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Showing posts from 2021

Can a person that has never heard the Gospel be saved?

This is proposed as an answer to the question of “What about persons with no access to the preaching of the Gospel?” While the “normative” process of salvation requires the hearing of the gospel ( Rom 10:14 ), confession, and faith ( Rom 10:8-10 ), Christ has enabled the salvation of the elect and the Holy Spirit works as He wills in that process just as He does with all spiritual gifts ( John 3:8 ,  1 Cor 12:11 ,  Heb 2:4 ). It seems entirely feasible that, lacking ordinary means, a person can be saved without the explicit preaching of the Gospel, just as the OT elect were. The promise of the Gospel ( Rom 5:8 ) was present at the Fall ( Gen 3:15 ) as a component of the eternal covenant ( Heb 13:20 ) and covers the entirety of the elect retroactively without the explicit preaching of the Gospel. If that is so, why can the effectivity of the Gospel not also be graciously applied proactively (again, lacking ordinary means)? This in no way invalidates the command to share the gos...

Reconciling Covenant Theology and Rejecting New Covenant Theology

This post is in response to  this blog post  by an old friend I served with at a PCA church several years ago. In it, he attempts to challenge an established Reformed Biblical framework commonly known as  Covenant Theology  (CT) with a comparatively recent framework,  New Covenant Theology  ( or  at least his interpretation of it). Per his request. I intend to address his objections and defend the Reformed position, as I understand it, concerning CT.   In order to try and keep a consistent thread, I will be using the framework he lays out in his post.   I pray that my responses are gracious in tone and manner.   “*” indicates later large edits or additions. For a very in-depth study of CT, visit  here .   The Introduction:   This section is basically laying out his thesis and general objection to CT as having “ inconsistencies and statements I found that were in conflict with Scripture”. He goes on to say that he resonates...