Lutherans Struggle With Covenant Theology

We are looking carefully at Hebrews 7 and the writer's discussion of Melchizedek, king of Salem (Hebrew for peace). In the previous post we learned about the Biblical understanding that one person may represent all of those who descend from him. We cited the examples of Adam, the father of all mankind (Rom. 5:12) and Esau, who lost the inheritance promised to his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham, the promise that went then to his brother Jacob and his descendants (Gen. 28:1-4). 

The Hebrews writer makes this same point when he says that even Levi, a direct descendant of Abraham, paid tithes to Melchizedek when in fact it was Abraham who actually paid them. 

One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. - Hebrews 7:9-10 ESV

This concept is called Federal headship by many. The concept is spelled out by church fathers such as Irenaeus (Against Heresies) and Augustine of Hippo (City of God). The idea is that Adam was the federal head of mankind in the same way that a federal government like the United States has a president or chief spokesman for the entire nation. Dr. R.C. Sproul has a very detailed and interesting discussion of this concept, alongside a couple others, in his article "Adam's Fall and Mine." You may want to consider it. Federalism is an interpretive framework for understanding the flow of the Bible. It is often called Covenant theology. To get into the details of this understanding of Bible teaching would take us far, far afield. 

We Lutherans struggle with the concepts of Covenant theology, especially since we find that some covenant theology teachers lead us away from the Biblical teaching of grace alone as they pursue it. One recent discussion of this problem can be found in Pastor Jordan Cooper's blog "Lutheranism and Covenant Theology" —not an easy read however. Read his article carefully. You will see how Lutherans see continuity between the Old Testament and New Testament by understanding that the distinction between law and gospel is the fundamental principle of interpreting the Bible. 

I also found another interesting little article about "Why Luther Did Not Speak Much About Covenant" by Martin Yee. Luther's reluctance had to do with his opposition to the Franciscan theologian, William of Ockham and later Dr. Gabriel Biel, who both essentially said, "God helps those who help themselves." He further objected to the Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli whose emphasis on our responsibility in the covenant of grace after the fall made it sound to Luther as if Zwingli agreed with Ockham and company.

I know that I promised to get into a discussion of the importance of the Bible's teaching that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, but that will have to wait until my next post. At that time we'll take a careful look at the question of blood and the fact that our sinful nature is passed on through the blood (Leviticus 17:11). This is related to the fact that blood develops only after the male sperm or seed is united to the female ovum or egg. We need to tread very carefully here. More on this next time.