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A New Resource for You: The Covenantal Life {an interview with Sarah Ivill}

3/6/2018

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CHRISTINA FOX|EDITOR
​(This article was first posted on enCourage. See original link by Christina Fox here).

Editor’s Note: The following is an interview I did with Sarah Ivill about her new book, The Covenantal Life. Her publisher, Reformation Heritage Books, has offered copies of her book for a giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment at the end of this post and you will be entered. Giveaway ends 3/7/18.

Christina: Can you summarize your new book, The Covenantal Life?

Sarah: Today, many of us have lost our appreciation for the beauty of both covenant theology and covenant community, and this has had dire consequences, such as individualism and isolationism in the church. I believe that a key solution to this problem is a robust understanding of covenant theology, which will deepen our knowledge of Scripture and enable us to truly serve our sisters by pointing them to Christ. In The Covenantal Life, I have tried to clearly and concisely set forth the beauty of covenant theology and covenant community, encouraging women to learn sound doctrine so that we can think biblically about the circumstances in our lives—and then help our sisters in Christ to do the same.

Christina: What inspired you to write it?

Sarah: When my publisher asked me to consider writing a book last year this topic immediately came to mind. It’s the topic I’m most often asked to speak on at women’s retreats and conferences, so I wanted to be able to put a book in women’s hands that would help them unpack what it means to be in a covenant relationship with God and a covenant relationship with their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Christina: What did you gain personally through the process of reading, studying, and preparing for this book?

Sarah: Covenant theology deepened my appreciation for Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension; all the spiritual blessings I have in Christ; the sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper; how God’s sovereignty and my responsibility go hand in hand; and how Scripture fits together as one big covenant story with Christ as the center of it all. In turn, it deepened my appreciation for the covenant community; my design as a woman; multigenerational ministry; how the cultural mandate and the Great Commission go hand in hand; and the city that is to come.

Christina: Do you have a particular method or routine to writing your studies? Favorite resources/commentaries you consult?

Sarah: When I’m writing Bible studies I begin by reading the book in its entirety in different translations. Then I outline it into smaller sections. Next I go section by section, reading the text, outlining it, consulting the top recommended commentaries on the particular book I’m studying, as well as any other pertinent resources. Then I write the study questions and the notes. Since this was a book instead of a Bible study, the process looked different. The finished manuscript grew from my outlines for speaking engagements. I also used trusted resources that helped me better understand both covenant theology and the covenant community.

Christina: Any advice you can give to women who teach Bible studies in their churches?

Sarah: 1) One of the greatest gifts we can give others as Bible teachers is our own time in the Word of God and prayer, as well as our engagement in and commitment to the covenant community. This fills our hearts with love for God and others, and our minds with sound doctrine, so that we teach faithfully and wisely.
2) Ask the Holy Spirit to open the women’s hearts to the Word of God. No matter how much we prepare we can’t do the work of God, which is to save sinners and make them more like Christ.
3) Proclaim Christ. When women walk away from Bible study they should know more about Jesus than they know about the teacher.
4) Don’t worry about numbers. The Lord will bring who He wants to be there. Prepare your heart and mind the same way for ten as you would for ten hundred.
5) Pray that the Lord will impact the hearts of the women so that Bible study isn’t an end in itself, but a means of growth in the area of their own walk with the Lord, their involvement and love for the covenant community, and their desire to impact the nations with the gospel. We want the women in our classes to walk away with such a wonder of who God is and all that He has done through Christ Jesus that it fuels their worship, their work and their witness for His glory.

Christina: What are you currently reading?
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Sarah: The Bible in chronological order, eight commentaries on Ephesians (can you guess what study I’m currently writing?), Calvin’s Institutes, The Heidelberg Catechism, Uprooting Anger by Robert D. Jones, The Christ of Wisdom by O. Palmer Robertson, and Watership Down by Richard Adams (a read-aloud for homeschool).

Christina: Tell us a little about yourself. What do you do for fun?

Sarah: I have been married to Charles for almost 15 years and we have four children—Caleb (12), Hannah (10), Daniel (4) and Lydia (2). During the day I enjoy reading and playing on the floor with my little ones, and homeschooling and engaging with my older ones. At night I love to be in my study pouring over Scripture, praying, reading books, and writing. Last fall our family began a new adventure of kayaking together, which has been lots of fun, but really I enjoy being anywhere outdoors with my family.
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Click here to learn more about The Covenantal Life.

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About the Author: Christina Fox

Christina received her undergraduate degree from Covenant College and her Master’s Degree in Counseling from Palm Beach Atlantic University. She writes for a number of Christian ministries and publications including Revive Our Hearts, Desiring God, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, and Ligonier Ministries. She is the content editor for enCourage and the author of A Heart Set Free: A Journey to Hope Through the Psalms of Lament   and Closer Than a Sister: How Union with Christ Helps Friendships to Flourish. Christina also serves on the advisory board at Covenant College. She prefers her coffee black and from a French press, enjoys antiquing, hiking, traveling, and reading. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and two boys. You can find her at www.christinafox.com, @christinarfox and on Facebook.

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Ten Ways Covenant Theology Captured My Heart and Mind

2/1/2018

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Ten years ago, in preparation for visiting a local PCA church with my husband and children, I began researching the PCA’s beliefs, read through the Westminster Confession of Faith, and studied a book on covenant theology. Not long afterwards, my husband and I joined that church. In order to flesh out what I was learning about covenant theology through our new church, I read hundreds of online lectures from a Reformed seminary, and hundreds of Reformed books. I also started writing Bible studies to help me, and hopefully other women, understand the covenantal framework of Scripture and Christ as the center of the covenant story (by God’s grace, I am on my 37th book of the Bible).

It would not be overstating things to say that studying covenant theology was life changing for me. So what is it about covenant theology that captured my heart and mind? And what is it about covenant theology that I want to share with my sisters in Christ both through the session I am teaching at Leadership Training and the book I have written on The Covenantal Life: Appreciating the Beauty of Theology and Community?
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Ten Ways Covenant Theology Captured My Heart and Mind
  • First, covenant theology deepened my appreciation of and love for God’s covenant promises. God promised His people His presence, blessings through the person of Jesus Christ, the preservation of His people, and His Spirit to enable His people to practice godly living.
  • Second, covenant theology deepened my appreciation of and love for the covenant book, the Bible. God has graciously chosen to reveal Himself and His will to His people through the written words of Scripture.
  • Third, covenant theology deepened my appreciation of and love for the covenantal structure of Scripture that leads to a redemptive-historical, Christ-centered interpretation. This keeps me from falling into the error of a moralistic, legalistic, or therapeutic interpretation.
  • Fourth, covenant theology deepened my appreciation of and love for the doctrines of justification, adoption, and sanctification. Christ’s covenantal death perfectly and eternally secured our justification, we have been adopted into the family of God, and we have been given a new heart so that we can live for God.
  • Fifth, covenant theology deepened my appreciation of and love for the doctrines of grace. Ephesians 2:1-10 beautifully summarizes these doctrines—all humankind are covenant-breakers, the covenant King has chosen out of His love and grace to save some of humankind, and our salvation is secured by Christ’s fulfillment of the covenant of grace.
  • Sixth, covenant theology deepened my appreciation of and love for the covenant community. There is one people of God saved by grace alone through faith alone. If we have a firm grasp on the truth that the God of the covenant builds a covenant community and that the covenant promises are for us and for our children, then we will realize that we are not just going to another event, taking another class, or filling another slot in the church nursery. We will understand that we are fostering fellowship with one another, growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ together, and keeping our promise to help train up our covenant children in the faith.
  • Seventh, covenant theology deepened my appreciation of and love for biblical womanhood. As those who are in Christ, we have been brought from death to life and are to be life-giving helpers who spread the aroma of the gospel to those around us.
  • Eighth, covenant theology deepened my appreciation of and love for walking with my sisters through the hard places of life. As we walk with sisters through crisis, we must always remember to speak the truth in love and to point them to the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the one who redeems their stories for their good and His glory and who is coming again to make all things new.
  • Ninth, covenant theology deepened my appreciation of and love for the cultural mandate and the Great Commission. The cultural mandate is still in effect, though it now has a gospel focus. It includes: worship, woman (marriage and family), and work, which are all grounded in God’s Word. The Great Commission adds one more—we are witnesses for Christ.
  • Finally, covenant theology deepened my appreciation of and love for the city to come and the restoration of all things. We are going to a place (the new heavens and the new earth), a person (Jesus Christ), a possession (all the benefits of Christ’s are ours), promises consummately fulfilled (there will be no more curse) and we are going to a people from every tribe, tongue and nation so that we might spend an eternity worshiping the Lion and the Lamb. Let us rejoice that such a future lies ahead for us!
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