In this video, Christian counselor Dr. Emilie DeYoung describes the way that depression manifests itself in children.

You can see other short videos from the Christians Get Depressed Too video series here or view five feature length documentaries here.

In my previous post, I outlined part 1 of Merit and Moses: A Critique of the Klinean Doctrine of Republication (hereafter MM), a response by three OPC pastors to The Law is Not of Faith (hereafter TLNF).

Today I will outline part 2 of the book which examines how the Republication Paradigm (hereafter RP) has redefined merit.

1. What is the thesis of part 2? (pp. 41-42)

The thesis of part 2 is that in trying to combat Norman Shepherd’s teaching, Meredith Kline and his followers in TLNF swung too far in the opposite direction resulting in the Republication Paradigm (RP) and a redefinition of the traditional Westminster concept of merit in the covenant of works with Adam, and in the Mosaic covenant with Israel.

2. Why is this so important? (41-42)

It’s important because the RP affirms that a type of merit is possible on the part of fallen humanity as opposed to the traditional view that rejected any possibility for merit on the part of sinful people after the fall.

3. What is the traditional view of “merit”? (43)

In traditional Reformed theology, merit is defined as any work to which a reward is due from justice on account of its intrinsic value and worth and requires two essential things:

• Moral perfection, and
• Ontological equality

4. Can humanity merit blessing or favor from God?  (43-46)

Regarding moral perfection, yes before the fall but no after the fall because no sinner can render personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience to God and therefore merit any kind of blessing from God – temporal or eternal.

Regarding ontological equality, never because there is such an infinite distance between God and humanity, the Creature and the creator.

5. What does RP teach about this? (46-48)

By redefining the traditional concept of merit, the RP says that Adam could in strict justice merit favor before the fall and that certain OT figures (including Noah, Abraham, and Israel) did merit some outward blessings of this life in the promised land.

6. In what way does the RP redefine the concept of merit? (49ff)

In contrast to the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF), the RP redefines the concept of merit by doing away with the two requirements for merit – moral perfection and ontological equality.

7. How does the WCF put ontological equality at the center of covenant theology? (49-52)

In its preface to the section dealing with the covenant of works, the WCF emphasizes the infinite ontological difference between God and humanity in order to show that man owed God obedience before the fall as a creature without God owing humanity anything in return (WCF 7.1). Therefore the covenant of works was a “voluntary condescension” on God’s part to allow acts of obedience already owed to God without right of reward to actually merit eternal life.

8. Is there any difference between Adam’s possible merit in the covenant of works and Christ’s actual merit in the covenant of grace? (52-58).

Adam’s merit is often called covenant merit (it was a merit that God graciously covenanted to let Adam earn). This is a lesser category than Christ’s merit, often called strict merit, which he perfectly rendered to God’s perfect justice in the covenant of grace.

In Adam’s case, God condescended to reward a lesser being, a creature, in the covenant of works (covenant merit), whereas Christ’s obedience was not only perfect but from someone with ontological equality with God and thus his merit is called strict merit.

9. Why did the RP redefine merit? (59-60)

Norman Shepherd rejected the concept of merit in any of God’s covenantal dealings with humanity, including the covenant of works, by appealing to the ontological disproportion between man and God.

Overreacting against this rejection of merit anywhere, Kline went too far in the other direction, adding merit where it has no place by reformulating the idea of merit apart from ontological considerations.

10. How did the RP redefine merit? (61-65)

The RP redefined merit in three steps:

• They conflated and collapsed creation and covenant together by teaching that man is in covenant with God at the moment of creation, leaving no logical space for a voluntary condescension of God as creator to become God the covenanter.
• The covenant of works is therefore devoid of any divine kindness, grace, or love but is simply a matter of strict and simple justice.
• Merit and justice are determined without any reference to ontology.

11. What are the consequences of this? (66-69)

This means that in the RP only the terms of a particular covenant may decide what is “just” and “meritorious.” In other words merit is what God says it is in any particular covenant arrangement, which may be perfection (as in the covenant with Adam) or it may be something less than perfection (as in the Mosaic covenant).

So, for example, in the Mosaic covenant, God may decide to make an arrangement in which he promises temporal-typological blessings on the basis of Israel’s imperfect , sincere, national obedience instead of the perfect entire, and personal obedience which was required of the two covenant heads, Adam and Christ.

In summary it means the merit can be defined apart from any ontological considerations and does not even require moral perfection on the part of man.

12. Does that mean that Mosaic Covenant is a covenant of works? (70-72)

No and yes.

No, in the sense that in the Mosaic covenant there is a grace level for the eternal salvation of the individual.

Yes, in the sense that there is a national meritorious works level for the retention of temporal earthly blessings in the promised land, which is a type of the kingdom of heaven.

On this latter level, the Mosaic covenant is continuous with the covenant of works pre-fall and is discontinuous with the Abrahamic covenant.

13. Are there any other ways in which the RP modifies the Mosaic covenant? (73-74)

Yes, first of all, Israel is elevated to the status of being a corporate Adam that undergoes a “covenant of works probation” in a garden/land analogous to the first and last Adam. As the authors of TLNF put it, both of God’s sons, Adam and Israel lived under law-governed circumstances.

And second, Israel’s Adamic status serves a teaching purpose, demonstrating that through her inability to obey God’s law and merit an earthly inheritance, that she cannot earn salvation by her works, and needs the imputation of Christ’s active obedience.

14. In what sense then does the Mosaic covenant involve a republication of the covenant of works with Adam? (75)

Both Adam and Israel are under a covenant of works in the sense that both Adam’s and Israel’s obedience can merit blessings from God. For Adam it was eternal blessing. For Israel it was temporal blessing.

15. Did Israel succeed and keep this covenant? (76)

There seems to be some confusion here with some supporters of RP saying yes an others saying no. Some say that God did not enforce the works principle strictly and sometimes gave the temporal reward for relative (imperfect) obedience.

16. So what’s the problem here? (76-78)

The problem is “How can God make a covenant of works with sinners in which he must lower the bar of his righteousness and accept imperfect obedience as the basis for earning his favor?”

In the traditional paradigm, God can never be placed in a sinner’s debt. He can never be in a position or enter into a covenantal arrangement which requires that he justly reward the sin-tainted works of fallen man.

Tomorrow we will look at part 3 of Merit and Moses which exposes the instability of the republication paradigm, and then I’ll offer an assessment of the book.

Over the next few days I want to outline and assess an important new book, Merit and Moses: A Critique of the Klinean Doctrine of Republication, written by three OPC pastors, Andrew Elam, Robert Van Kooten, and Randall Berquist.

Merit and Moses is a response to The Law is Not of Faith, and especially the main thesis of that book, that the Mosaic Covenant is in an important sense a republication of the Covenant of Works.

Unlike The Law is Not of Faith (TLNF), Merit and Moses (MM) is readable, brief, consistent, and relatively simple. It obviously helps to have the truth on your side.

Before you decide to switch off from what you may think is some irrelevant academic debate, note that the authors of TLNF state that if we disagree with their view of the Mosaic covenant “we will be necessarily impoverished in our faith” and “see in only a thin manner the work of our Savior.” To disagree with republication is “not optional,” they say, because it paves the way for the erosion of the Gospel and of the doctrine of justification by faith.

So what’s this all about? The question can be stated like this:

Was the covenant of works republished in the Mosaic covenant? TLNF says Yes. MM says No.

Today I want to summarize Part 1 of the book, which explains the historical context for the debate. To simplify it as much as possible, I want to set it out in a Q&A format.

The most important parties in this debate are three Westminster Seminary professors (John Murray, Norman Shepherd, and Meredith Kline) and the Westminster California faculty who authored TLNF.

1. What’s foundational to the covenants? Law or grace?

• John Murray’s answer: The succession of covenants in the Bible was a sovereign administration of grace and promise (this includes the Mosaic covenant)
• Meredith Kline’s answer: Law rather than grace was foundational (including a works principle in the Mosaic covenant).
• Kline insisted that without this works principle in the Mosaic covenant, the law/gospel distinction is lost.
• TLNF follows Kline whereas MM largely follows Murray.

2. How many tiers are there in the Mosaic covenant?

TLNF takes a two-tiered approach to the Mosaic covenant:

• On one level there is a principle of grace for the eternal salvation of the individual Israelite.
• On another level there is a principle of works, a national meritorious works level for the enjoyment of earthly blessings.

3. What is republished in the Mosaic covenant? The moral law or a meritorious covenant?

• Murray and other Reformed theologians believed that the moral law given to pre-fall Adam was re-affirmed (summarized and republished) at Sinai.
• Kline and TLNF go further and say that not only was the moral law republished but the merit-based arrangements of the covenant of works was republished, making retention of the promised land and its blessings conditional on the merit of Israel’s obedience. Israel thus becomes another Adam figure, meriting blessings from God by their works.
• This makes the obedience of OT Israel substantially different to the NT saints who are freed from this meritorious works-arrangement through the death of Christ.

4. Why do Kline and TLNF view John Murray as the bad guy? (pp. 12-14)

Kline and TLNF say:

• That Murray recast covenant theology especially the classical reformed doctrine of the covenant of works.
• That Murray rejected the notion that the Sinaitic covenant was in some sense a repetition of the covenant of works.
• That Murray was monocovenantal in that he affirmed only a covenant of redemptive grace and blurred the distinctions between the covenant of works and grace.

5. How would John Murray respond if he was alive? (pp. 15-17)

He would say something like this:

• I did want to recast one point of covenant theology, that is the idea of a covenant being a mutual agreement between two parties. It is more of a relationship initiated by God and sovereignly administered.
• I admit that I preferred the label “Adamic administration” rather than “covenant of works.” I had two reasons for that. First, I was afraid “covenant of works” would give the idea that there were no elements of grace in the pre-fall arrangements whereas all Reformed theologians have seen the “covenant of works” as a voluntary condescension on God’s part involving much grace.
• Second, I also was reluctant to use the term “covenant” for the pre-fall arrangement because I wanted to preserve the word “covenant” for all redemptive administrations of grace from God to man.
• However, although I prefer different language, I totally believe in the essence of the covenant of works.

6. What’s the verdict on Murray? (pp. 17-22)

• Although Murray quibbled unnecessarily about the phraseology of “the covenant of works” he did not reject the essence of the covenant of works that makes it distinctive from every other covenant arrangement.
• Murray affirmed that life was promised to Adam and to his posterity and guarded the substantial differences between the covenants of works and grace.
• Murray was therefore in no way to blame for Norman Shepherd’s subsequent departures from some of the historic doctrines of the faith and opening the door to the Federal Vision error.

7. What did Norman Shepherd believe and teach? (pp. 23-27)

• Monocovenantalism: Shepherd denied the covenant of works/grace distinction because he saw no place for merit in covenant relationships between God and man. All divine/human covenants, including the covenant of works, was like a marriage or a father/son relationship.
• Covenant condition: God required the condition of covenant faithfulness in every covenant administration, pre- and post-fall. God’s promise secured or guaranteed the believer’s covenant inheritance but that inheritance can only be received on the condition of the believer’s covenant keeping. That single condition is the same for Adam, Israel, Christ and the NT believer.
• Justification: Shepherd denied the imputation of the active obedience of Christ, and taught that only the passive obedience of Christ was imputed.

As Murray taught the opposite, he can in no way be blamed for Shepherd’s teaching or Federal Vision.

8. So how did Meredith Kline respond to Shepherd’s error? (pp. 28-38)

Kline overreacted to Shepherd’s attempted rejection of merit in any covenant relationship between God and man by arguing for works of merit in the Mosaic Covenant (and others). He taught the following:

• Disagreement with the idea of voluntary condescension: Kline refused to use vocabulary like God’s goodness, kindness, or even condescension in God’s entering in the covenant of works with Adam.
• Israel was a Corporate Typological Adam with a Merit-based Probation. Against Shepherd, Kline argued that the works principle was foundational to all of the divine covenants and therefore made Israel a second Adam figure who also had to merit divine blessings through a covenant of law.
• Israel’s Meritorious Works as Typological of Christ’s obedience: Adam’s and Israel’s meritorious works arrangements function as precursors to the meritorious work of Christ. The works principle in Israel showed the need for the active obedience of Christ to merit the reward of life.

9. Can you summarize this debate simply? (pp. 38-40)

• Shepherd rejected the covenant of works and said there was only one covenant from creation to consummation, and that this was a covenant of grace that required of Adam and all believers the gracious condition of covenant faithfulness.
• Kline and his followers rejected Shepherd’s mixture of faith and works pre-fall but have ended up with a similar mix of individual faith and meritorious works after the fall in the covenant of grace.
• This results in the imperfect works of sinners meriting or extracting a blessing from God, quite different to NT faith.

Tomorrow I’ll summarize Part 2 of Merit and Moses, which examines how Kline and his followers in TLNF have redefined merit. In the meantime why not buy the book and read along with me.

In this video Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile discusses the relationship between secular psychology and Christian counseling.

You can see and learn more on this subject from the Christians Get Depressed Too video series.

Weekend Reading Deals

King Solomon: The Temptations of Money, Sex, and Power by Phil Ryken ($0.99)

How Then Should We Work?: Rediscovering the Biblical Doctrine of Work by Hugh Welchel ($3.49)

Spy for the Night Riders  by Dave & Netta Jackson ($2.99). And a lot more of the excellent Trailblazer series for kids if you click through and scroll down to “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought.”

Resolving Everyday Conflict by Ken Sande ($5.99)

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity by Nabeel Qureshi ($3.99)

The Heresy of Orthodoxy: How Contemporary Culture’s Fascination with Diversity Has Reshaped Our Understanding of Early Christianity by Andreas Kostenberger and Michael Kruger ($1.99)

Model of Christian Maturity, A: An Exposition of 2 Corinthians 10-13 by D. A. Carson ($2.99)

J.R.R. Tolkien (Christian Encounters Series) by Mark Horne ($0.99)

The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday ($3.99)

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Danile Brown ($2.99)

Washington’s Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History) by David Fischer ($5.37)

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Goodwin ($4.99)

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