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| "My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother." |
His article can be found here:
http://www.zionslamp.org/article_10_of_the_london_confession_of_1689_examined_1106.doc
(I don't know if the article has been removed after my critique)
1689 London Confession with Fulton Footnotes Chapter 10 Of Effectual Calling.
1. Those whom God hath predestined unto life, He is pleased in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call,(1) by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; (2) enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; (3) taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh: (4) renewing their wills, and by His almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; (5) yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace. (6).
[Note, this says the effectual calling is by the His Word and Spirit. It is vital to the understanding of this article to discern exactly what they mean by the use of "Word". The Fulton brethren correctly insist that on the Living Word, i.e. Christ, is the source of the Effectual Call. Unfortunately, they would like us to believe that is what this article says. I contend that this is wishful thinking. They are imposing what we know to be the truth on what other men have said in an effort to white wash something that would have to be otherwise rejected if taken for what it says. I contend the authors of this confession were consistent in their use of "Word". Below we will see what that means.]
1. Ro 8:30; 11:7; Eph 1:10-11, 2Th 2:13-14. 2. Eph 2:1-6. 3. Ac 26:18; Eph 1:17-18. 4. Eze 36:26. 5. Dt 30:6; Eze 36:27; Eph 1:19. 6. Ps 110:3; SS 1:4.The Note above is by the author. In it, he attacks the Framers are erroneous, he censures the Fulton brethren as whitewashing an obvious error of gospel regeneration of the Framers!
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[I may deal with the other sections of his article later, Lord willing.]
My Comment:
The idea that the "His Word" refers to the gospel ministry, thus concluding that the Framers believe in gospel regeneration is very preposterous, contradicting everything else said by the Framer in the same chapter. Such an idea would make the Framers look inconsistent and illogical. But they are far more logical and consistent than so many today. Taking "His Word" as referring to the Second Person of the eternal Godhead, the Life-giving Word would be consistent with the rest of the chapter.
When I read the 1689 CoF, I assume the Signatories were sound and logical men, who knew what they were saying, and capable of saying them consistently and coherently. And that's what we see in 1689.10. But some take them as confused and illogical and self-contradicting, who can't state what they believe consistently. What impudence!
So, where does the author get the idea from? He got it from those Reformed Baptists who are gospel regenerationists, and who have perverted what the Confession has stated, and said consistently. His mind is poisoned by the Deformed's take on 1689.10
The idea that "His Word" refers to the gospel ministry is simply preposterous - |priˈpäst(ə)rəs| adjective, contrary to reason or common sense; utterly absurd or ridiculous.
And here is plain common sense... unless one takes the Framers as stupid - |ˈst(y)oōpid| adjective, lacking intelligence or common sense.
Let me outline here the logical order and the relationship between the 4 paragraphs:
Para 1:
1689.10.1 describes the effectual calling of ALL the elect.
- All the elect are effectually called to eternal life in exactly the same manner at God’s appointed and accepted time, by His Word and Spirit – whether they are infants or adults, sound mind or idiots, capable or incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word.
Para 2:
1689.10.2 describes all those effectually called elect in Para 1 who do have the outward gospel call.
- [i.e. the outward gospel call comes to these effectually called elect.] These are capable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word.
Para 3:
1689.10.3 describes all those effectually called elect in Para 1 who do not have the outward gospel call. [i.e. the outward gospel call fails to come to these elect.] For various reasons, they are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word.
Para 4:
1689.10.4 describes all those not in Para 1, i.e., those who are not predestinated, and therefore not effectually called to eternal life, but who do have the outward gospel call.
(See the 4 paragraphs of Chapter 10 in full at the bottom of this article.)
Let us reason together a wee bit.
In paragraph 1, the Signatories states that God effectually calls ALL His elect by His Word and Spirit
In paragraph 3, the Framers say that some elect effectually called by His Word are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word.
Those - RBs, and PBs included - who make "His Word" as referring to the ministry of the word, make the Framers as stupid men who say "God effectually calls ALL His elect by the ministry of the word" and then OPENLY contradicted themselves a few lines later by saying the opposite, "God is UNABLE to effectually call some of His elect by the ministry of the word since they can't be called by the ministry of the word."
Also, please note carefully the parallel between the phrases ‘by His Word and Spirit’ in paragraph 1 and ‘by Christ through His Spirit’ in paragraph 3. Paragraph 1 speaks of the effectual calling unto eternal life of all the elect, therefore including those mentioned in paragraph 3, by or through ‘His Word and Spirit.’ Paragraph 3 speaks of the effectual call unto eternal life by ‘Christ through His Spirit.’ The context of these two phrases is exactly the same – effectual calling unto eternal life. This is conclusive proof that ‘by His Word and Spirit’ and ‘by Christ through His Spirit’ refer to the same persons of the Godhead.
See here http://pruning-deformed-branches.blogspot.com/2008/01/christ-is-word-fo-god.html
God’s Word, was activiely involved in creation (read John 1:1ff, and is ALSO actively involved in the new creation - see here: http://pruning-deformed-branches.blogspot.com/2008/01/christ-is-life-giving-word-of-god_21.html
The Framers were logical and consistent men. No, no, no! they were not infallible, but they were sound and logical! Give them the due respect! They can express themselves clearly. Let them speak for themselves! Don't let the RBs speak for them.
But some smart alecks make the Signatories appear stupid...
Especially the RBs, and an increasing number of PBs too!!!
Here is an excerpt from the Pruning book:
"It is a fundamental and serious error to think that paragraph 1 speaks of effectual calling through the instrumentality of the preached word, and paragraph 3 speaks of effectual calling without the instrumentality of the preached word, and therefore is an exception to what paragraph 1 is saying.
"If you want to make paragraph 1 to mean that effectual calling is through the preached word, then you must be consistent and say that ALL and EVERY single elect of God is effectually called through the instrumentality of the preached word. Paragraph 1 embraces the whole and the complete number of God’s elect, including those in paragraph 3.
"Then to remain consistent, you must make paragraph 3 a plain contradiction of paragraph 1. One moment you insist EVERY elect is effectually called through the instrumentality of the preached word, the next moment you say there are some who are not. This would make the Framers of the Confession appears as morons – making paragraph 3 to contradict what they have just declared in paragraph 1. But they were not muddled headed like their modern stepchildren [i.e. the RBs].
"They were clear-minded and logical and consistent, as shown in the outline above. Paragraph 3 is not an exception. It describes those who are equally effectually called unto eternal life in exactly the same way but who are not called by the gospel through man. Gospel call plays no part whatsoever in the effectual call unto eternal life."
The above excerpt from here: http://pruning-deformed-branches.blogspot.com/2008/01/effectual-calling-is-immediate.html
The rest of the author's scruples and fables may be answered in this old study: http://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-effectual-call-as-summarized-in.html]
Here is Chapter 10 Of Effectual Calling
1. Those whom God hath predestined unto life, He is pleased in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call,(1) by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ;(2) enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God;(3) taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh:(4) renewing their wills, and by His almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ;(5) yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.(6) 1. Ro 8:30; 11:7; Eph 1:10-11, 2Th 2:13-14. 2. Eph 2:1-6. 3. Ac 26:18; Eph 1:17-18. 4. Eze 36:26. 5. Dt 30:6; Eze 36:27; Eph 1:19. 6. Ps 110:3; SS 1:4.
2. This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not from anything at all forseen in man, nor from any power or agency in the creature,(7) being wholly passive therein, being dead in sins and trespasses, until being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit;(8) he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it, and that by no less power than that which raised up Christ from the dead.(9) 7. 2Ti 1:9; Eph 2:8. 8. 1Co 2:14; Eph 2:5; Jn 5:25. 9. Eph 1:19-20.
3. Infants dying in infancy are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit;(10) who worketh when, and where, and how He pleaseth;(11) so also are all elect persons, who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word. 10. Jn 3:3,5-6. 11. Jn 3:8.
4. Others not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word, and may have some common operations of the Spirit,(12) yet not being effectually drawn by the Father, they neither will nor can truly come to Christ, and therefore cannot be saved:(13) much less can men that receive not the Christian religion be saved, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature and the law of that religion they do profess.(14) 12. Mt 22:14; 13:20-21; Heb 6:4-5. 13. Jn 6:44-45,65; 1Jn 2:24-25. 14. Ac 4:12; Jn 4:22; 17:3.
Here is a study on Chapter 10 of the 1689 CoF:
http://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-effectual-call-as-summarized-in.html
