Genesis 15:6

"Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6).

Federal Visionists claim to love this verse. They claim to believe in justification by faith alone.

However, nothing could be further from the truth. We know that, deep down, all Federal Visionists are wolves that do not believe the gospel.

Thus, the secret to attacking to Federal Vision is to twist everything they say into an attack on justification by faith alone. Turn everything they say into an assault on the gospel. For instance ...

• If an FVer ever wants to question our modern understanding of law-gospel, then simply declare that they have rejected sola fide.
• If an FVer ever wants to investigate the historical understanding of law-gospel, then simply declare that they have renounced justification.
• If an FVer ever wants to nuance law-gospel, then simply declare that they have denied JBFA.

They will then waste all of their time and energy explaining how they really do believe the gospel. Yet, no matter how hard they try, they will never convince us because we know their hearts. Nothing they say matters.

This diversionary tactic works not only on law-gospel, but on pretty much anything. If an FVer wants to debate the meaning of a particular passage of scripture with you, you don't really have to listen to their argument. Instead, you can simply assert that they are preaching another gospel, which is no gospel at all.

If an FVer wants you to hear what Calvin said on an issue, don't listen. It doesn't matter. There's no way in hell that we would ordain Calvin anyway. Just say, they have departed from the historic reformed faith.

This is protocol for anything. If an FVer comments that the sky is blue, they have denied sola fide. If an FVer maintains that grass is green, they are seeking to be justified by works.

Hopefully, the FVers will get the message that engaging us is fruitless. Whatever the means, we have to guard our flock. The gospel is at steak!

2 Timothy 4:3-4

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths" (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

We usually apply these verses to Federal Visionists. Alas, we regret to inform our readers that today they remind us of the sad apostasy that has recently come to light.

Our dear leader, R. Scott Clark, recently argued that all NAPARC churches are wrong, and that he alone is right.

Let that sink in.

He wrote in response to a would-be critic: "[H]ow could it be that virtually ALL the NAPARC churches ... are wrong and you alone are right?"

Dr. Clark was not writing about the Federal Vision, but he might as well have been. When someone opposes NAPARC, they are opposing the Holy See that God uses to infallibly guide his invisible church.

Apparently, NAPARC is simply a pawn in Dr. Clark's agenda. When he agrees with NAPARC, then NAPARC is the arbiter of all things Reformed. When he disagrees with NAPARC, then NAPARC can conveniently be tossed aside.

Thus, for Dr. Clark, NAPARC is only a tool to be used or abused or ignored. Just like the Federal Visionists, Dr. Clark disregards the authority of NAPARC.

Obviously, Dr. Clark has taken the first step in the slippery slope from orthodoxy to heterodoxy. First, NAPARC is wrong. Second, Federal Vision is not so bad. Third, home to Rome.

Dr. Clark is now one small step removed from the CREC and two steps removed from praying to Mary. May God have mercy on his soul!

Ezekiel 25:17

“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you” (Ezekiel 25:17).

Federal Visionists love this passage and consider it to be one of the jules of the canon. We are rather busy re-reading St. Muller at this time, so we are not going to comment on this text.

We are, however, going to take this opportunity to announce that Modern Reformation will be changing its name to Modern Antinomianism. This move is to explicitly align ourselves with what we truly believe.

We are not historical antinomians. That is, we are not against the Ten Commandments. Neither are we antinomians in the generic sense that we are against the use of the law in the life of believers. The law shows us our sin.

We are Modern Antinomians in the "Zane Hodges sense." Sola fide demands fide to be sola. In order to preserve the purity of justification by faith alone, we must urge people to simply believe.

Focus your mind on the minimum number of propositions necessary to activate justification. Purge your mind of any notion of fidelity or trust or faithfulness or loyalty or commitment or repentance. These poisons destroy the purity of the gospel. In fact, this becomes another gospel, which is no gospel at all.

Thank God that the gospel is Absolutely Free!

That Federal Vision Heretic, John Gerstner

John Gerstner has recently been exposed as an incipient Federal Visionary and a heretic. The evidence appears in footnote 798 on page 211 of this dangerous book.

Regarding Norman Shepherd's paper, "The Grace of Justification," Gerstner wrote these disturbing words: "This paper is very clear evidence of his sola fideism to which only an antinomian could take exception."

Only an FVer/heretic could make such a statement. Unfortunately, Gerstner actually read Shepherd's paper and came to his own conclusions. Apparently, he did not get the memo that Shepherd was to be lynched without a proper trial.

Of course, Gerstner did speak rather prophetically by predicting that only an antinomian would find Shepherd offensive. The entire Anti-Federal Vision movement could be summed up as antinomian. Our goal is to redefine sola fide as antinomianism.

Trust and DISobey: An AFVSB Book Review

Federal Visionists love Norman Shepherd, which, of course, automatically makes them all heretics. As everyone knows, Shepherd was fired with cause from Westminster Theological Seminary for the heresy of denying the biblical truth of Sola Fide.

Amazingly, Ian Hewitson has just published a book, Trust and Obey: Norman Shepherd & The Justification Controversy at Westminster Theological Seminary, that attempts "to remove suspicion from Shepherd and to restore to him that which is more precious to him than silver or gold - his good name." Of course, this would be tantamount to renouncing our faith in Luther. Me genoito!

Trust and Obey marshalls a ton of evidence to implicate WTS of injustice. The first half of the book proves that WTS "did not have adequate grounds to remove Shepherd." The second half of the book demonstrates that WTS "also had no grounds theologically to remove" Shepherd.

Whether or not the author is correct is irrelevant; expedience is our catapult. In the end, God's will was done, and the heretic was removed. Who cares about justice and integrity? The gospel is at steak! We are ordained to use whatever means necessary to preserve our theological paradigms.

Rest assured, we did not actually read Trust and Obey, as we need to guard ourselves against the schemes of Satan. Just a cursory skim of the book reveals an ungodly obsession with details and a constant footnoting of source documents. Do not let this pseudo-scholarly enterprise fool you into Sympathy for the Devil. God is not in the details.

Here's a howler from the conclusion to Trust and Obey: "Shepherd must be held in high esteem for his solid commitment to Scripture and for his insistence that every generation must continually revise dogmatic formulations in light of the Word of God."

Obviously, the FVers have learned from their godfather, as this is a classic FV ploy: suggesting that the Confession should be revised in light of the scriptures. Don't they know by now that an appeal to sola scriptura is never going to faze us? We read the scriptures in light of the Confessions, not the other way around. We are not interested in getting into a "whose bible interpretation is correct" debate.

Therefore, we at the AFVSB are issuing this grave warning: under no circumstances should you read Trust and Obey. We have worked hard at circulating half-truths and outright lies about Norman Shepherd. A dangerous book like this could undermine all of our efforts. Soli Deo Gloria!

James 2:24

"You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" (James 2:24).

Federal Visionists love this verse because James allegedly says that justification is by works and not by faith alone. They talk about the "whole counsel of God" (whatever that is) and how this passage ought to inform our definition of justification. They babble on about "Biblicism." They love to appeal to Sola Scriptura and all that rot. Let me show you a more excellent way.

First, Biblicism is a dangerous error that threatens our Modern Reformation. Biblicists are the reckless sort of people who attempt to read the Bible and take it seriously. The Bible is holey book that can only be handled by men who have been trained how to escape the plain meaning of the text.

Second, while we Anti-Federal Visionists feel that Sola Scriptura is a decent slogan, we must warn against its abuse. Anyone who invokes Sola Scriptura is simply trying to appeal to the Bible as our highest authority. However, this grossly misunderstands what Sola Scriptura means. Historically, Sola Scriptura means that our highest authority is how the Reformed church has interpreted the Bible.

For this reason, the Truly Reformed have always favored Sola Fide over Sola Scriptura. No one could argue with the truth that Sola Fide is more foundational to our cause. In fact, if forced to choose, we would pick Sola Fide over and against Sola Scriptura. In all fairness, we would be fine if we just changed the slogan from Sola Scriptura to Sola Traditiona.