The place of the Law

NEW COVENANT THEOLOGY
By Tom Wells & Fred Zaspel
New Covenant Media. 324 pages
ISBN 1 928965 11 3

This is a gracious and winsome presentation of the relatively recent system called 'New Covenant Theology'. It speaks of the progressive revelation of the Scriptures - that the New Testament is the apex of God's revelation. It is Christ who is the fulfilment of all of God's purposes; all the Scriptures speak of him and point towards him. The Old Testament must be read in the light of Christ.

So far so good. But then the argument goes further. It is suggested that the law of Moses was only a type or preparation for the coming of the Messiah, and that moral, civil and ceremonial categories together (the authors do not even admit of that distinction of types of law) are now done away with in the appearance of Christ. Hence the Old Testament law has no abiding validity for the Christian believer, except insofar as it is taken up, repeated, reinterpreted, and commanded by Christ himself. Zaspel labours to persuade us of his interpretation of what it means for Christ to 'fulfil' the law.