“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
Federal Visionists love this verse because they think that faith comes from hearing the word of Christ. They argue that God uses means to communicate his grace. Obviously, this is refried sacerdotalism.
The Reformed faith has always insisted that God the Lord himself works by his grace immediately on the souls of men. If we add any intermediaries, channels, instruments, or means, then we are corrupting the pure supernaturalism of salvation.
Federal Visionists love to speak of the “means of grace.” This phrase is oxymoronic. If God gives grace through channels, then grace can be earned by tuning into these channels. This turns grace into merit, and pop goes the gospel!
Because Federal Visionists reject the concept of “merit” altogether, they are preaching a different gospel, which is no gospel at all. What they don’t even realize is that the Reformation was fought solely to recover the Biblical usage of the term “merit.” Have they never heard of sola scriptura?
Thus, unbelievers should not attend the preaching of the word, or attempt to secure any other so-called “means of grace.” This would be corrupting the pure supernaturalism of salvation.
Furthermore, if you preach the word of Christ to unbelievers, you are a sacerdotalist. Besides, unbelievers are dead spiritually, and they cannot understand anything about the gospel until they have been regenerated.
Therefore, Reformed evangelism means that you pray for God to strike the unsuspecting unbeliever with the pure supernaturality of regeneration. For grace to be grace, it must be alone. Praise God for sola gratia!
