The Objector Answered
Paul contrasts two groups who claim to be the covenant people; that is, those who were chosen and saved by God’s grace. Paul here and elsewhere refers to the circumcision, meaning the covenant people of the old era, but his eyes are on the baptized, the covenant people of the Christian era. The covenant people in Paul’s day also spoke of themselves as the people of the law, and of the Gentiles as those outside the law, so that the terminology that Paul uses is the language of his day, and Paul corrects the thinking so prevalent that the mere rite was sufficient to mark one as belonging to the covenant.
- R. J. Rushdoony
Paul contrasts two groups who claim to be the covenant people; that is, those who were chosen and saved by God’s grace. Paul here and elsewhere refers to the circumcision, meaning the covenant people of the old era, but his eyes are on the baptized, the covenant people of the Christian era. The covenant people in Paul’s day also spoke of themselves as the people of the law, and of the Gentiles as those outside the law, so that the terminology that Paul uses is the language of his day, and Paul corrects the thinking so prevalent that the mere rite was sufficient to mark one as belonging to the covenant.
- R. J. Rushdoony
Rev. R.J. Rushdoony (1916–2001), was a leading theologian, church/state expert, and author of numerous works on the application of Biblical law to society. He started the Chalcedon Foundation in 1965. His Institutes of Biblical Law (1973) began the contemporary theonomy movement which posits the validity of Biblical law as God’s standard of obedience for all. He therefore saw God’s law as the basis of the modern Christian response to the cultural decline, one he attributed to the church’s false view of God’s law being opposed to His grace. This broad Christian response he described as “Christian Reconstruction.” He is credited with igniting the modern Christian school and homeschooling movements in the mid to late 20th century. He also traveled extensively lecturing and serving as an expert witness in numerous court cases regarding religious liberty. Many ministry and educational efforts that continue today, took their philosophical and Biblical roots from his lectures and books.