The Reformed Christian Muse

Luke 15:8  “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?

What is most important in our lives? What do we posses that if we lose it we would diligently search everywhere until it is found?

My prayer to God from this passage of scripture.

Holy Spirit, grant to me true repentance every day. Give me the grace to value that which is truly valuable. Amen.

Blessings in Christ,
Terry W. West

We receive all these books, and these only, as holy and canonical, for the regulation, foundation, and confirmation of our faith; believing without any doubt all things contained in them, not so much because the Church receives and approves them as such, but more especially because the Holy Spirit witnesses in our hearts that they are from God, and also because they carry the evidence thereof in themselves. For the very blind are able to perceive that the things foretold in them are being fulfilled.

I have purchased the domain “reformedchristianmuse.com” and am now in the process of moving all my files from reformedchristianmuse.reformedblogs.com over to here. I am not in any real hurry so it will probably take sometime.

Blessings,
Terry W. West

This is a test post from my mobile phone.

But while I write to you like this about N. N., something else occurs to me about which there is reason enough urging me to write you, both by way of inquiry and also to state my own opinion. As I do this with all freedom, so will it be up to you whenever you have leisure to indicate your own opinion. I do not press for an answer, being well aware that you are overwhelmed by important matters.

Men do not all agree concerning the communion which we have with the body of Christ and the substance of his nature; for what reason, I suppose you will hear. It is so important that he that is Christ’s should understand the mode (ratio) of his union with him.

First, it seems to me that he was pleased (as is said in the Epistle to the Hebrews [2.14] to communicate with us, in flesh and blood, by the benefit of his incarnation. ‘Since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same’.

But unless some other kind of communion were offered us, this would be very general and feeble; for the whole human race already has communion with Christ in this manner. They are in fact men, as he was man.

So besides that communion this is added, that in due season faith is breathed into the elect whereby they may believe in Christ. Thus are they not only forgiven their sins and reconciled to God (in which the true and solid method of justification consists) but further there is added a renewing power of the spirit, by which our bodies also–flesh, blood and nature–are made capable of immortality, and become daily more and more in Christ’s form (Christiformia) as I may say. Not that they cast aside the substance of their own nature and pass into the very body and flesh of Christ, but that they no less approach him in spiritual gifts and properties than at birth they naturally communicated with him in body, flesh and blood.

Here, then, we have two communions with Christ (duas communiones cum Christo), the one natural, which we draw from our parents at birth, while the other comes to us by the Spirit of Christ. At the very time of regeneration we are by him made new according to the image of his glory.

I believe that between these two communions there is an intermediate one which is fount and origin of all the heavenly and spiritual likeness which we have with Christ. It is that by which, as soon as we believe, we obtain Christ himself our true Head, and are made his members. Whence, from the Head himself as Paul says [Eph. 4.16] his Spirit flows and is derived through the joints and ligaments into ourselves as his true and legitimate members. Wherefore this communion with our Head is prior, in nature at least though perhaps not in time, to that later communion which is introduced through regeneration. And here, it seems to me, natural reason helps us. We are taught that in things engendered the heart itself is formed first in infants. From it by a certain vein a spirit flows from the heart and in some way pierces the prepared matter of the living creature and there shapes the head. Thus by that vein through which spirit proceeds from heart, the head is joined to the heart. Again, by another vein spirit flows from the head and afterwards forms the liver, an organ that communicates with head and heart, by the arteries or veins which knit together. From the liver, moreover, and the other principal members there are other arteries or veins reaching to the other parts of the whole, by which the same engendering spirit passing through, fashions the other members. Thus it happens that they all communicate together, and are joined especially to the heart, that is to the fountain of life-not indeed in place or immediate contact (as they call it) but because from thence they draw the quickening spirit and life, by the wondrous workmanship of the highest artificer.

Peter Martyr Vermigli (A.D. 1499-1562)

Peter Martyr, “Calvin, Strasbourg 8 March 1555,” in The Life, Early Letters & Eucharistic Writings of Peter Martyr, ed., by J.C. McLelland and G.E. Duffield (Sutton Courtney Press, 1989), pp., 345-347.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The promise that God is making me, that he is fashioning me to be like His Son, is a most glorious truth. It provides hope to the weary.

My prayer to God from this passage:

Father, make me like your Son. Grant to me the power to walk in obedience and to forsake my sin. Forgive me and cleanse me. My prayer is that today I will bring glory to your name. That men will see my good works and glorify you, heavenly Father. Amen.

Blessings in Christ,
Terry W. West

Stand fast, brethren, in the faith of Jesus Christ, and in His love, in His passion, and in His resurrection. Do ye all come together in common, and individually, through grace, in one faith of God the Father, and of Jesus Christ His only-begotten Son, and “the first-born of every creature,” but of the seed of David according to the flesh, being under the guidance of the Comforter, in obedience to the bishop and the presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote which prevents us from dying, but a cleansing remedy driving away evil, [which causes] that we should live in God through Jesus Christ.

Ignatius (A.D. 35-107) Epistle to the Ephesians, Chapter 20

Take heed, then, often to come together to give thanks to God, and show forth His praise. For when ye assemble frequently in the same place, the powers of Satan are destroyed, and the destruction at which he aims is prevented by the unity of your faith. Nothing is more precious than peace, by which all war, both in heaven and earth, is brought to an end.

Ignatius (A.D. 35-107) Epistle to the Ephesians, Chapter 13

This quote is an excellent contrast to the modern idea of the “individual spiritual warrior”. The Christian who does his battle with Satan in his private prayer closet during his private devotions. Certainly we need to practice private devotions, but never as a substitute for the most important aspect of our Christian lives, which is our corporate worship with the church on the Lord’s day.

Blessings in Christ,
Terry W. West

This is part 4 of a series I started sometime ago under this same heading. Parts 1, 2, and 3 deal with a particular form of argument used by credo-baptist against paedo-baptist. It’s what I would call a “negative inference” fallacy or a categorical fallacy. This fallacy happens when the subject of premise 1 and the subject of premise 2 are in a different category and the conclusion drawn is a “negative” inference from what is “positively” affirmed to be true of the subjects of premises 1 and 2. The following simple syllogism is an illustration of this kind of fallacy:

Premise 1- Squirrels have tails.
Premise 2 - Dogs are not squirrels.
Conclusion 3 - Therefore dogs don’t have tails.

For those interested you can read the previous post by clicking on the following links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

I recently was part of a discussion that followed after the critique of a portion of the new “FV” statement by Pastor Lane Keister on his blog, Green Baggins. First I want to say that my interest here is not to defend the “FV” statement itself or the “FV” theology. My intention is to simply critique one of Pastor Keister’s arguments itself. I contend that Pastor Keister is using the same fallcious form of argument that I critiqued in parts 1, 2, and 3. The following argument, offered by Pastor Keister, is based on the Westminster Larger Catechism #65. This is the arguement as stated by Pastor Lane:

“What SPECIAL (as in exclusive) benefits do the members of the invisible church enjoy by Christ? A. The members of the **invisible** church by Christ enjoy union and communion with him in grace and glory.

This expressly says that only the elect enjoy union with Christ. The non-elect do not enjoy union with Christ. By saying that the non-elect enjoy union with Christ, the FV fudges the boundary between the elect and the non-elect, such that they have this thing in common.”

First let me say that I agree that the “special” communion/union with Christ that the “invisible” church enjoys is particular to them. That’s not the point of dispute. What I want to dispute is the inference that therefore the other class of church member, i.e. merely visible, has no “sense” of communion/union with Christ. This does not follow from the bare positive affirmation of the “special” communion/union the invisible members enjoy.

Let me illustrate this fallacy with the same example I used in “The Insistent Use of Bad Arguments” parts 1-3. Using the squirrel and the dog. In this example the squirrel is the “elect/invisible” church member, the dog is the “non-elect/merely visible” church member and the tail is “communion/union” . This is what the argument would look like:

Premise 1. Squirrels (i.e the Elect) have long very furry (i.e. special) tails (i.e. communion/union).
Premise 2. Dogs (i.e. the non-elect) are not squirrels (i.e. the elect)
Conclusion. Dogs(i.e. the non-elect) do not have tails(i.e. communion/union).

Now I think we would all agree that the fact that a dog is not a squirrel does not excludes the dog from having a tail. A squirrel has a squirrels tail and a dog has a dogs tail, but both have tails. I can’t exclude the dog from possessing every possible kind of tail simply because I’ve established that squirrels have a certain kind of tail. The same is true for the visible and invisible church member. The fact that the invisible church member enjoys a “special/invisible” kind or sense of communion/union does not exclude the visible church member from possessing a “visible” kind or sense of communion/union. Lets compare the squirrel and dog example again. The most that can be inferred from the fact that a squirrel has a tail and a dog is not a squirrel is that a dog does not have a squirrels tail. I can infer nothing about the dog and it’s having or not having a tail based on my my positive affirmation of a squirrel possessing a tail. So, the fact that WLC #65 teaches me positively that the invisible church members enjoy a “special” communion/union, I cannot infer from this that the merely visible church member is therefore excluded from all possible senses of communion/union, because, just as a dog can have a “dog” kind of tail, though it differs from a “squirrel” kind of tail, so a visible church member can have a differing “kind” or “sense” of communion/union with Christ, but a real sense of communion/union nonetheless.

Lets look at Pastor Lane’s argument again:

“What SPECIAL (as in exclusive) benefits do the members of the invisible church enjoy by Christ? A. The members of the **invisible** church by Christ enjoy union and communion with him in grace and glory.

This expressly says that only the elect enjoy union with Christ. The non-elect do not enjoy union with Christ. By saying that the non-elect enjoy union with Christ, the FV fudges the boundary between the elect and the non-elect, such that they have this thing in common.”

Again, at the risk of being redundant, the conclusion drawn here does not follow and is fallacious. The only possible inference from the explicit statement in WLC #65, is that the non-elect do not enjoy THE “special” union that the elect enjoy with Christ. WLC #65, in no way excludes the non-elect from all possible senses of communion/union altogether.

To end this post I want to offer a defense of the argument I used as an illustration earlier in this post (with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek of course). First the argument again:

Premise 1. Squirrels (i.e the Elect) have long very furry (i.e. special) tails (i.e. communion/union).
Premise 2. Dogs (i.e. the non-elect) are not squirrels (i.e. the elect)
Conclusion. Dogs(i.e. the non-elect) do not have tails(i.e. communion/union) in any sense.

And now my defense:

Now, I am going to attempt to defend this argument. You see, the tail that the squirrel has is “THE” tail by which we define what it is to be a tail. So, a dog, even though he has something that is similar to what a tail should be, yet really has no tail at all in any sense, because even though the appendage that is attach to the dogs rump, (this is also true of a Squirrels tail) is similar in almost every way to the squirrels it cannot be a tail because it is by the squirrel that a tail is defined strictly speaking.

Now after such a defense of my argument I will find it incredible if anyone reading this post is not persuaded by this unassailable argument.

Blessings in Christ,
Terry W. West

Almighty God, we never cease to cut ourselves off from you by our sins, and yet you gently urge us to repentance, and promise also to hear our prayer with favor. Grant we may not stubbornly keep in our sins and be ungrateful to your great generosity, but may return to you in such a way as to witness by our lives to the genuineness of our repentance, and may so rest in you alone as to resist being buffeted hither and thither by the perverse lust of our flesh. Rather, grant we may stand firm and fast in a right purpose and so endeavour to obey you throughout our lives, at last receiving the fruit of our obedience in your heavenly kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

John Calvin (A.D. 1509-1564)