The Federal Vision Quotes

“Todos aqueles com o rótulo “Visão federal” abraçam enfaticamente o sola fide (justificação pela fé somente). O que eles têm enfatizado, que aos seus oponentes parece ser uma novidade ou erro, é que a fé salvadora é uma fé que persevera e também uma fé que opera pelo amor. A justificação não é baseada nas obras do indivíduo cristão. A justificação é baseada na obra do próprio Cristo e recebida pela fé. A justificação ocorre somente em união com o Jesus ressurreto e glorificado. O crente compartilha da posição justa de Cristo diante do Pai. Mas nossa união com Cristo não é uma coisa morta. Aquele único a Cristo na justificação está necessariamente unido a ele no poder salvador sobre o pecado. Seguindo Calvino (e o apóstolo Paulo em Romanos 6), eles colocam uma forte ênfase sobre o fato que a união com Jesus confere um benefício duplo: libertação da penalidade do pecado bem como libertação do poder do pecado.”
― Steve Wilkins, The Federal Vision

“What if I say to the church, “God chose you for salvation and Jesus died for you,” and then some of those people fall away and apostatize and end up in hell? Haven’t I lied to them? No, I haven’t. I have spoken the truth. In Scripture, truth is more than just conformity to the facts. It is trustworthiness and faithfulness.10 I have spoken to these people in a trustworthy manner. I have spoken to them in a faithful manner, a manner that they can bank their whole lives on, because I have spoken to them in accordance with God’s revelation. There is a tough, challenging, and surprising passage in Ezekiel 33:13 and following. The Lord says there: When I say to the righteous, he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. But when I say to the wicked, “You will surely die,” and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness, if a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes of life [NASB margin] without committing iniquity, he will surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he will surely live.11 Yet we want to say to God, “You said to the righteous man, ‘You will surely live’—living you will live, in the Hebrew idiom—but he died. You said to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die’—dying you will die—and he lived. You lied to them, didn’t you? You didn’t tell the truth to them.” But who are we to teach God how to speak the truth? This is how God speaks. He says to people, “You will surely live,” and then they die because they trust in their own righteousness instead of trusting in Him. But God was telling the truth when He said to them, “You will surely live.” He was not lying to them. He was saying something trustworthy. When He says to the wicked man, “You will surely die,” He’s saying something trustworthy to that man and the man takes heed to what God has said. He trusts what God has said. He believes that if he stays on the path on which he is going he will surely die. In faith he trembles at the warning and he will surely live. God speaks this way and we must learn from him how to speak. God speaks to His people and He calls them elect, and therefore we also need to speak to God’s people this way. We must. We have no other choice but to let God teach us how to address his people, even if we don’t have it all worked out in our minds. If we are not comfortable with biblical language, not only hearing it but also saying it, if biblical language sounds strange to us, and if our theology gets in the way of our speaking and receiving the language of Scripture, then what has become of us—we, who are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord?”
― Steve Wilkins, The Federal Vision

“We remain highly concerned that we are losing the Bible in the name of honoring our Confessions and catechisms, and that is a trade none of the men of the Westminster Assembly or those who wrote and contributed to the Reformed Confessions would be willing to make.”
― Steve Wilkins, The Federal Vision

“The First Head of Doctrine, Article 17, says: Since we must make judgments about God’s will from His word, which testifies that the children of believers are holy, not by nature, but in virtue of the gracious covenant, in which they together with their parents are included, godly parents ought not to doubt the election and salvation of their children whom God calls out of this life in infancy.”
― Steve Wilkins, The Federal Vision

“God calls us to think covenantally, and in doing so, let me affirm again, we are not denying that God predestines some to eternal glory with Christ. We are affirming that, but we want to affirm the rest of what Scripture says as well. Even if we don’t understand how all these things fit together, even if we don’t all agree with each other about how these things fit together, let us agree on this—we must speak the language of Scripture to our people. We may not do otherwise.”
― Steve Wilkins, The Federal Vision

“God addresses His people as a whole, and that includes each one in the covenant, head for head, as His elect. That is the big issue we need to think through. God, in the Bible, through His prophets and apostles, addresses His people publicly as elect, as chosen.”
― Steve Wilkins, The Federal Vision

“God’s covenant includes some who have been so predestined to eternal glory with Christ, but it also includes others who have not been predestined to eternal glory with Christ but who will apostatize.”
― Steve Wilkins, The Federal Vision

“God has eternally predestined an unchanging number of people out of the whole world to eternal glory with Christ.”
― Steve Wilkins, The Federal Vision

“Think of Romans 8. Paul says there that nobody can bring a charge against God’s elect (8:33). The Romans were not supposed to say, “Well, wouldn’t it be great to be one of those elect people, then. I just don’t know if I am.” No, they were to take this statement as applying to themselves. Paul is writing to comfort and encourage them: “Who can bring a charge against God’s elect? And you Romans are God’s elect,” he is saying. They are supposed to see and know and be assured of their privileged status in Christ. Paul isn’t getting confused in his letter when later on he writes to them in chapter 11 and says, “If the natural branches were chopped off, don’t boast, because you could be chopped off too” (cf. 11:20–21). Paul doesn’t see a contradiction or some kind of neoorthodox tension between the assurance of chapter 8 and the warning of chapter 11. Paul warns the very same people he comforts.”
― Steve Wilkins, The Federal Vision

“The whole church is in Christ. They have been baptized into Christ. They have clothed themselves with Christ (Gal. 3:27). Paul wants them to know that all of these blessings he is praising God for are theirs in Christ. There is nothing missing in Christ Jesus. Everything you need is found in him and you are in Him. That’s the good news Paul wants the Ephesians to know. Everything is in Christ, you’re in Christ, and all of these blessings, then, are for you. Then, having just referred to them as elect, Paul goes to warn them in chapter five about sin that would bring down God’s eternal wrath on them. He says don’t do these things because nobody who does them “has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (Eph. 5:3–5).”
― Steve Wilkins, The Federal Vision