“It is of course true that real religion is concerned with the state of the heart, and not with whether a man has jumped through all the right ceremonial hoops. When a man believes the covenant promise he points away from himself . . . To look away from the heart to an objective Christ …
Baptism Points Away
“The meaning of Abraham’s circumcision was not, ‘Abraham got saved.’ Rather, it was, ‘Salvation will come to the world!’ It is true that Abraham was personally saved, and that he was saved by faith. But he was saved because he believed in the objective promise — that is, in the coming Christ . . . …
The Impossibility of Silence
“The marriage covenant is always a picture of Christ and the church, and has been so from the beginning. It will either be a lying picture or a true one, but a man and a woman are always speaking of Christ” (To a Thousand Generations, p. 39).
Parallels and Contrasts
“Confronted with the gross and unbelieving history of the Jews, the baptist must say the Old Testament record of the disobedience of the Jews does not apply to our situation, and that to compare them is to compare apples and oranges. But this means he must therefore explain why the New Testament draws parallels where …
Same Tree
“The Gentiles were threatened with removal from the same tree the unbelieving Jews had been in. But if this were the tree of salvation, then the elect can lose their salvation — which cannot be defended biblically. And if this is the tree of the covenant, then the point stands” (To a Thousand Generations, p. …
And Is Not Better Than Nothing
“External religion never saved a soul, and has damned countless millions” (To a Thousand Generations, p. 34).
The Rock That Accompanied Them
“The realities and saving blessings of the New Covenant pervade all of human history. After they were baptized into Moses, the people drank from Christ” (To a Thousand Generations, p. 31).
New Covenant Curses
“The Levitical administration brought strong curses for disobedience (Heb. 2:2-3); the New Covenant administration brings much greater curses (Heb. 10:29; Heb. 12:25). Christians commonly assume that the really terrifying curses for disobedience were given in the Old Testament, and that under the New Testament all is grace. But this is precisely the opposite of the …
Baptized Into Promise, Not Law
“Circumcision began with the promise, to use Paul’s terms, and not with the law. It is part of the promise to Abraham, and was not instituted at Sinai” (To a Thousand Generations, p. 22)
Little Saints
“But how do we know someone to be unregenerate? The Bible gives us only one criterion — fruit, which is seen in the various works of the flesh. But infancy in a godly household is not a work of the flesh . . . The children of at least one believer are described as holy …