Psalm 7:12

“If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready” (Psalm 7:12).

Federal Visionists love this verse because they think that David is talking about unbelievers. God will sharpen his sword for unbelievers. God has bent his bow and made it ready for unbelievers. However, this is the classic Roman mistake of blurring the distinction between justification and sanctification.

The Reformed faith has always insisted that justification is by faith alone. All subsequent works are part of sanctification. This means that repentance is not part of justification, but of sanctification.

Therefore, when David wrote, “If a man does not repent,” he was not speaking about justification, but sanctification. David was writing to believers.

Thus, God will sharpen his sword for those who are not sanctified. God has bent his bow and made it ready for those who are not sanctified.

Psalm 119:113

“I hate those who are double-minded, But I love Your law” (Psalm 119:113).

We have already dealt with the concept of believers claiming to “love” the law (here and here), but apparently, this idea pops up again in this verse. Hopefully, this is the last time we have to go over this.

Federal Visionists insist that we ought to be able to echo David’s statement, “I love Your law.” However, this completely disregards the progress of revelation.

Evidently, it was tolerable for a primitive such as David to say, “I love Your law.” God overlooks such times of ignorance. However, because we have access to Paul and Luther and the White Horse Inn, we are without excuse.

Thus, believers would be wise to say, “I hate those who are double-minded, just as I hate your law.” This is how the modern Reformed speak.

Psalm 119:165

“Those who love Your law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble” (Psalm 119:165).

Federal Visionists love verses like this because they think that it is possible for sinners to love the law. However, this is a blatant denial of Total Depravity.

The Reformed faith has always insisted that the law only brings a knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). Thus, no Christian could ever say that they love the law. That is impossible.

If we look more closely at David’s statement, we notice that he is simply making the comment that those who love the law will have great peace. Well, who has great peace? This can only describe Jesus. Only Jesus loves the law, and only Jesus can have great peace.

Jesus loves the law. We don’t. What’s so hard to understand about this?

Psalm 18:20-24

“The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His ordinances were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me. I was also blameless with Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes” (Psalm 18:20-24).

Federal Visionists love this passage because they think that David is speaking of himself, and therefore, it is proper for all Christians to speak this way. This is pure folly.

The Reformed faith has always insisted that man is totally depraved. This means that we can never say anything good about ourselves. Yet, look at what David attributes to “himself”:

· Righteousness
· Cleanness of his hands
· Keeping the ways of the Lord
· Not departing from the Lord’s statutes
· Blameless with the Lord
· Keeping himself from his iniquity
· His righteousness (again)
· Cleanness of his hands in the Lord’s eyes (again)

We know that “there is none righteous” (Romans 3:10) and that “all our righteousness is as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Thus, it is quite impossible that David is saying all of this about himself.

This passage is probably a prophecy about Jesus, because only Jesus kept the Covenant of Works perfectly. Another possibility is the David is speaking about his position in Christ. We have pointed out that other passages (like this and this and this) where someone claims to be “righteous,” they are obviously speaking of positional righteousness, not intrinsic righteousness.

This brings up an important point. When someone asks us how we are doing, we often respond, “good.” Is this an accurate response? No! As Jesus said, “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18), so none of us should ever hint that we are “good.” It would be better to reply, “I’m not perfect, just forgiven.”

Psalm 119:97

“O how I love Your law!” (Psalm 119:97).

Federal Visionists love verses like this because they think that David is actually expressing love for the law. However, this is simply neo-legalism.

The Reformed faith has always insisted that the law is repugnant to man, as Paul states, “For by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). Since the law only brings the knowledge of sin, it is impossible for anyone to say anything positive about the law, particularly that they “love” the law.

The one exception is, of course, Jesus, who was sinless. So, the law did not bring the knowledge of sin to him. Thus, when David says that he loves the law, he must be speaking from the perspective of Jesus. Jesus loves the law. Christians do not. Anyone who says they love the law is not Reformed.