spirit in the present age: Preliminary fulfillment of the predicted new covenant according to Paul, The

PAUL R. THORSELL*

*********FOREIGN TEXT OMITTED .................... Dispensationalists have prided themselves on their realistic appraisal of the covenants mentioned in Holy Writ. In contrast to covenant theology's emphasis on the theological covenants, dispensationalism's focus on the Biblical covenants may be confirmed by thumbing through any one of a whole host of works.1 In my view, focusing on the Biblical covenants has been one of the key strengths of the dispensational perspective.

Unfortunately this strength has not always been reflected in dispensational thought on the new covenant. Much of dispensationalism's weakness in its formulation was the result of polemical exigencies. Dispensationalism used the Biblical covenants to defend its insistence that there remained in God's plan a future for Israel. For this reason it insisted on an absolute logical dilemma: Either the new covenant was fulfilled in the present era (as covenant theologians argued) so that there was no future fulfillment for Israel, or the new covenant was not fulfilled in the present era so that its fulfillment lay wholly in the future. Dispensationalism was confident that the OT predictions of the new covenant could not be reconciled with fulfillment in the present era. For its part, covenant theology likewise supported the either/or dilemma since it was confident that certain NT texts could not be interpreted otherwise than by viewing the new covenant as fulfilled in the present age.

But recent formulations of dispensational theology ("modified" or "progressive" dispensationalism) have abandoned the dilemma held by both traditional dispensationalism and covenant theology for a both/and view of the fulfillment of the Biblical covenants. With specific reference to the new covenant, this means that within the present interadvent era there is a partial and preliminary fulfillment of the new covenant in anticipation of a complete fulfillment in the eschaton. The purpose of this paper is to show that within the Pauline corpus the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit among believers demonstrates that the new covenant is currently operative, albeit in a partial and preliminary way. Attention will be chiefly directed to Paul's exposition of his new-covenant ministry in 2 Corinthians 3. If this purpose is achieved, one aspect of progressive dispensationalism's treatment of the Biblical covenants will be confirmed.

I. THE OT PREDICTIONS OF THE NEW COVENANT

Although the expression "new covenant" in Jer 31:31 is unique in the OT, it is commonly accepted that the idea of an eschatological covenant between Yahweh and Israel is present in quite a number of OT passages.2 There are several texts that speak directly of a future covenant. In addition to those passages in which the term "covenant" is specifically used, there are others that do not contain the term but have comparable content.3

Pierre Buis has observed common elements in some predictions of an eschatological covenant comparable to those in the Sinaitic covenant and argues that these elements form an identifiable new-covenant form.4 Whether or not Buis is correct about there being a new-covenant form, there is remarkable consistency in many of the passages describing this future covenant. Six elements (Buis' five plus the historical introduction) make up the content of the predicted covenant: (1) an historical introduction depicting Israel's apostasy and subsequent judgment, (2) God's act of reconstituting Israel back in her land, (3) the covenantal declaration "I will be your God, and you will be my people," (4) a moral transformation of the people, (5) a statement of the perpetual duration of the covenant, and (6) God's determination to bless the nation. These elements are present in several texts as the following chart shows:

All of the elements ;are not contained in every passage, nor are the elements ever presented in a common sequence.

Of particular importance for this article, the element of God's moral transformation (element 4) is present in seven or eight of the ten passages. This element may be the most distinctive aspect of the predicted eschatological covenant and is present in other contexts than the ten in the chart. God's future act of moral renewal finds its necessity in Israel's constant rebellion and utter inability to keep the stipulations of the Mosaic covenant, facts emphasized especially in Jeremiah (e.g. 2:19; 5:4, 23; 6:28).5 Though the nation needs to change, it cannot change itself (13:23; 17:1). The moral renewal is described in widely differing fashions as (1) a circumcision of the heart (Deut 30:6; cf. Jer 4:4), (2) the giving of a new heart or changing of the heart (Jer 24:7; 32:39; Ezek 11:19; 18:31; 36:26), (3) the putting of a new spirit/ God's Spirit within them (Ezek 11:19; 18:31; 36:26-27; 37:14), or (4) the placing/writing of Yahweh's law in/on the hearts of the people (Jer 31:33).6

The prediction of an eschatological covenant between Yahweh and Israel is not limited to Jeremiah 31 but is a common theme in the OT. One prominent element of this predicted covenant is that of moral transformation, an element that Paul dwells upon in some of his references to the new covenant.