“A man who is married to a woman can betray her, but a man who never met her cannot do so . . . In other words, we say that all adulterers were never really married. But of course this means that they are not really adulterers . . . In other words, we have two positions: the first is that husbands cannot commit adultery, and the second is that adulterers are not husbands, and hence not adulterers. What never seems to occur to anyone is the duty of fighting our fellow Christians to the last ditch—as Athanasius did with Arius.”
Two Distinct Pleasures
“But it appears that as soon as we are stopped from rummaging around in our own hearts, we have an immediate yearning to rummage around in someone else’s. We either doubt our own salvation with anguish or we doubt someone else’s with satisfaction.”
Teaching Faith Instead of Doubt
“If we believe God when He says that He made us one with our wives so that He could have godly offspring, then we should act as though we believe it. This means that we should teach our children to believe it. And this means, in its turns, that they should never know a time when they did not love and honor Jesus Christ, love His gospel, and love His Church. If we do anything else with our children, we are teaching them to doubt, not to believe . . . We must return to the doctrine of covenantal succession. If we hold to infant baptism, we are saying by our participation in that wonderful rite that we believe God’s promises concerning future generations. What this debate has shown is that more than a few paedobaptists are saying, ‘Really? You believe the promises? Isn’t that works?’”
Childrearing, Not by Works
“If God were to have my children turn out on the basis of my works—on one of my good days—they would all be in the penitentiary. But He offers to give me my children, and their children after them. What must I do? I must believe Him when He offers them to me. Now if I believe Him, this faith is organically connected to parental faithfulness. But we are solid Protestants, and so we do not try to have the ox push the plow. Faith first and faith foundationally.”
The Half-Way Covenant
“Contrary to the assumptions of many, the Half-Way Covenant was not the result of covenantal lethargy, but just the reverse—covenantal rigorism. Everyone had to be ‘born again’ in a highly visible, demonstrable way, but there were a number among the settlers who were not regenerate, along with a number of others who were regenerate but who were unable or unwilling to gin up a credible testimony. But these people believed in Christ, they held to the truth of the Christian religion, and they wanted their children baptized. They lacked the revivalistic tremens, but wanted their children baptized. The Half-Way Covenant allowed for this, but maintained a high fence around the Table of the Lord. This was zeal run amok, not lethargy. Unfortunately, it was a zeal without knowledge.”
The Real Thing
“This meaning of grace is its aroma. Having learned this, only then is it safe to learn the practical incarnation forms of grace—sacramental thanksgiving, true sabbath keeping, psalming from the heart, and the rest of a forgiven, righteous life. Practical Christianity without grace is legalism. Grace without practice is gnosticism”
The Justified Church
“Our corporate justification as the Church was Pentecostal. God publicly vindicated us, owned us as His people, and established us in the world as His own righteous people. This means that the Church as the Church is justified, just as the Church is elect, and redeemed, and so forth. But this also means that non elect covenant members, while truly attached to the body, are nevertheless an incongruity—spots and blemishes that will be removed as the Bride is made radiant. But in the meantime, until they are removed, we have to learn to deal with non elect members of the Elect One, and unjustified members of the Justified Body.”
Definitionally Related
“In the historic Protestant view, good works are inseparable from biblical salvation. They are not a condiment to flavor a ‘raw’ justification, but rather are definitionally related to justification. Justification and sanctification are not like salt and pepper, or ham and eggs—two things that go well together. They are definitionally interrelated, like the terms husband and wife. If there is no wife, then by definition there is no husband. If there is no husband, then by definition there is not wife. Apart from sanctification, justification does not exist. Apart from justification, sanctification does not exist.”
Geneva and Rome
“We have already considered what the Bible teaches about justification and the justified individual, considered as an individual. In this limited sense, the historic Protestant position on justification is correct, and the Roman Catholic understanding of individual justification as a process involving an infusion of righteousness is wrong.”
United Rightly
“Christ did not die so that we might live. He died so that we might die, and He lives so that we might live. Our life is not tied to His death—our life is tied to His life. But we cannot be tied to His life unless we have also been united with Him in His death.”