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| may sound and look the same... but distinctly different! |
A Simple Summary Comparing the Two Different Orders
1689 CoF Order of Salvation
Effectual call unto grace and salvation: definitive sanctification (1689.10)- Justification: condemned is declared righteous (1689.11)
- Regeneration: dead is given eternal life (1689.12)
- Adoption: received as sons, and given the Spirit of adoption (1689.12)
Gospel call is blessed for further sanctification (1689.13,20)
- Faith/conversion through the ministry of the word (1689.14)
- Repentance evidences the justified state (1689.15)
- God works in them to will and to do His good pleasure (1689.16)
- Perseverance: God perseveres to preserve His children in the state of grace (1689.17)
- Glorification - based on God’s perseverance alone
The effectual call deals with the bestowal of eternal salvation by divine free grace to each elect.
The gospel call deals with the edification and instruction of God's children, those already effectually called to grace and salvation.
‘Standard Reformed’ ‘Dis-Order’ of Salvation
General call - in the free offer of salvation (1689.14,20)Effectual call - general call made effective (1689.10)
Regeneration - receives spiritual gift to believe (1689.12)
Conversion – response of faith to the gospel (1689.14,20)
‘Born again’ – believes to receive eternal life (1689.12)
Justification – believe to be declared righteous (1689.11)
Adoption – believe to be received as son (1689.12)
Sanctification – progressively more holy (1689.13)
Perseverance – believers persevering in faith and holiness (1689.17)
Glorification - based on the elect’s perseverance
Effectual call is the sovereign and free grace act of God, in which He directly calls an elect out of the state of sin and death to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ. Thus it is described as ‘definitive sanctification’ – a once-for-all act of God in separating an elect from the state of death and sin to life and righteousness. The gospel call is for the further sanctification of a child of God, instructing him in the knowledge of salvation, reproving his sins, correcting his errors and training him to live godly, 2Tm 3:16-17; Lk 1:76-79.
Is there any resemblance between the order of the ‘standard reformed position’ and that of the Scriptures summarized in the 1689 CoF by the Particular Baptists? I don’t see anything ‘standard’ and ‘reformed’ about the order articulated above. The whole application of salvation is conditioned upon the instrumentality of man, i.e. the preacher issuing the gospel call and human response to this call.
That is exactly what the free-willer Arminians believe too. In the RBF’s order, if we take out ‘regeneration,’ the order resembles a full-blown Arminian’s order of salvation. A man who believes in the above RBF’s order of salvation usually proudly calls himself a Calvinist. He loves to point his finger at the man who believes in the 1689’s order of salvation and dismissively labels him a ‘hyper-calvinist.’ When asked what is a hyper-calvinist, he refuses or is incapable to define.
It is like a Genevan who believes that milk and baby clothes are necessary for the conception of a child calling a Chinese brother a ‘hyper-calvinist’ just because he believes that milk and baby clothes are necessary only for the growth and development of the child already delivered. How bizarre can the world get! It gets even more bizarre when a Genevan misrepresents the Chinese brother as saying, “milk and baby clothes are not needed at all for newborn babes.” A ‘standard reformed’ brother boldly retorted, ‘If justification is prior to faith, then there is no need of faith at all; then what need is there for preaching!’ It is like a man saying to his wife, ‘darling wifey, you said milk and baby clothes are not needed for the conception and the delivery of a child, then what need is there to shop for these things for our baby?’ The wifey rolled her eyes and said, ‘Get me the rolling pin, quick’!
You can make the Confession to support your idea that the gospel call to faith precedes justification (like your eisegesis of Romans 8:30) by conveniently turning the effectual call to eternal life (1689.10) into the gospel call to faith (1689.14). Even if you do grant yourself such liberty and luxury, remember what comes after Effectual calling (1689.11) in the Confession of Faith. It is Justification, not repentance and faith. And please note what comes after Justification - it is Regeneration and Adoption (chapter 12)! The Confession declares that justification precedes regeneration, therefore must precede faith. Justification must precede regeneration because the Scriptures declare that God justifies the ungodly, while we were still enemies. Ungodliness and enmity are descriptive of an unregenerate state. Your theory reverses the order! And regeneration must precede faith. Your theory says one must believe to have eternal life. You have reversed the order again. The Scriptures say they believe because they have been given eternal life. Will your theory be able to cope with these hard facts? "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
Perhaps you may like to put Regeneration as Chapter 11 and Justification as chapter 12. But you will only create more theological mess and chaos by doing that. Think carefully – there are theological, biblical and logical reasons why vital justification must precede regeneration. The framers of the Confession were theologians as well as trained logicians. God is the God of order, not of confusion. Perhaps you may want to rewrite the Confession. Better still to write a new one that suits your ‘standard reformed position’ exactly. Just be done with this troublesome 1689 CoF that stands so stubbornly in your way.
