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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Guy Waters
Well, the time has finally come. I have received my copy of Guy Waters’ new book, entitled The Federal Vision and Covenant Theology: A Comparative Analysis. It is my intent to blog my way through this book, offering my thoughts on this general subject for the edification of a bemused Christendom, and to do so …
A Moon-Sized Crater
I suppose that is a provocative title, but still it is nothing close to the provocative times we live in. Context is everything. Words take their meanings from the times. When certain things are done in a certain way, and at a certain time, there is no way to alter their impact or meaning by …
The OPC Report on the Federal Vision
The OPC report on the Federal Vision is being considered at their General Assembly this week. Because of this, I want to say just a few things for the record. It is not that my opinion matters all that much, but I feel free to make these comments because I am labeled as one of …
A World Made New
If we hear a word enough, we think we know what it means. We live in a Christian sub-culture that has strongly emphasized the need to be “born again.” Without denying this need for regeneration at all, we still have to place the reality of this in a biblical context, lest we turn it into …
Personal Antithesis
Many theological problems are created by turning certain issues into theological problems. As Yogi Berra might have said. One of the central sticking issues in the Federal Vision stuff is the question of personal regeneration. But this is only a problem because we are dealing with it on the blackboard, as a theological problem involving …
Beyond the Five Solas
It is important for us to consider recent events in our town and around the country in the light of God’s Word. The Lord has been very kind to us thus far, but part of our responsibility is to understand His kindness, and not just to receive it. The Lord has given us the great …