Contributor: Dennis E. Johnson

Dennis E. Johnson Professor of Practical Theology The biblical truth of justification—that God declares guilty lawbreakers forgiven and right in his sight by his grace alone, on the ground of Jesus’ blood and righteousness alone, as they trust Christ alone—has enormous ramifications for pastoral ministry. Martin Luther’s spiritual anguish, his…
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In Jeremiah 31, when God promised to bring a “new covenant” that will be better than the “old covenant,” that old covenant was God’s compact with Israel forged at Mount Sinai, delivered through Moses, Sinai is not the first time that “covenant” appears in the Bible. In Genesis 12 God…
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The Components of Biblical Covenants “Covenant” is the biblical way to say “relationship.” But “covenant” refers to a particular kind of interpersonal relationship. There are all sorts of interpersonal relationships in society: superficial acquaintance, business contracts, employment agreements, international treaties, friendship, casual dating, marriage, and more. Biblical covenants between the…
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3. Getting the Lay of the Land: The “Covenant Terrain” of the Scriptures Picture yourself lost in a forest on a cloudy night—no road signs or trail markers, no landmarks to be seen. What seemed, when you set out on it, to be a well-worn path disappeared into a thicket,…
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Christ, the Final Prophet The focus of the prophet’s mission was revelation, delivering the Word of God. As the Shorter Catechism says, “Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation” (WSC 24). Israel’s prophets were…
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2. Landmarks: Biblical elements and motifs that are built into the offices of covenantal mediation that God gave Israel, offices that now converge in Christ, who is, in the end, “only mediator between God and man” (1 Tim. 2:5). Landmarks are not as specific as street signs. But looming landmarks…
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We have talked about the “why” of following the apostles’ lead in preaching Christ from all the Scriptures: His divine-human Person and saving mission are the unifying theme of Israel’s ancient Scriptures, He is the focus of the apostles’ preaching as new covenant ministers, Fixing our hearers’ spiritual gaze on…
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3. Because the Spirit conforms believers to the image of Christ in purity and love by deepening our faith in Christ and grasp of the implications of the gospel, our preaching must fix our hearers’ minds and hearts on the transforming glory of Jesus the Christ. How can we and…
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2. Because Christ is the overarching theme of Israel’s Scriptures, as well as the New Testament, we want our preaching to do for Jesus what God intends the Bible to do for Jesus: namely, to direct faith to him as the only mediator between God and man. Luke 24 describes…
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In this venue it would be beside the point to attempt an academic defense of the apostles’ interpretive methods against the critiques of historical-critical scholars who demonstrate a presuppositional bias against the Scriptures’ claim to be the word of God written. In the disciplines of biblical studies, others—including, in a…
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