Monday
Nov242008
"Then Comes the End" -- Promo Video
Monday, November 24, 2008 at 02:03PM I'm looking forward to doing this. I'll keep you posted when I get more info.
Monday, November 24, 2008 at 02:03PM 
What You'll Find on the Riddleblog
Books I've Written and Published Essays
Search the Riddleblog
"Amillennialism 101" -- Audio and On-Line Resources
Sermons Preached at Christ Reformed Church
Riddleblog Publications
Commentaries on the Belgic Confession and Canons of Dort
Recommended Reading and Reformed Resources
Eschatology Questions and Answers
Monday, November 24, 2008 at 02:03PM
Reader Comments (27)
Four teenagers of Moroccan origin were arrested Saturday evening for setting fire to the Vaste Burcht Reformed church in Gouda, Netherlands:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/023624.php
hb
Sam Wauldron is a Calvinistic Covenantal Confessional Amillennial Baptist. He has a PHD and has written expositions of the 1689 LBCF (which is the WCF slightly modified for Baptists), contributed to a book called the Reformed Baptist Manifesto, and wrote an excellent two-age escahtaolgy book called End Times Made Simple. The Reformed Baptist movement is fairly new, so the seminary is fairly new.
But don't feel bad. Most Baptists have never heard of the Dutch Reformed movement either. :P
OK, but as I read through the 1689 LBCF I hardly saw what I've come to recognize as confessional Reformed thinking in the matters of justification, sanctification, and election.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
George, what statements exactly? The chapter on Justification follows the Savoy word for word. Both the Savoy and the Baptist Confession substitute "Christ's active obedience unto the whole Law, and passive obedience in his death, for their whole and sole Righteousness" for the WCF's "the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them" in paragraph 1. The chapter on sanctification is almost word for word with the WCF. Are you sure you read the 2nd London Confession of 1689?
I took a look at the London Confession of 1689 at:
Under #9, Free Will, it says...
"... When God converts a sinner, and translates him into a state of grace, He frees him from his natural bondage to sin, and by grace alone He enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good. But because of his remaining corruptions he does not only (or perfectly) will that which is good, but also wills that which is evil..."
This definition of Free Will and Grace sounds like man is no longer bound by sin (an un-free will), but somehow converted into a state, in cooperation with grace, whereby he can do spiritual good. Maybe I'm misreading/misunderstanding what it says, but it sounds a lot like synergism to me.
Under # 10, Effectual Calling, it says....
"... He renews their wills, and by His almighty power, causes them to desire and pursue that which is good. He effectually draws them to Jesus Christ, yet in such a way that they come absolutely freely, being made willing by His grace...."
Again, this sounds to me like a cooperation with the Holy Spirit's calling in coming to faith instead of an objective understanding of what Scripture has to say about one's sinful nature and the redemption provided only through Christ Jesus. But if I misinterpret, please enlighten.
It also says, "...Infants dying in infancy are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit, Who works when, where, and how He pleases. So also are all elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word..."
I'm not sure what the Reformed confessions have to say about infants, but how do the elect receive a saving faith without having the Gospel preached to them? This statement makes it sound like someone who is on God's elect list, but lives in the middle of some jungle, never having heard the Word preached, will be called and therefore saved.
I re-read #11, Justification, more carefully and I'll concede that it does seem to fall in line with Reformed thinking.
Regarding #13, Sanctification, it says...
"... Because of the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection. and by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them, the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed. The different lusts of the body of sin are increasingly weakened and mortified, and Christ's people are increasingly quickened and strengthened in all saving graces, to practise all true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord....In this war, although the remaining corruption for a time may greatly prevail, yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part overcomes. And so the saints grow in grace perfecting holiness in the fear of God; pressing after a heavenly life in evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ as Head and King, in His Word, has prescribed to them...."
Does this mean that throughout one's lifetime a "regenerate" person becomes more and more holy in order to wind up at the end whereby he/she has very little of the "flesh" left to corrupt him? If so, that does not seem to be what Paul says, which is that the battle between the flesh and the spirit is always waging - even more so in the elect, since Satan now has a definite battle to win. I'm not real sure how the Reformed church views this one either.
What do you think of the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 9? Also, the language in the Baptist Confession and WCF on Effectual Calling (10.1) you referenced is word-for-word the same.
First of all, I apologize for the hateful tone of my first post, it was tongue in cheek and I meant no disrespect.
Here's a side by side comparison of the 1646 WCF and the 1689 LBCF. http://www.proginosko.com/docs/wcf_lbcf.html
I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to the theology of the Particular Sectarians and the Puritan Divines. Interestingly, the sacrament terminology is removed from the Baptist version (big surprise), but left in the Baptist plagiarism of the WCF's shorter catechism (commonly known as Keache's Catechism) Here's a link to Keache's Catechism:
http://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/keachcat.htm
There's an article in the Heidelberg I would like to see an exposition of, but it escapes me for now. It says something to the effect that Christ died for all sinners. I certainly don't question the Calvinism of the original Calvinists, but wonder if anyone can point me to a or link me to a commentary on the Heidelberg?
As to the subject, I think the flashiness is to attract the dispensationalists. I hope they are drawn in great numbers, as many have never heard their eschatology challenged. I was raised in this tradition, and came to question it before I ever knew there was a Biblical alternative. I can personally attest to the fact that many dispies view pre-trib/premill as a test of orthodoxy, as I was proclaimed a heretic and unsaved when I expressed doubts about the rapture.
Keache's Catechism does not speak of baptism as a sacrament, but does speak of it as an effectual means of grace, which to me is sacrament terminology even if it calls it an "ordinance".
Nothing in your tone was offensive to me. I'm Lutheran and look at this whole business with fascination as an outsider ;-)
Nevertheless, I do find the "Reformed Baptist" movement (I call it that because it seems to have taken many directions, depending upon the region, the influence, and to some degree the cultural background of the various assemblies) a bit of an anomaly. Here's a good example. This gentleman seems to take more time explaining what "reformed" is *not* in the Baptist context than what it is:
http://www.prbc.org/ReformedBaptist.htm