“There is a vast difference between a law/gospel hermeneutic, which I reject heartily and with enthusiasm, and a law/gospel application or use, which is pastoral, prudent, and wise.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 532
Law and Grace Hearts
“The Scripture is what it is, and it contains both promises and imperatives. For the one who reads the Scriptures in evangelical faith, he sees all the imperatives in the context of a larger grace. For the one who reads the Scripture in unbelief, he can sound out the promises, but they are always trumped by what he thinks is the larger demand of ‘do this and live.’ The former contextualizes everything as a subset of God’s grace. The latter contextualizes everything as a subset of law. For the believer, even the Ten Commandments can be understood as gracious. The preamble reminds the Jews that these words were coming from the one who brought them out of the house of bondage. For the unbeliever, even the message of the cross is foolishness, an intolerable demand. So that, in a nutshell, is what I think is going on with law and gospel.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 529
Not Really the Same
“In the old days, defenders of the faith used proclamation, argumentation, and apologetics. These days, the defenders of the faith use all the bureaucratic levers they have hidden under the desk . . . In the old days, the prophets of God would thunder the word. These days, they resort to Machinations and Back Room Deals.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 529
Truth Remains Unified
“The issue of emphasis is problematic when discussing issues like this. I believe all kinds of things that I emphasize in varying degrees. Why is that a problem? Belief is where you measure doctrinal orthodoxy. Legitimate differences in emphasis can be affected by numerous factors like the period of history you are in, the state of the church you are preaching to, the nature of your own personal gifts, and so on. If I am preaching at Thyatira, my emphasis is one thing; if at Ephesus, it is another. The truth remains unified.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 527
Thank God
“I am going to heaven because of Jesus, and not because of my mastery of the dikai-word group.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 527
Justice Not Found by Splitting the Difference
“It is not the voice of moderation to limit oneself to believe only ten percent of the false accusations. To hear 100 lies and limit oneself to entertaining only ten of them is not being judicious.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 523
One of the Things Saving Faith Does
“He should know about decretal election—he just read about it a few chapters before in Romans. He believes in it, and so do I. But whatever we do with the doctrine of decretal election, we must not manipulate it such that we become what Paul is warning against here—high-minded. Saving faith trembles ‘at the threatenings’ (WCF 14.2).”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 520
Addressing the Tares
“When tares are being addressed as tares, and in that condition their relationship to Christ is described as having a certain reality to it that they are in the process of losing, that cannot be explained as a judgment of charity.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 519
Way More Plastic
“True Kuyperian practice is not to go out into the world and do pretty much what everybody else is doing, only with a Jesus label attached. This is not the lordship of Christ—rather it is Christians getting into the manufacture of knock-offs. If something gets popular in the world, the Christians are right there with a competing model made with cheap labor in a Third World factory and using a lot more plastic.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 515
Apostate or Corrupt?
“Churches that have had their lampstand removed are apostate. Churches that are being seriously warned about that possibility are corrupt. Branches that have been cut out of the olive tree are apostate. Branches that are still on the tree but have started to think that they support the root are corrupt. The short answer is that apostasy does not occur with no warning at all—the run up to that apostasy is the period of corruption. God dealt with the Israelites even though they worshipped him in the high places. They were corrupt, but not yet rejected. The prophets were ticked about it, as they should have been, but God nevertheless still owned them as His people. That was corruption, not apostasy. The severance of Israel from the olive tree after 70 AD was apostasy, the culmination of corruption.
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 510.