One of the reasons why John Robbins and Sean Gerety are not to be trusted is because of their deliberate misrepresentations, as has been shown in previous posts. But there is another problem that runs throughout the book, which would be better classified as an inability to grasp the argument. For example, consider this:
“In opposition to this counterfeit covenant, Paul teaches a Covenant of Grace in which “the promise might be sure to all the seed.” There is no sure promise of salvation in Wilson’s counterfeit covenant. His appeal to ritual baptism for assurance is asinine, for he admits that some baptized people go to Hell” (Robbins and Gerety, p. 90).
Now the problem here, ironically, is an inability to understand sola fide. God makes promises in His Word and in His sacraments. But a man can have a Bible and go to Hell. He can read his Bible and go to Hell. He can hear the Bible preached and go to Hell. He can nod his head yeah, uh huh at what the Bible says and go to Hell. But nevertheless the Bible still contains the promises. What secures the promises for an individual? What is the instrument that causes an individual to close with Christ? Faith and faith alone.
The same is true of the sacraments. When the Reformers taught Christians to “look to their baptism,” they were not teaching them to look there faithlessly. A faithful statement of “look to the Bible, look to your baptism, look to the Supper” is actually saying look to Christ, and look where He has promised to meet with you. And do this in faith. Faith alone is that which enables a man to see the promise of God (the promise who is Christ Himself) in what would otherwise be paper and ink, water, bread and wine. Let me use the words of Martin Luther’s wonderful baptismal hymn to make the point I am making, and which Robbins and Gerety are missing.
The eye of sense alone is dim and nothing sees but water;
Faith sees Christ Jesus and in Him the Lamb ordained for slaughter;
It sees the cleansing fountain, red with the dear blood of Jesus,
Which from the sins, inherited from fallen Adam, frees us
And from our own misdoings.
When I tell someone to look to Scripture, I am not telling them to trust in leather bindings, ink and high quality paper — though some people do trust in their Nehushtan Bibles in just this way. And there are people who superstitiously come to offend Jesus through their use of unbelieving ritual, water and bread and wine. Their condemnation is just.
But Robbins and Gerety cannot imagine how a man might look to his baptism and see, with Martin Luther, Christ Jesus and the Lamb ordained for slaughter. In short, they cannot grasp the potency of faith alone.