Leithart on assurance
2007-06-21From this article:
If some of the baptized end up in hell, how can baptism be an instrument of assurance?
Might as well ask the same question about the word: If some who hear the Word end up in hell, how can the Word be an instrument of assurance?
In both cases, the answer is: Because those who received the promise did not believe it, or did not continue to believe it.
While I’m here, let me point something out. In this excerpt, Leithart is saying that the preaching of the Word and baptism have a similar power and must be received in a similar way. This is one of the central points in the Federal Vision controversy. Is God saying anything in baptism?
The answer is important.
Is God saying anything in baptism? — my answer is… yes.