Some thoughts on the PCA's Nine Declarations about the Federal Vision

The post below is an extended response to a question from Grover Gunn, comment #24 on the thread "None of This Is New Under the Sun" on Green Bagginses.

Grover had asked,
Jeff, would you agree that the doctrines which the nine declarations recently adopted by a PCA General Assembly identify as contrary to the fundamentals of the Westminster Standards are indeed contrary to those fundamentals? Would you agree that the nine declarations are not distortions of Westminster theology due to over-reaction?

Grover, I should say that this question is an important one for some to answer, but is not as directly relevant to me. Up to this point, I have not taken vows to uphold any particular set of Reformed doctrinal standards. If and when I am ordained as an elder with teaching responsibility, I would prefer to be held accountable to the Three Forms of Unity than to the Westminster Confession.

Speaking only for myself and not as a reflection on anyone else, I am uncomfortable with the WCF in several ways: generally, for its lack of sensitivity to the historical-narrative character of much of Divine revelation, and specifically, for a few places where the WCF seems to stand in direct opposition to the principles of God's own Word, at least as they appear the Old Testament (e.g., the last line of WCF 21.8, cf. Ex. 31:17; the last sentence of 24.4, cf. Deut. 25:5; the second half of 27.4, cf. Acts 8:38; 9:17-18). If we find something in the Westminster Confession or any other human tradition to run contrary to the Word of God, then shall we make the commandment of God of no effect by our tradition (Matt. 15:6)?

With all that being said, I believe that any true departure by a Reformed pastor from "the fundamentals of the Westminster Standards" is a matter of serious concern. If such a thing is found to have happened, it should be investigated first in the light of Scripture, and then also in light of the Westminster Standards or other confessional documents as appropriate, to the extent that they depend on and accurately represent the teaching of Scripture.

So as for the nine declarations:

1. The view that rejects the bi-covenantal structure of Scripture as represented in the Westminster Standards (i.e., views which do not merely take issue with the terminology, but the essence of the first/second covenant framework) is contrary to those Standards.

First of all, I don't see Scripture as having a bi-covenantal structure. When the Holy Spirit discusses and contrasts the two major covenants among others, they are the "First Covenant" which was enacted through Moses and the "New Covenant" that was mediated by Christ (Hebrews 9:11-22). In the Westminster system, these are merely two different administrations of the "covenant of grace," which also has several other administrations. Meanwhile, the "covenant of works" (the other major covenant according to the WCF), is more often than not described in the Bible with other terms than that of "covenant." So to see the Bible's history as divided up between two great opposing covenants, a covenant of works and a covenant of grace (neither of which is ever called by this name in the Bible) seems quite artificial to me. However, some leaders of the FV including Steve Wilkins have declared that they're happy with the Westminster explanation of the covenants of Scripture (with the caveat, perhaps, that WLC 20's "covenant of life" is a more accurate term than "covenant of works").

To answer your question, then: for declaration #1, the view that the PCA General Assembly pronounced contrary to the Westminster Standards is in fact contrary to those Standards (although not necessarily contrary to Scripture), and in any case Wilkins, Leithart, and Wilson agree with the PCA at this point.

2. The view that an individual is “elect” by virtue of his membership in the visible church; and that this “election” includes justification, adoption and sanctification; but that this individual could lose his “election” if he forsakes the visible church, is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

This declaration adopted by the PCA GA is simply confused, and confusing, in its language. By putting "elect" in quotation marks, it seems to suggest that "elect" may be used here in a different sense than the Westminster Standards use the word. However, the terms justification, adoption, and sanctification appear to be used exclusively in the Westminster sense, and in this sense no FV advocate believes that election can be lost. If the four key terms are defined according to their use in the Standards, then declaration #2 is valid and Steve Wilkins agrees with the PCA in condemning the false teaching of which it speaks. One the other hand, if the four key terms are allowed to be defined differently from how they are used in the Standards, then how can the Standards speak to this usage in one way or the other?

The term "elect" only has meaning, of course, when it is specified to what a person is elected. In one important sense, Jesus Himself says that all of the Twelve were elected (exelexamēn) by Him, including Judas Iscariot who was a devil (John 6:70-71). Other passages speak of a different kind of election which leads unalterably to eternal life. The second declaration adopted by the PCA General Assembly fails to achieve clarity because it does not include definitions of any of the key theological terms it uses -- where the definitions of these terms are precisely the matter in question.

Grover, I could go through all nine declarations in this way, but I think you get the idea by now. If they are taken in one way, every FV advocate would agree with most of them in their condemnation of what is self-evidently false teaching. If taken in another way, what they express appears contrary to how the Bible itself speaks, and of course the FV men would object.

Both Peter Leithart and Steve Wilkins have noted in their responses to the PCA report that declaration #9 actually contradicts WCF 33.1 (which affirms the Biblical teaching that the final judgment will be according to works).

Declaration #9 adopted by the PCA GA: "The view...that the so-called 'final verdict of justification' is based on anything other than the perfect obedience and satisfaction of Christ received through faith alone, is contrary to the Westminster Standards."

WCF 33.1: "God has appointed a day, wherein He will judge the world, in righteousness, by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father. In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged, but likewise all persons that have lived upon earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil."

In closing, let me answer your last question by saying that yes, I believe "the nine declarations are," in part at least, "distortions of Westminster theology due to over-reaction."