Here is a recent post from one of the principal Federal Vision blogs.
'John Ball on works & justification'
'“Good works of all sorts are necessary to our continuance in the state of justification and so to our final absolution, if God give opportunity: but they are not the cause of, but only a precedent qualification or condition to final forgiveness and eternal bliss.” A Treatise on the Covenant of Grace, pg. 20.'
John Ball is making the distinction between necessity and cause. The problem with the Federal Vision is that they will not consistently distinguish necessity and cause. If they did, they would be orthodox on justification, not Federal Vision!
Mark Horne likes to quote from Turretin, but seems not to grasp that Turretin makes this distinction. And here is another case.
How much of the Federal Vision problem is that too many of them went to Covenant Seminary (notoriously weak in the theology department) and as a result, don't understand what they read and quote?
'John Ball on works & justification'
'“Good works of all sorts are necessary to our continuance in the state of justification and so to our final absolution, if God give opportunity: but they are not the cause of, but only a precedent qualification or condition to final forgiveness and eternal bliss.” A Treatise on the Covenant of Grace, pg. 20.'
John Ball is making the distinction between necessity and cause. The problem with the Federal Vision is that they will not consistently distinguish necessity and cause. If they did, they would be orthodox on justification, not Federal Vision!
Mark Horne likes to quote from Turretin, but seems not to grasp that Turretin makes this distinction. And here is another case.
How much of the Federal Vision problem is that too many of them went to Covenant Seminary (notoriously weak in the theology department) and as a result, don't understand what they read and quote?