“This situation reveals how much the conservatives have been out-maneuvered as they have been playing Machen-and-the-liberals in their mama’s backyard with little wooden sticks.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 778
Grace Trumps All
“This means that it has to delight my soul that God loves those on the other side of our particular theological divides more than I have ever loved anything or anybody. It needs to delight me that we will all spend eternity together, as it does. As so I pray God’s blessing on the resurrection celebrations of all God’s children, and I pray for a double blessing on the celebrations of my adversaries. This resurrection life is a powerful thing, and gets into everything . . . even our disputes.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 777
And Yes, Wichita is on the Arkansas
“If the Reformed tradition were the Mississippi River, these river boat pilots have managed to get their vessel grounded just south of Wichita. As I put it in a recent comment elsewhere, I really don’t understand why the C students think they get to grade everybody else’s papers.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 776
One Use of the Law
“One use of the law cannot be made the over-arching essence of that law—because that would make it impossible to employ the other uses.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 774
Saving Faith Does More Than One Thing
“So, saving faith yields, trembles, and embraces. It yields obedience, it trembles at threats, and it embraces promises. But its principal acts are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification. These are indeed its principal acts, saving faith does other things. It hunts down the red law passages and yields obedience to them. It comes across passages which threaten divine displeasure, and saving faith trembles at these red law passages also.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 774
Nuda Lex
“They think that nuda lex is totus lex, which is a staggering confusion. They have confounded a use of the law which the definition of the law. They have confused a part with the whole.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 771
Totus Lex
“Therefore, the Reformed tradition (the real one) holds that when describing what the law is, in all its parts and relations, we are talking about totus lex. And totus lex has a subordinate and honored place within the covenant of grace. Then Reformed historically have not held to a kind of radical dualism with law over here in stark opposition to grace over there.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 771
True Integration
“But there is a place of integration, a point where everything hangs together. In Christ, do law and grace meet in perfect harmony? If someone hates Christ, repelled by His aroma, do they recoil from both law and gospel, or from just one? In Christ, what do law and gospel do? According to the Westminster Confession, they do ‘sweetly comply’ with one another.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 770
Wiring It Right
“A minister is like a licensed electrician. He has to wire the room so that the lights work. But a child can flip on the lights. I want high standards for the theological electricians because this is the house of the Lord, and don’t want it to burn down. I want low standards (work with me here) for the people who live in the house. I want every three-year-old with curious fingers, and a rudimentary knowledge of cause and effect, to able to reach that light switch.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 765
Too Broad, Too Narrow
“The latitudinarians receive as Christ’s those who are manifestly not Christ’s and the sectarians reject those who manifestly are.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 764