The Quality of Faith

“As I use it, obedient faith is a phrase that describes the quality of the faith, not the particular actions of that faith after the fact. For example, I can refer to an obedient child in two ways. The phrase can refer to the disposition of the child, which will result in actions in line with that disposition. But it could also mean a child was obedient because of an action or a series of actions he had performed.”

The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, pp. 896-897

So You Are Saying You’ve Changed Then?

“But I have been clear on all these things for lo, these many years. I have had a significant pile of things attributed to me which I hotly deny, and then, when my denials start to get through, somebody says, ‘well, why didn’t you say so?’ Or they say that they are glad that I have finally started to repudiate my errors.”

The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 887

Seriously. No Dead Faith

“But what is the qualitative nature of the faith that justifies? It is a gift of God, lest any should boast, and this means that the faith involved is the kind of faith that God only ever gives. When a man is justified by faith alone, it is never by a faith that is alone—it is ‘ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but works by love’ (WCF 11.2). In short, justifying faith, a saving gifts from the living God, is by definition not dead. Dead faith gets nothing in the stocking but coal. But that ought not to worry us, because God never tried to save any man by giving him dead faith” ().

The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 882

Should Have Done Better

“It is difficult, in the middle of a saloon brawl, to distinguish the motives of loyalty, manly principle, stubbornness, and cussedness. That is correct. It is difficult, but I still should have done a better job. I am responsible for not having done so, and I thought I needed to say so publicly.”

The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 877