Covenant Theology Part 8b

Listen here for Covenant Theology Part 8b
Theonomy Pros and Cons:- What is Theonomy?The school of thought that believes scriptures teaches that the Law of God is two fold; moral/ceremonial, and that all moral aspects of the law are binding upon all societies today; including the judicial laws of the Old Testament with their penal sanctions.Pros of TheonomyPromotes the doctrine of Christ’s Ascension.Seeks to see Christ’s Lordship over every sphere and activity of life.Seek to have all human institutions governed by special revelation.Has an optimistic view of the future.Cons of Theonomy:Fails to see the unity of the Law (holy theocracy) (Heb 8:13-9:6).Fails to see Christ as the end of the Law of righteousness, including sanctification (Rom 10:4, Gal 3:24-25, Rom 7:1-6).Fails to see the typological nature of the Old Testament Kingdom, i.e. judicial law of Israel are theocratic in nature and foreshadows judgment day. (Heb 2:1-3, Heb 10:26-29).Fails to see the dissolving of the Old Covenant in AD70 through the finished work of Christ (Heb 8:13).Fails to distinguish between crimes and sins. All crime is sin but not all sin is crime.Solutions:Society is still obligated to govern itself according to special revelation (2 Tim 3:16). But that special revelation concerning ethical conduct is a confirmation of the works of law already written already on the hearts men (Rom 2:14) Therefore the state must have laws that punish crimes. (Rom 13:1-5) Crimes are law-breaking deeds against society. Punishment must therefore be commensurate to the crime. (Exodus 21:22-27)Examples of punishment for crimes:Murder is a capital offence because it’s the unlawful taking of someone’s life; therefore your debt to society is your own life. (Gen 9:6)Rape is to be treated as murder and is therefore a capital offense.(Deut 22:26)Theft is taken someone’s property or goods by force or without permission; therefore you pay back the sum total of what was stolen before re-entry into society (Matt 5:26)Examples of sins that are not crimes:Teaching false doctrine is a sin but not a crime, therefore direct punishment is delayed until judgment day. (Jude 10-13)Private or consenting sexual sins of adults are sins but not direct crimes against society and therefore direct punishment is delayed until judgment day. (Rom 1:32)Worship of idols is grievous sin but not a direct crime against society and therefore direct punishment is delayed until judgment day. (Rom 2:4-5)