I finally got a chance to actually read some of this site and I absolutely love it. Some of my favorites:
The Reformed faith has always insisted that gratitude is our only motivation for obedience. It’s guilt, grace, gratitude. Anything else and you are not Reformed.
"God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).
Federal Visionists love this verse because it sounds as if God gives grace to the humble. However, this interpretation reverses the classic ordo salutis.
Once a technical definition has been established by the Reformed faith, we must insist that such a definition be the only way that a particular word is ever used, regardless of what the Bible or anyone else says. If we insist that the Biblical usage of words is primary, then we run the risk of contradicting the Reformed faith. This is the road to Rome, Constantinople, Canterbury, and Moscow (not the one in Russia).
The Reformed faith has always insisted upon distinguishing between words and terms. The Bible uses words. Reformed theology uses terms. The difference is enormous. When a word is given a technical definition, it ceases to be merely a word and becomes a term. Once a word attains the status of a “term,” it can never be used as simply a “word.” This is how God works in history.
“O how I love Your law!” (Psalm 119:97).
Federal Visionists love verses like this because they think that David is actually expressing love for the law. However, this is simply neo-legalism.
“But Jesus said, ‘Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’” (Matthew 19:14).
Federal Visionists love this verse because they think that Jesus wants children coming to him during the Lord’s Supper, i.e., paedocommunion. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
Unfortunately, Federal Visionists repeatedly wrench verses out of their context to fabricate their wretched doctrines, such as paedocommunion. The Reformed faith has unanimously rejected paedocommunion as heterodox.
The first three rules of exegesis are context, context, context. A brief perusal of this passage indicates that the Lord’s Supper is nowhere in view, either in the near context or far context.
However, baptism is clearly what Jesus was referring to. We can tell this because when Jesus says, “Do not hinder them from coming to Me,” the word “coming” is an aorist infinitive, which implies a one-time action.
Thus, Jesus is saying, do not hinder them from coming to Jesus in baptism (a one-time action), but do hinder them from coming to Jesus in the Lord’s Supper (ongoing action, albeit infrequent).
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