My Take on the Federal Vision Controversy 2

In a previous post I opined that it is wrong to equate the order of salvation to the means of grace in a way that would call for either to be equivalent on the other. The order of salvation is within God’s purview. Faith, our response to God’s call, is in our purview. To insert our own conclusions into God’s election is highly presumptuous on our part, whether we are proponent or opponents of Federal Vision.

A case in point is our Lord himself. During His earthly life, Jesus refused to presume upon His Father. If any human being had the right to ever presume upon the electing purposes of the Father, it was His one and only Son. However, Jesus refused such presumption, following the course of obedience to the covenant instead. When asked when the end of the world would occur, he confessed that such knowledge was strictly within the purview of the Father. Before His crucifixion He requested that the cup of the curse be taken from Him, yet obediently He committed to the will of the Father. And He was commended for His obedience:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11.

Indeed, in a very striking verse, we are told that Jesus was being taught obedience through what he suffered.

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 5:7-11.

Jesus, being God, did not grasp at the privilege of declaring those who were elect but submitted himself to circumcision, baptism and the Sabbath, the covenantal means of grace of His time. He fulfilled all holiness. He was obedient to the commands of His Father and relied on His promises. How much more should we?

If we are obedient to the commands of our Father, we will baptize our infants and we will take the Lord’s Supper as He prescribed through Jesus. If we rely on the promises made in baptism, we will confess that baptism now saves us in some fashion. If we rely on the promises made in the Lords Supper, we will confess that, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 11:26-27.