A Primer on Progressive Covenantalism

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. With those thrilling words, the Bible begins. Everything else in space and time, history and salvation, creation and covenant, unfolds from God’s very good creation. Indeed, even as Adam’s fall into sin requires the promise and provision of a Redeemer (Gen. 3:15), the whole Bible and the Christian faith stand on the cornerstone of God’s work in Genesis 1–11. For Christians, if we get these chapters right, it leads to life and sound doctrine. But if we get them wrong, it invites all kinds of problems—biblical, theological, ethical, and scientific. Recognizing this fact, during the month of August we consider the literary and theological truths contained in Genesis 1–11. From exegetical analysis to theological inquiry, and from creation science to ethical application, this month will help Christians understand these chapters and their import for God’s Word and God’s world.

The term “Civil Rights” may evoke images of Martin Luther King Jr. preaching, lunch counter sit-ins, and protest marches. From the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955–56 to the Lincoln Memorial “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, this era resulted in the landmark Civil Rights Act, passed on July 2, 1964. Signed into law by President Johnson (see this month's cover), this Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or age." Positively, this legislation reversed laws fashioned to discriminate against blacks; it also gave all Americans equal protections under the law. Yet, it did more. It effectively wrote a second constitution that gave the federal government power to coerce association with the force of law. Add in the various agencies and programs created by this Civil Rights Act, and two Americas have been fostered since the 1960s. For all the good the Civil Rights Movement did to rectify wrongs, it instituted others. And this month, we are going to consider these cross currents, and how the church committed to the cross of Christ can respond today with wisdom to the rights and the wrongs of the Civil Rights Movement.

What do churches that affirm the LGBTQ lifestyle, celebrate God as mother, and host drag queen performances have in common? They are not remotely Christian. While they may identify as “liberal” or “progressive” Christians, they are so far from the core of Christianity that they are altogether a “different religion.” This conclusion is the key insight of J. Gresham Machen in Christianity and Liberalism, a book that celebrates its one hundredth anniversary this year in 2023. While the presenting issues looked different a century ago, the core was the same: Liberal Christianity proclaims a toxic view of doctrine, God, man, the Bible, Christ, Salvation, and the Church. Our Lord reminded us that “the tree is known by its fruit” (Matt. 12:33). This month, we aim to retrieve Machen’s chapter-by-chapter insights to equip a new generation of Christians to discern truth from error.

From calls to dismantle the “Western-prescribed nuclear family structure” to the president claiming “our nation’s children are all our children,” it is clear that many see the family as a threat—a Lego structure to be broken apart. But our goal this month is to piece together a positive vision for the family. As confessional Baptists, we want to consider this question in particular: “How do you raise children who are not yet in the new covenant?” And what changes when they are born again? This month, we seek to address this question along with a host of others—how do parenting, discipline, and technology fit together, how do grandparents support their grandkids, what role do singles play in the Christian family, and what right does the government have in the home. The truth is: a holy family is a beautiful structure. And in spite of a government that wants to tear it down, God’s good design will endure—but only if we know what it is and how to cultivate it, brick by brick.

The hinge of human history is a man—the man, Jesus Christ. Suspended between heaven and earth, the God-man took hold of the cosmos and turned the world upside down with his death and resurrection. But why? Who is this man, and why did he have to die? Why was his tomb empty on the third day, and what do these things mean—both then and now? In April, we plan to “behold the man”—as we explore the weight of Christ's perfect life, vicarious death, and glorious resurrection.

As pragmatic commitments lead the twenty-first century church to rebuild itself in novel ways, we want to recover what Scripture says about men, women, and the office of pastor. While women assuming the pastoral office is not new, it is not supported by a careful reading of Scripture. For some, the office of pastor is like a toy—a beachball that can be passed between men and women alike. But when we disobey the One who made us, we bring a wrecking ball to the household of God. Therefore, with our eyes fixed on his Word, we will take the month of March to examine God’s good design for men and women in church and to show why the pulpit is reserved for biblically qualified men.

Love has been taken captive. Like a prisoner reading a prepared statement under threat, love has been misused to justify anything from child mutilation, LGBTQ practice, and euthanasia, to name a few. Beyond this, slogans surround us that promise “love is love,” and “all you need is love.” This month we examine genuine love of neighbor, along with the false parody of it. And we do this anchored in the greatest love mankind has ever known.

January 22, 2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, only that court decision didn’t make fifty years. Hallelujah!! Rather, in answer to five decades of prayer and perspiration, the Lord granted America a Jubilee from the court decision which opened abortion on demand to all fifty states. Now, after the Dobbs decision, abortion remains a blood sacrament in our country, but its access is slipping. Or it could be, if we can continue to pray, work, and plan for its demise. To that end, we will offer a series of biblical, ethical, legal, and practical reflections on abortion this month. May God end this scourge in our generation!

Christ is the reason for the season, and during Advent we will turn our attention to more than a dozen biblical and theological reflections on the glory of Christ Incarnate. Christmas is not just a season to give gifts; it is a season to ponder the unfathomable gift of God become man. In this theme, we will put the spotlight on Christ and marvel at the reality of the Incarnation.

We ponder the past to decipher the present. For the last one hundred years, evangelicals in America have been defining and redefining themselves. Whether from Scripture, or against society, or by combining Christ and culture, various strands in evangelicalism have emerged. Without being exhaustive, we will consider the last one hundred years in order to help modern “evangelicals” stand in the truth and proclaim the whole counsel of God in the present.

In 1981 Crossway published Francis Schaeffer’s A Christian Manifesto. In his analysis of church and culture, Schaeffer brought a word of prophetic warning to a church threatened by the rising tide of statism, or encroaching government control. Four decades later many of his concerns have been validated, and we will listen to and reflect upon this critical work.

Who are we? Why are we here? And what are we doing with this ministry? In the our first month, the founders of Christ Over All will look at the theme of Christ’s Lordship and how everything in creation, the church, and culture are impacted by his sovereign rule.