absolutely critical to interpreting both the Scriptures and the "Christ event" (i.e., everything pertaining to the person and work of Jesus).

This message is the first of two that provide a summary review of the biblical covenants, their particular features, their place and role in the salvation history, and the way they relate to one another, culminating with the person and work of Jesus the Messiah.

This message examines the role of covenant - and particularly the new covenant - in the consummation of God's purposes for His creation. Different theological traditions and perspectives view the matter of consummation differently, but the eternal destiny of individual human beings is the focus of many Christians' understanding when it comes to the final consummation. But the Scriptures, and the scriptural covenants themselves, have a different focus and ultimate concern - one that is corporate and cosmic rather than individual and human.

This message concludes this examination of the Hebrews writer's treatment of the new covenant. Given his Jewish audience and the reason for his letter, he focused his treatment on a broad comparison and contrast of the old (Israelite) and new covenants, particularly with respect to their corresponding priesthoods and priestly ministration. In this way he showed how the impermanence and inadequacy of the Israelite covenant was both unfortunate and by design, thereby necessitating and laying the foundation for the new covenant and its priest and priestly ministration.

Outside of two instances in Paul's epistles, only the Hebrews writer in the balance of the New Testament addressed the New Covenant directly. And his treatment is the most thorough, which is not surprising given his audience and purpose for writing. In general terms, the writer's approach was to show the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old (Israelite) Covenant, and he began his argument by examining each covenant's respective priesthood and the superiority of the one associated with the New Covenant.

This message examines Paul's treatment of the New Covenant in his second Corinthian epistle. This is his only explicit interaction with the New Covenant outside of his mention of it in his first letter to the Corinthians. But most significantly, Paul approached this topic, not as an abstract theological concept, but as the appropriate way to address the relational difficulties that had emerged between him and the Corinthian believers.

Christians are sometimes surprised to discover that the term "new covenant" only appears once in the gospel accounts, though all four focus on the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth. In fact, the word "covenant" is virtually absent from these texts. Outside of the Upper Room accounts in the synoptic gospels, it occurs only once in Luke's gospel, and then in reference to the Abrahamic Covenant. However, the concept of the new covenant is woven into the fabric of the four gospel accounts, but as it is understood in terms of God's interactions with and promises to His covenant people as recorded in the Old Testament scriptures.

This message examines the particulars of Gabriel's revelation to Daniel and the meaning of his message in the light of Daniel's circumstance, prayer, and burden for his people, the city of Jerusalem, and Yahweh's sanctuary.

This message examines the historical and contextual background of Daniel's "seventy weeks" prophecy. This passage is commonly viewed as focusing on the "end-times" and God's "time clock" for Israel culminating with Jesus' second coming at the end of this age. But a different understanding emerges when it is examined closely and carefully in its historical setting according to its contextual concerns.

This first message on the New Covenant examines its Old Testament and Israelite foundation. This is critically important, not only for understanding the nature of the New Covenant itself, but also for rightly interacting with the New Testament's treatment of the New Covenant and its relevance to the Jewish people and Christ's Church.

This final message on the Davidic Covenant examines the particulars of the covenant and its promises, how they were fulfilled in David's life and experience, and their ultimate reference to and fulfillment in the messianic "Son of David."

Like each of the biblical covenants, the Davidic covenant served a crucial role in the progress of the salvation history culminating with the coming and work of the Messiah. This message considers the Davidic covenant in that light, particularly its relationship with the Israelite (Sinai) covenant and God's covenant with Abraham.