I have been asked to comment on the following statement, taken from the October edition of Table Talk.
“Other revisions or rejections of orthodox covenant theology include the so-called Federal Vision movement that not only rejects the covenant of redemption; it rejects the distinction between law and gospel and the distinction between the covenants of works and grace. According to them, every baptized person is elect and united to Christ through baptism, but this election and union can be forfeited through faithlessness.”
Speaking for myself, I don’t reject the covenant of redemption. I see a marked difference between law and gospel, but I find that this difference is fundamentally located in the heart of the one reading the Scriptures. Law and gospel are terrifying soteriological and eschatological realties, not hermeneutical principles. I affirm the distinction between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace, but I also affirm that the covenant of works is gracious because God is gracious. In the foregoing list, there is clearly confusion, but I think it is an understandable confusion. But the last statement — “According to them, every baptized person is elect . . .” is an appalling example of misdirection.
I am sorry to see Table Talk taking this direction.