What does John Piper believe about dispensationalism, covenant theology, and new covenant theology?

Desiring God Ministries ^ | Unk. | DGM Staff

[ksen]

Jesus did not lower the bar IMHO He raised it.

Sure, you just have to read the Sermon on the Mount to see that.

[RnMomof7]

I have heard it said that Jesus was describing the Character of God in that sermon..

[the_doc]

Please realize that there is a lot more to the New Covenant position than saying Christians have only have two commandments.

Many people think that this is what the NCT position asserts, but it's not. What the NCT position asserts is that we are not under the Mosaic Law and also that the Decalogue is part of the Mosaic Law.

The Decalogue is the capstone of the Mosaic code, but it is still part of the system which is not in force for believers. For this reason, saying that the Decalogue is our "compendium of ethics" is not correct. If it is the "compendium of ethics," then we are all Sabbath breakers.

(For that matter, the standards which New Covenant members have are actually higher than those of the Decalogue as such. But the only way to grasp this is to look at the Two Great Commandments. They are explicitly infinite in their requirements.)

[ksen]

I have heard it said that Jesus was describing the Character of God in that sermon.

I've also heard (from J. Vernon McGee for one), that the Sermon on the Mount is the rules that will be in force for the Millenial Kingdom. But let's not go there. ;^)