“I thought faith was the instrument of justification in the ordo salutis, and therefore preceded it. In other words, faith is what it is before justification gets to it, because justification doesn’t happen without the instrumentality of faith, which has to be what it is in order for justification to happen at all.”
What She Would Not Say
“God made Adam out of dirt, and He made Eve out of Adam’s rib. And when God presented the woman to the man, and he asked where she came from, her reply was not ‘from my pre-Adamite hominoid ancestors.’”
Chestertonian Calvinism, p. 96
The Blammo School of Thought
“The other view, the one that I am stoutly comfortable with, might be called the blammo view of creation. About ten thousand years ago, as the crow flies, there was nothing, and absolutely nothing underneath, above, or around that nothing. And then about four thousand years after that, also as the crow flies, God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and blammo, there it was.”
Chestertonian Calvinism, p. 96
Not by Works, Friend
“Saving faith obeys the gospel, and only the gospel. Saving obedience believes in Jesus Christ, and saving obedience does nothing but believe in Jesus Christ.”
Not Natural
“Some men want to defend ministerial credentials through shibbolethian propositions, making the truth walk around on stilts.”
Two Trees
“Adam disobeyed for us at a tree; the Lord Jesus obeyed for us on a tree.”
Chestertonian Calvinism, p. 90
A Real Juke Move
“In short, Calvinists know that there is nothing to boast of in man, but some fall into the trap of boasting in that knowledge. They take pride in knowing that there is nothing to take pride in.”
Chestertonian Calvinism, p. 84
No Dead Faith
“For the Reformers, faith was a gift from God, and when God gives faith, He does not give anything other than a living, obedient faith. Being the kind of God He is, this living faith is the only kind of faith He can give.”
The Grease Paint of Orthodoxy
“Many of our staunch Reformed brethren are actually anabaptists in Puritan face paint.”
A Doctrine Can Point to the Savior Without Being the Savior
“Requiring people to affirm justification by faith alone in order to get saved is like requiring a two-year-old to get a degree in electrical engineering before he is allowed to turn on the lights. Allowing men to be ordained who cannot explain justification by faith alone from the Scriptures . . . is like letting your two-year-old install your electrical system.”