Dear Ian;

I have already responded to you on this subject privately by email, but for the sake of the wider audience I want to respond briefly here to one of your statements:

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The point is how we fulfil such a righteous walk - by law, or by faith? I answer by faith, yoked to Christ, as led by the Spirit.

What makes you think that anyone here, or the Westminster Divines, or Owen, or Edwards, etc., is "fullfilling a righteous walk, by the Law" rather than by faith? What makes you think that you are "yoked to Christ" and we are not? What makes you so sure that we are not "led by the Spirit" and you are? On what basis, as your question implies, must a walk of faith exclude the Law?


I very much value Philpots writings for their experiential nature, and was drawn to them as a breath of fresh air after years of intellectual dryness and denial of the Spirits essential work, and I still value them for that contribution. For me, there are some parts of his sermons that are simply unsurpassed with respect to insight into experiential religion. However, when I began to see, with the help of others, that there were some other areas that did not line up with scripture, I admitted my error and moved on. May the Lord give you the grace to do the same. Not to ignore or to shun his contribution, but to put it along side others of God's servants who also have been gifted of the Lord.

As I pointed out to you privately, I believe that Dr. Beeke has illucidated nicely the issue of the Reformation and post Reformation teaching on the development of the doctrine of Assurance in his work, "The Quest for Full Assurance", and I would recommend it to you to give some perspective on this issue outside of the Strict Baptist Camp. I also note that Philpots books, as well as Gadsby's, not to mention many others of an experiential nature, including most notably Owens and Calvins and Goodwins are to be found in the Catalogue of Reformation Heritage Books, a ministry of Dr. Beeke's Heritage Netherlands Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mi.

No group or denomination, in my view, (including Presbyterians <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />) has a corner on the truth of God's word, and, "In a multitude of counselors there is wisdom".

In Him,

Gerry