The first half of chapter five in Waters’ book addresses the question of assurance of salvation. After recognizing that I had dedicated a full chapter to this subject, and granting that I emphasized a number of subjective aspects to assurance, Waters goes on to doubt the whole deal. Because I concluded that chapter with a …
A Worldview Wheel IV
Introduction: We come now to a third “spoke” on our worldview wheel, which this week will be considered under the heading of ritual, liturgy and symbol. We have considered the value of propositional truth. We have considered the importance of practical lifestyle. Now we are going to reflect on the importance of the unspoken but …
Three Extra Eggs in the Pudding
After nine days on the road, occupied with this and that, I have just now had opportunity on the plane back to Idaho to comment on Guy Waters’ next chapter, the chapter on “covenant and election.” In order to work through this, we should begin by taking note of what it really means to read …
Mosquitos in the Swamp of Self
The overflow of your salvation is to be love – love for God and love for your neighbor. This love comes along with a host of all the graces – humility, patience, gentleness, kindness, and every other good and pleasant thing that ties brothers together. You have one obligation to God, and that is to …
Their Stage-Prop God
You are being summoned to worship the triune Majesty of God – Father, Son and Holy Ghost. As you come, it is most necessary that you keep yourselves from the corruptions of idols. In these troubled times, it is crucial for every Christian to recognize that the Holy Trinity is not the god mentioned on …
Eating and Drinking the Wisdom of Christ
When you come to worship the Lord, you do so in order to magnify His name, His Word, and His way. Spiritual confusion enters when we try to listen to more than one spiritual authority. We are Christians, and this means that God alone has ultimate authority over us, and that God alone has an …
Keep Yourselves From Idols
Your only redemption is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Your only Redeemer is the Son of God sent from heaven. He is the image of the only wise God, and He is the way to the Father. You are called to worship God the Father through Him, and you are called to do so in …
Moses the Blender
Chapter Two of Waters’ book is on covenant and biblical history. This post will not go on and on, but for two cents, it could. “What is clear is Wilson’s emphasis upon grace as the hallmark of the first covenant and as the principle that unites the first and second covenants” (p. 31). This is …
God of the Great Creation
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! God of the great creation, God of the hazy, distant mountains, God of the grass beneath our feet, God of the water that all of us drink, We worship You now in the name of Jesus. God of salvation, God of the …
Scholarship on Stilts
NB: This post had the wrong tag applied to it, and so I do not think it made it into the Auburn Avenue ebook. Chapter One is Guy Waters’ introduction to and overview of the Federal Vision. In this chapter, he discusses names, players, and some of the foundational theological issues, particularly the definition of …