Faith and Works

This is impolitic to do, but I'm young and crazy.

I really did like this book. It is a lightning rod in the Reformed theological thunderstorm of the last few years, and I liked it. This puts me inside one camp and outside the other; thus the impolitic thing.

Anyone interested in Federal Vision (FV) ought to read it for good background - you don't have to be a theologian to read it.

Do you wonder why FV folks make such a big deal about baptism?
This book will tell you.

Do you wonder how we can preach salvation by grace alone, not by works, and then turn around and call for obedience and good works?
This book will tell you.

There are a few sentences to watch out for, where he goes too far ("No one should even attempt to approximate God's judgment" - pg 96), but overall it is well balanced, draws excellent connections between Abraham's covenant and the Great Commission I'd never seen, shows the proper relationship between faith and obedience which is present throughout Scripture, and affirms our salvation by grace alone, through faith alone ("Protestantism has always insisted that salvation is wholly by God's grace. We have rightly rejected the idea that a human being can do anything to achieve his own salvation. We have rightly rejected the idea that a person can work to merit the reward of eternal life" - pg 61).

Here is a teaser to get you to buy the book.

"Instead of looking at covenant from the perspective of regeneration, we ought to look at regeneration from the perspective of covenant. When that happens, baptism, the sign and seal of the covenant, marks the point of conversion. Baptism is the moment when we see the transition from death to life [Romans 6:1-4] and a person is saved [making sense of 1 Peter 3:21].

"This is not to say that baptism accomplishes the transition from death to life, or that baptism causes a person to be born again. That is the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, which is rightly rejected by Reformed churches. The Holy Spirit works where, when, and how he pleases, not necessarily at the precise moment of baptism" (pg 94).