“It is not possible for us to read hearts (Luke 8:17), and we ought not to act as though we can. . . . But from these important truths many have concluded (erroneously) that it is not possible for us to read the story we are in. But that is a different thing entirely. . . . We must evaluate the spiritual conditions of those around us, and it is essential for pastors to know how to do this properly” (Douglas Wilson, Against the Church, 125).
Boneyard World. Resurrection World.
“But let us never preach the doctrine of total depravity without also declaring there has been a great earthquake, and that an angel of the Lord has rolled away the stone in front of that imposing doctrine. ‘Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more’ (2 Cor. 5:16). This is crazy talk, I know. but it is also biblical talk. This whole world, since the sin of Adam, has been nothing but one, vast, pole-to-pole boneyard. Whatever would Jesus do in a world like that? What could He possible do that could transform a world like that? The gospel reply is that He could come back from the dead in it. . . . The sacramental history of the church has consisted of large numbers of people making the same mistake that the Jews here made [see John 8]. Something is given that is wild and heavenly, and we expend all our energies to make it domesticated and earthly. We take the lion of the tribe of Judah–from the upland savannahs of Heaven–and turn it into a tabby cat to keep the bishop’s chair warm for him” (Douglas Wilson, Against the Church, 110, 113).
Finality Means This
“This is what the finality of Scripture means for us; it is the only extant revelatory Word of God” (John Murray, Collected Works, Vol. 1, 19).
Criteria to Assess the Infallibility of Scripture
“Unless we assess infallibility in the light of the data with which Scripture provides us, we shall be liable to judge infallibility by criteria to which Scripture does not conform. this is one of the most effective ways of undermining biblical infallibility” (John Murray, Collected Works, Vol. 1, 14).
Both/And – Corporate/Individual
“If our thinking about regeneration begins and ends with the individual, we will drastically misunderstand the nature of God’s work in the world. If it never gets down to the individual level, the confusion is just as bad” (Douglas Wilson, Against the Church, 106).
“…Scripture is not a dead word but the living and abiding speech of the Holy Spirit.”
“There is one clause in this formulation sometimes misunderstood and mis-applied. It is the clause ‘the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture’. This does not refer to the internal testimony of ‘the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts’. With this the [Westminster] Confession had dealt in section v, which is concerned with the agency by which ‘our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority’, of Scripture are induced. But in section x the Confession is dealing with the Scripture as canon, and uses the expression ‘the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture’ to remind us that Scripture is not a dead word but the living and abiding speech of the Holy Spirit” (John Murray, Collected Works, Vol. 1, 16-17).
Uniqueness of Scripture
“Of course, the Scripture is not God and to give Scripture the place of God would be idolatry. Of course, Christ is Christianity and saving relation to him as Lord and Saviour is the only hope of lost men. But the absolute uniqueness of Scripture is not impaired. Scripture is unique, not because it takes the place of God, nor the place of Chrsit, but because of its relationship to God, to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit” (John Murray, Collected Works, Vol. 1, 12).
Corporate and Cosmic Regeneration, and Individual Regeneration
“Our father Adam plunged us into a condition of death. Jesus entered into that Adamic death, and was born again from that death. The apostle Paul quotes the second Psalm (“Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee”) and applies it to the resurrection (Acts 13:33). Because Jesus was born again from the dead, everything else can be born again from the dead. . . . Without the resurrection, without the transformation of the heavens and earth, without the reconstitution of the new Israel, there is no such thing as individual regeneration. We do not say that corporate regeneration makes individual regeneration superfluous, but rather we say that corporate and cosmic regeneration makes individual regeneration both possible and mandatory. The world has been reconciled to God through Christ. Therefore, Paul presses the point. Be therefore reconciled” (Douglas Wilson, Against the Church, 104-105).
WCF. VII. Of God’s Covenant with Man – 2-3. Q & A
Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson’s The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.
WCF. VII. Of God’s Covenant with Man.
Sections 2-3.
1. Why is it proper to speak of the “covenant of works” as a biblical teaching though it is not technically designated as such in Scripture?
It is proper because it is clearly implied in Genesis 2:17, as well as the hypothetical situation raised by Paul in Galatians 3:12, that man in Eden had “the alternative of obedience and life, or disobedience and death” (84).
2. What reasons are given by those who object to speaking of a covenant of works?
It is generally objected for two reasons: first, that it is not formally stated in Scripture (in a syntactical sense), and, second, that this erroneously suggest that the work’s of a man would merit (read: necessitate) the blessings of God.
3. What answers may be given to these arguments?
The first argument is not convincing because a great deal of orthodox Christian belief is not “formally stated in Scripture”, e.g., the doctrine of the Trinity. The second argument is not convincing because the “Confession carefully guards against the very danger that is being warned about” (84); the terminology of the former covenant (covenant of works) is used to distinguish it from the latter covenant (covenant of grace). Both covenants were sovereignly imposed by God, but the conditions in the former were the obedient works of man, but the latter is not a covenant between God and man, it is a covenant between the persons of the Godhead (a covenant between mutual parties, oftentimes called a parity covenant).
4. What merit has this designation (covenant of works)?
As stated above, the obedient works of man were the conditions (means for) the gracious provisions (covenantal promises).
5. What is meant by saying that the covenant was sovereignly imposed?
God consults Himself and nothing else.
6. State the Arminian conception of the condition of the covenant of grace.
The Arminian conception of the condition of the covenant of grace teaches that Jesus died for all men, i.e., “procured their removal from the covenant of works and introduced them into the provisions of the covenant of grace.” In this new arena, salvation is made possible… man can attain eternal life on a “new and easier basis than that of the covenant of works.” Why put it that way? Because, according to the former covenant, God required absolute, perfect obedience, but now God requires an abridged version of obedience–faith, repentance, and evangelical obedience. Like the former covenant, rewards and provisions are conferred upon the basis of man’s works, but only because Jesus has made this a possibility. Note: salvation according to the Arminian conception is not really a gift of a parity covenant of grace between the persons of the Godhead.
7. State the Reformed conception of the condition of the covenant of grace.
The Reformed conception is that all of the conditions of the parity covenant of grace between the persons of the Godhead are fulfilled explicitly and solely by God! Thus, “the life and salvation offered sinners in the Reformed version of the gospel is actual, because it depends upon God alone not only for the end to be attained, but also for the creation of those attitudes and actions in us that are necessary for receiving of that end” (85). The conditions of the covenant of grace are “conditional only in the sense that it depends upon certain effects of the work of the holy Spirit in the hearts of God’s elect,” i.e., regeneration, sanctification, etc.
Note the key difference between the two: the Arminian conception of God’s plan of salvation for man is merely a possibility, while the Reformed conception of God’s plan of salvation for man is an actuality.
Scripture’s Self Witness
“On the question of warrant for the proposition that Scripture is infallible, what are we to say? The only ground is the witness of Scripture to itself, to its own origin, character, and authority” (John Murray, Collected Works, Vol. 1, 10).