LBCF — Chapter VII: Of God's Covenant
2. Moreover, (1) man having brought himself under the curse of the law by his fall, it pleased the Lord to make a covenant of grace, (2) wherein he freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved; (3) and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life, his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe.
It appears that there is a glaring contradiction in the above paragraph:
1. Man, having brought himself under the curse of the law by his fall, is dead in trespasses and sins, in enmity against God.
2. In the covenant of grace, God freely offers unto such life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of such faith in Christ that they may be saved.
Statement 2 is popularly understood, by both the Arminians and their cousins Calvinists, as God sincerely offering eternal salvation to those dead in trespasses and sins, and when such respond as required, they will receive eternal life and salvation in Jesus Christ.
What will the sincere offer of eternal salvation to such accomplished, if there is indeed an offer made to SUCH people? A moron may try to offer a big-mac to a dead man; the infinitely wise God does no such moronic thing. The Framers were no such moron to believe such nonsense.
But there is no contradiction. Statement 2 speaks of the temporal salvation conditioned upon the responses of those whom the Holy Spirit has regenerated and given the Holy Spirit of adoption, making them willing and able to believe.
3. In the covenant of grace, God has promised: "to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life, his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe."
- This speaks of the bestowal of eternal salvation to each elect, at God's appointed and approved time, through the free and sovereign activity of the Spirit in regeneration. The Spirit of God who is given dwell within the children of God works faith in them, making them willing and able to believe. The offer of temporal salvation is made to such, for only such are able to respond to the offer.
The 3 statements are in perfect harmony when the biblical distinction between eternal salvation and temporal salvation is observed; the former, which is completely monergistic by the activities of the Triune God ENABLES the latter; the latter is conditioned upon the responses of those whom God had freely bestowed eternal salvation.
The Framers were both sound theologians and logicians; many who own them as their forebears are confused.
