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NASB | Romans 3:1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 3:1 Then what is the advantage of the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? |
Subject: old versus new testament |
Bible Note: Hi, bowler... I've not seen anything yet that might alter anything that I've posted in this thread. Quoting is a funny thing. As with our efforts in Bible study, context is king. Look back at your source: Is the advocate of "future grace" Calvin, or the Council of Melita, against which he is writing? We will be held accountable for every idle word (Matthew 12:36). No doubt that is true of our posts as well. We may rightly suppose that John Calvin will be held accountable for his own utterances, whether spoken or written. Therefore, in a conscientious effort to avoid misleading any (Ephesians 4:29), let us quote good Calvin on the subject at hand (baptismal regeneration): "Baptism serves as our confession before men. Indeed, it is the mark by which we publicly profess that we wish to be reckoned God's people; by which we testify that we agree in worshiping the same God... by which finally we openly affirm our faith... For this analogy or similitude is the surest rule of the sacraments: that we should see spiritual things in physical, as if set before our very eyes. For the Lord was pleased to represent them by such figures -- not because such graces are bound and enclosed in the sacrament so as to be conferred upon us by its power, but only because the Lord by this token attests His will toward us, namely, that He is pleased to lavish all these things upon us." Let us grant Martin Luther the same courtesy, allowing him to be accountable for his own words on this topic alone: "[Baptism and communion] are signs, or sacraments, or justification because they are sacraments of a justificatory faith, and not of works. The whole of their effectiveness lies in faith, and not in anything that is done. He who believes in them, fulfills them, even if nothing is done." Elsewhere he wrote, "Thus, baptism justifies nobody, and gives advantage to nobody... [rather it is] faith in the word of the promise to which baptism was conjoined, is what justifies, and so completes, that which the baptism signified... Therefore it cannot be true that there resides in the sacraments a power capable of giving justification, or that they are the 'signs' of efficacious grace. All such things are said to the detriment of faith and in ignorance of the divine promises." I am patient with those who are seeking answers to legitimate questions (Proverbs 1:3-5; 2 Timothy 2:25-26), for I am a man of limited knowledge and ability myself (Hebrews 5:2). God's self-revelation is fundamentally doctrinal, and it is this truth that we seek to impart (Titus 2:1; 2 Timothy 1:13). Our task is to expose that which is true to the light of day. Ulterior agendas, on the other hand, presume on the time of forum participants and the resources of our gracious host. They are more representative of creatures of darkness, than they are of those who live in the light. Our perceptible behavior -- flowing out from imperceptible, internal realities -- either lends credence to our words, or contravenes them. If our objective is to magnify Christ alone, let us pursue that goal in a Christ-like manner -- a manner that is more than simply amicable, but one that revels in imitating His very character. In Him, Doc |