own your assignment bethany hicks

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Own Your Assignment: Every Woman's Call To Raise Up World Changers Paperback – May 2 2019

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Print length 166 pages
• Language English
• Publication date May 2 2019
• Dimensions 13.97 x 0.97 x 21.59 cm
• ISBN-10 1096655438
• ISBN-13 978-1096655435
• See all details

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Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (May 2 2019)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 166 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1096655438
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1096655435
• Item weight ‏ : ‎ 249 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 0.97 x 21.59 cm
• #198 in Christian Women's Issues

About the author

Bethany hicks.

Bethany Hicks is an international speaker, prophetic trainer and author who serves as Co-founder of Prophetic Company Global. Known for her exceptional communication skills, she passionately imparts grace to inspire people to embrace their world-changing potential. Having ministered on six continents, Bethany enjoys training and activating thousands in recognizing and responding to the voice of God. She currently resides in Austin, Texas with her family of world-changers.

Connect with Bethany at:

Instagram: @_bethanyhicks

Facebook: Bethany Hicks

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Own Your Assignment: Every Woman's Call To Raise Up World Changers Paperback – 2 May 2019

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Print length 166 pages
• Language English
• Publication date 2 May 2019
• ISBN-10 1096655438
• ISBN-13 978-1096655435
• See all details

Frequently bought together

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Product details

• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 166 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1096655438
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1096655435
• 7,644 in Christian Books and Bibles

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Own Your Assignment

• Every Woman's Call to Raise Up World Changers
• By: Bethany Hicks
• Narrated by: Bethany Hicks
• Length: 3 hrs and 43 mins

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Every woman, no matter her culture, ethnicity, age, or station in life, is called to own the assignment of mothering world changers. The Christian community has been equipped with powerful books and trainings that champion the call of spiritual fathers, yet there stands a missing piece in the kingdom family — the call to mothering, particularly spiritual mothering, remains faint and undefined. 

This powerful book will equip women to: 

• Shatter current myths and misconceptions about mothering. 
• Discover the secrets to raising up world changers. 
• Help you identify those you are called to release a mother’s voice to.
• Unlock keys for accelerating and advancing destiny. 
• Explore the contrast and synergy between spiritual fathers and mothers.

Now is the time for the voice of the kingdom mother to arise and take her place in the family of God. Now is the time to own your assignment.

• Unabridged Audiobook
• Categories: Religion & Spirituality

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Bethany Hicks

Cofounder of prophetic company global.

Bethany Hicks is a prophetic trainer, author, and speaker who serves as Cofounder of Prophetic Company Global. She is known as a strong communicator who releases passion and grace for people to embrace their world-changer identity. Having ministered on six continents, Bethany enjoys training and activating thousands in the biblical gift of prophecy. Bethany is the author of Own Your Assignment , a prophetic call to redefine spiritual mothering in the kingdom of God; and The God Connection , twelve ways every person is hardwired in their spirit, soul, and body to connect to the voice of God. Bethany has recently relocated to Round Rock, Texas, and resides there with her family.

Authored Blog Posts

Bethel's mission is revival—the personal, regional, and global expansion of God's kingdom through His manifest presence.

Bethel's mission is revival. The personal, regional, and global expansion of God's kingdom through His manifest presence.

Own Your Assignment

• Every Woman's Call to Raise Up World Changers

De: Bethany Hicks

• Narrado por: Bethany Hicks
• Duración: 3 h y 43 m
• 4.9 out of 5 stars 4.9 (16 calificaciones)

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Resumen del Editor

Every woman, no matter her culture, ethnicity, age, or station in life, is called to own the assignment of mothering world changers. The Christian community has been equipped with powerful books and trainings that champion the call of spiritual fathers, yet there stands a missing piece in the kingdom family — the call to mothering, particularly spiritual mothering, remains faint and undefined.

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• Shatter current myths and misconceptions about mothering.
• Discover the secrets to raising up world changers.
• Help you identify those you are called to release a mother’s voice to.
• Unlock keys for accelerating and advancing destiny.
• Explore the contrast and synergy between spiritual fathers and mothers.

Now is the time for the voice of the kingdom mother to arise and take her place in the family of God. Now is the time to own your assignment.

• Versión completa Audiolibro
• Categorías: Religión y Espiritualidad

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Use what they give you.

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De: Josh McDowell , y otros

Experiencing God

• How to Live the Full Adventure of Knowing and Doing the Will of God
• De: Henry T. Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, Claude King
• Duración: 11 h y 3 m
• General 5 out of 5 stars 899
• Narración: 5 out of 5 stars 734
• Historia 5 out of 5 stars 734

When you listen to this audio, you'll find that you aren't just listening. No, you are being remade, reoriented, restored from the frustration of what you may have known as stale religion. Captured not by a concept, but by your Creator, reborn in relationship. Here's the Experiencing God that has already impacted millions of people. Only it's bigger, and better, and ready to lead you again - or for the very first time - into an experience with God.

Necessary Reconnection

• De Melissa Blackson-Boyd en 07-08-15

De: Henry T. Blackaby , y otros

The Holy Spirit

• An Introduction
• De: John Bevere, Addison Bevere
• Duración: 4 h y 21 m
• General 5 out of 5 stars 89
• Narración: 5 out of 5 stars 79
• Historia 5 out of 5 stars 78

The Holy Spirit is often portrayed as something weird. But the Bible makes it clear that the Spirit is not something. He is someone - a person who has promised to never leave your side. In this interactive book, John Bevere invites you into a personal discovery of the most ignored and misunderstood person in the Church: the Holy Spirit. Interactive book includes: daily devotions, group discussion questions, and a bonus chapter with answers to some of the toughest questions about the Holy Spirit. Don't miss this amazing introduction.

Laying it on rather thick with praise of wife

• De delvin en 05-08-23

De: John Bevere , y otros

Experiencing the Spirit

De: Henry Blackaby

• Duración: 4 h y 1 m
• General 5 out of 5 stars 97
• Narración: 5 out of 5 stars 80

The first Christians "turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6) shaking the gates of hell even in the face of severe persecution. The result: People all around "were filled with wonder and amazement" (Acts 3:10).What can give Christians today the same impact? God's Holy Spirit is ready to answer that for us in an awesome way, as Henry Blackaby and his son Mel Blackaby make clear in Experiencing the Spirit .

Growing in the Spirit

• De T. Walls en 04-23-18

• God's Timeless Promises for a Life of Fulfillment

De: Chris Hodges

• Narrado por: Brandon Batchelar
• Duración: 2 h y 57 m
• General 5 out of 5 stars 74
• Narración: 4.5 out of 5 stars 66
• Historia 5 out of 5 stars 62

What if God has had a plan for you since the very beginning? The God of the universe has made you some big promises. He made them first in the Old Testament, but they remain at the core of his heart and have never changed. They’re the key to your fulfillment and to his plans for you, both in this life and the life to come. God wants to rescue you from bondage. He wants to deliver you from whatever holds you back. He wants you to discover his original intention for your life.

• De N. SMITH en 10-14-15

Open to the Spirit

• God in Us, God with Us, God Transforming Us

De: Scot McKnight

• Narrado por: Jeremy Richards
• Duración: 6 h y 8 m
• General 4.5 out of 5 stars 47
• Narración: 4.5 out of 5 stars 35
• Historia 4.5 out of 5 stars 34

Who exactly is the Holy Spirit? What does he do in our lives? How can we know him more deeply, and is it possible to tap in to his power? Should we pray to the Holy Spirit? Is it possible to be aware of his promptings and speaking into our lives? Dr. Scot McKnight answers these questions and more in this comprehensive examination of what the Bible says about this divinely important but often confusing member of the Trinity.

The Spirit Is Essential.

• De Adam Shields en 09-03-19

Lo que los oyentes dicen sobre Own Your Assignment

• 5 out of 5 stars 4.9 de 5
• 5 estrellas 15
• 4 estrellas 1
• 3 estrellas 0
• 2 estrellas 0
• 1 estrella 0
• 5 estrellas 14

Reseñas - Selecciona las pestañas a continuación para cambiar el origen de las reseñas.

Reseñas de audible.com, opiniones de amazon.

• Total 5 out of 5 stars
• Ejecución 5 out of 5 stars
• Historia 5 out of 5 stars

• Mia Kovalenko

Applicable to anyone

Powerful, I love how she ended the book, summarized it so well. Love everything about it. Let’s go!

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I listened twice, the second time I heard the call

The narration was excellent!!! I'm glad that the author addressed that this book was not a parenting book right upfront. I didn't think this book was for me the first time I listened, but God had me to listen again after he asked me to start a Teen Talk Group with my daughter and her friends. It all made sense!! God was calling me to be a Kingdom Mother. I accepted and let God lead me to the subjects that we talk about during our once a month sleep over. The girls are aloud to talk freely about anything, I mean anything. We signed confidentiality contracts and everything. What's said in the group stays on the group, unless life threatening or will cause harm to someone else. Excellent read!!!❤

• Total 4 out of 5 stars
• Ejecución 4 out of 5 stars
• Historia 4 out of 5 stars

• MomsieSteele

A challenge!

Good easy listen. Would recommend. Loved the last chapter and how she brought in the importance of dad's and what the speak over their children.

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• Bahasa Indonesia
• Slovenščina
• Science & Tech
• Russian Kitchen

Travel hacks for your Moscow business trip

Moscow has three main international airports: Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo. From all of them can you can get to the city via the Aeroexpress Train or taxi.

Please follow the signs to get to the Aeroexpress Station. If you have any trouble, go to the nearest Information Stand – the attendants there speak English, and surely will be able to assist you. The Aeroexpress Trains will take you to one of Moscow’s train stations, depending on which airport you leave from. Travel time is about 30 minutes. Tickets cost 340 rubles (7 euros or $10), and you can buy them from a vending machine just before train departure (credit cards are accepted), or to save time, buy your tickets in advance from the Aeroexpress website.

If you prefer, you can grab a taxi. You will need to order your vehicle in advance; otherwise, you run the risk of becoming a victim of the privateer taxi drivers, who will aggressively offer you their services as soon as you leave the arrivals area. Ignore them.

http://www.taxi-pilot.ru/eng/taxi_in_moscow.html

http://www.9995556.ru/about (possibility of renting a car with driver)

http://www.womantaxi.ru/ (female taxis – drivers are women)

http://www.moscowminitaxi.ru (possibility of renting a car with a driver for a day or longer)

Bankcards and money

The official currency of Russia is the ruble, and payment in other currencies is not possible. You can change your money into rubles right at the airport, but not at very favorable rates. If you need cash to pay for your taxi (the average price from the airport to the city center is 800–1,200 rubles (17–25 euros or $ 24-35), and credit cards are not accepted), then change a small amount at the airport. After that, exchange the rest at a more favorable rate in any bank in the city. In Moscow, almost everywhere you can pay by credit card, with the exception of some small shops, subway ticket offices (!) and most museums. However, it is always best to have cash in your wallet, because if a bankcard terminal is not working at a store, you will learn this only when you reach the checkout counter: posting announcements about such problems is not done in Moscow. In addition, if the seller does not have change for a large bill, he/she will likely ask you to solve this problem yourself, in which case you will have to resort to using your bankcard.

Getting around in the city

Ideally, if your office and hotel are located not far from each other in the city center, then you can walk between the two places. The territory of Moscow is huge, and trying to get to faraway places on foot is impossible. Alternatives are the Metro (subway) and taxis. Pros of the former are the speed and relative cheapness, cons are the intolerable stuffiness in the railcars and the huge number of passengers. The pros of the latter mode are obvious, but all these are nullified in monstrous Moscow traffic jams during rush hour. Rule number one: plan your meetings in advance and choose the appropriate times and modes of transportation.

By the way, along with the “official” taxis, people in Moscow often use private “motorists.” You can flag down a car anywhere in the city, just go to the roadside and raise your hand in a characteristic gesture. The average price in the city is about 300 rubles (6 euros or $9). Keep in mind that when you travel with a private “motorist,” you are responsible for your own safety. Phone numbers of emergency services are given in the box.

Translation problems

Contrary to the opinion of Muscovites, in Moscow very few people can speak normal English. Yes, they will be able to explain to you how to get somewhere in English, but not much more than that. If you will need to converse a lot, it is better to use the services of a personal translator. This service is provided by translation bureaus and specialized agencies. Here we list some of them:

http://www.primavista.ru/eng

http://moscowtime24.com/services/interpretation-services.html

http://www.welcome-moscow.com/

http://interpretermoscow.com/en/

Where to work

Moscow has no shortage of restaurants for holding business meetings. However, as far as good work spaces go, the city offers limited opportunities. If you need to rent an office for a few days, with all the necessary equipment, then take advantage of the co-working centers. Recently, this concept has gained a lot of popularity in Moscow, so it will not be hard to find something suitable: for example, a strict office for a serious meeting in the business district of the MIBC Moscow-City, or the so-called creative space for creative work near a park.

By the way, socket types C and F of 220 V are used in Russia, so do not forget the 220-volt adapter for your laptop.

Co-working places:

http://coworkstation.ru/

http://flacon.ru/space/coworking/

http://ditelegraph.com/

Emergency numbers

In Russia, a common three-digit number system is used to call different services in an emergency: Ambulance – 103, Police – 102, rescuers and firefighters – 101, 112.

All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

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• Canon Press
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Blog & Mablog

Theology That Bites Back

Justifying Faith Has No Side Hustles

Introduction.

Tom Hicks and Garrett Walden recently fired up their keyboards in order to interact with “the Moscow doctrine” on justification. Their article can be found here . The point of the article is to deal with “Wilson’s problematic doctrine of faith and its relationship to justification.” Okay then.

I need to clear away some debris first, but if you want to cut to the chase, my explanation of the mistake that Hicks and Walden are making is largely contained in the large section near the end of this post. You know, the antepenultimate section. The one entitled “Oh, for Pity’s Sake.”

You, dear reader, are a busy person, I realize. You may need to go check that part out first because you can’t afford to wade through all my preliminary horsing around. So the teaser is this. The mistake they are making is borne out of a steadfast refusal to let me agree with them. In that section, I make a valiant attempt to make it clear that my views on the instrumentality of faith in justification are, by the standard of the Westminster Confession as a jar of olive oil, extra virgin.

I think I do a pretty thorough job, if it’s myself that says it.

In the Meantime

Now in the meantime, for some reason, a belief is circulating to the effect that we here in Moscow are dangerous and need to stopped. Kevin DeYoung warned everybody away from us because of tone and mood, but his effort wound up using more gunpowder than it delivered shot. Nothing was harmed in the course of that exchange except for a few TGC movie reviews. But if tone and mood complaints are not the thing to accomplish it, we still must be stopped, and so maybe it is because of our Trinitarian problems but—because we are as Nicene as Athanasius on a good day—that is not going to be a fruitful line of criticism for them either .

And so yet another angle that is being tried is through a rehash of some Federal Vision issues. We are not to be listened to because of our undermining of justification by faith alone. And so we come to this article by Hicks and Walden.

“As we witness and lament the waning of Christianity’s influence in American public life, Doug Wilson’s rhetoric has galvanized conservative and Reformed-minded Christians who, at the very least, are hungry for a vision of the future that has a strong Christian influence on the culture. Some have left faithful and orthodox churches for churches more aligned with ‘the Moscow mood,’ while failing to discern the real danger of ‘the Moscow doctrine,’ especially with respect to FV and its erroneous doctrine of justification . . . we implore you to flee from the very real spiritual danger embedded in ‘the Moscow doctrine.’”

Hicks and Walden

So let us think of it this way. We are still in the exploratory stage. This is the time when the approved theologians have thrown a platter of spaghetti against the wall in order to determine which noodle might stick the best. The Moscow mood noodle did not. The sola fide noodle comes next. If that fails, they will move on to the doctrine of the Trinity, an area where not one person in a thousand will understand the nature of the dark allegations, but they will be able to gather that they are supposed to mark and avoid us for reasons that are to be located in the deep things of God.

“It looked not so much as if Christianity was bad enough to include any vices, but rather as if any stick was good enough to beat Christianity with.”

Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Baxter and Me?

The intention of the article is to show that Richard Baxter was heterodox on the doctrine of justification, which I believe he certainly was. The corollary was that I am teaching something akin to what Baxter was teaching. That’s what we might call the false part of all this.

“We conclude that Baxter’s doctrine is similar to the FV on justifying faith, that both reject the Reformed position on this issue, and that Wilson can rightly be considered neo-Baxterian on this point.”

The problem with this thesis is that I have never read Baxter on justification. And if we go by his sentiments on justification that were quoted in this article, I strongly disagreed with those. On top of that, I found myself agreeing with the critics of Baxter as they were assembled in the article. What are we supposed to do now? I do not think it would be proper to acknowledge that I must be some kind of a neo-Baxterian simply because Tom Hicks did his dissertation on Baxter and had some material left over that looked usable.

The only thing that Hicks and Walden wind up establishing here is that Banner of Truth should discontinue publishing Baxter, and that it would okay for them to start publishing me. Not that they would ever do that , of course. I’m just dreaming out loud . . .

One of the critics of Baxter that Hicks and Walden cited was Andrew Fuller, a man who had himself been falsely categorized as having an affinity with Baxter. Just like somebody else I know. Fuller knew exactly what this felt like and now, so do I.

“Andrew Fuller, who Charles Spurgeon considered “the greatest theologian of the century,” was once accused of adopting “some of the leading peculiarities of Mr. Richard Baxter.” He rejected the charge strenuously.”

Well, shoot, me too. I object strenuously, but a fat lot of good that seems to be doing.

“They laid to my charge things that I knew not.” Psalm 35:11 (KJV)

There Are Two Sorts of Debate

There are two kinds of debate. One is when Jones says X and Murphy says Y, and then they have it out. This is what happens to me when Jones says that Baptists should quit withholding the sacrament of baptism from their covenant children. That results in an actual debate with real disagreement that both sides understand they are having. In this instance, Jones is Presbyterian and Murphy is Baptist.

But the second kind of debate is when Jones says X, and Murphy says that he, Jones, is actually maintaining Y, and that Y is really bad, and so Jones says no, he isn’t saying Y, and then Murphy says yes, yes, he most certainly is, and so quite a bit of time and energy are expended. Heat is also generated, and book deals are signed. This kind of debate is what we call a high-level theological debate. And that is what we are dealing with here. In spades.

“Thus, when Wilson says, ‘I don’t deny justification by faith alone. I affirm it, stoutly, from beginning to end,’ he simply does not mean what the Reformed have historically meant by that phrase.”

Ah, but I do. I mean exactly the same thing. If you want to find out why I say that and how I can say that, then read on, MacDuff.

This whole thing is a debate between Hicks and Walden, on the one hand, who affirm justification by faith alone, and Wilson, on the other hand, who affirms justification by faith alone. Try to follow us closely here. You may have trouble keeping up. This is deep theology, and so hip waders are advised.

Oh, for Pity’s Sake

So here we come to the meat of the discussion.

“According to these confessions, faith is only instrumental in justification as it rests and receives Christ, not as it obeys.”

And they make the same point here, a little more extensively, a point they begin by quoting me:

“’At the same time, life and obedience are essential characteristics of the instrumentality of faith, in just the same way that life is an essential characteristic of a seeing eye.’ Note carefully that Wilson says obedience is essential to the instrumentality of faith. The Reformed faith would agree that obedience is an essential characteristic of faith. But to say that its obedience is an essential characteristic of faith’s instrumentality is unorthodox. Faith’s instrumentality is the manner by which it receives justification. Wilson thinks justification is by faith in its act of obedience and not only by faith in its act of receiving and resting upon Christ.” Hicks and Walden

Now I would plead with everyone to please track with me carefully here. Follow me closely.

Resting and receiving are specific verbs. To obey is a general verb. When someone rests, we know they are resting. The La-Z Boy is all the way back. When someone receives, we know they are receiving. Their palm is out and the gift is placed on that palm.

But when someone obeys, what are they doing exactly? We don’t know until we know what the command was. Someone might be obeying by closing the door, by sitting down, by taking a walk, by frying an egg, by getting out the ice cream, by warming up the car, and so forth.

Now with this distinction in mind, when is justifying faith obeying? Such faith is obeying when it is doing what it was told to do, and only what it is told to do, which is to rest and receive . When I am talking about justification and say that faith is obeying, I am not talking about feeding the poor, or going up the steps of a cathedral on its knees, or praying the rosary, or memorizing the Heidelberg Catechism. I am talking about faith doing only what it was told to do , which is to look to Christ, believe on Him, rest in Him, receive His blessing, and nothing else. Justifying faith has no side hustles.

“The principal acts of saving faith are, accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life . . .”

The only kind of faith that can do what it was told to do in this respect is living faith, the only kind of faith that God ever gives to us. If God gives the gift of faith, it is a living faith that He gives. This living faith, because it is living faith, is able to do what it was created to do, which is to rest in Christ alone, to receive Christ alone. That is the only obedience in justifying faith that I am referring to. I am not referring to anything else.

When a small child in a high chair sees the spoon coming, he opens his mouth. He receives, and that is it. That is all. But if you were to put the same morsel in a dead man’s mouth, he would not be receiving anything. But—I hasten to add—even that act of faith that is manifested in the toddler opening his mouth, even that, is the gift of God, lest any man should boast. So if you want to find any daylight between my views and the Westminsterian view of justification, you are going to have to blow the hole yourself, which is what I think we are dealing with here.

Faith is the hand that receives what God puts into it, and even that hand was a gift from God. But when God gives the kind of hand that can receive justification, and rest in that reception, He does not give us a prosthetic limb with a titanium hand. So the justification doesn’t go clank when it hits the metallic hand. The hand that He gives us for receiving Christ is warm and alive. The disposition to rest in Christ alone is alive . A carcass cannot rest. A carcass cannot receive.

“Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith , but worketh by love.”

You see this portion of Westminster (and also 14.2, quoted earlier) is where we get the phrase receiving and resting . But receiving and resting is a function of life . A dead faith can’t receive. A dead faith can’t rest. So when a living faith, itself a gift of God, receives and rests in Christ alone, it is doing what God requires of it. This is a living faith that is obeying. Moreover, because it is not a dead faith, from the moment of its inception it “works by love.” This is the reason why it is able to rest and receive.

So think of it this way. Resting and receiving are the only verbs I want to allow as the instrument of justification. But we should have no problem at all allowing in adverbs. We must allow adverbs, if we are to remain consistently confessional. Obediently and lovingly don’t bring in any merit at all, but they are indicators of the presence of life. The actions of resting and receiving proceed from a new heart, a heart with a new disposition. The new heart rests for a reason. It receives with a certain attitude. In order to rest and receive it must be submissive, and to be submissive is to be obedient. So if the gospel is the only object, obedience is not a bad word.

“Faith does not justify as faith, as obedience, or as a part of regeneration. It only justifies by virtue of its reception of justifying content: Christ and his righteousness.” Hicks and Walden

Faith does not justify. Amen. I never said that it did. “It only justifies by virtue of its reception . . .” Exactly so. And what was faith told to do? When faith rests and receives, it is being obedient. God commands us to believe, does He not?

“And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” 1 John 3:23 (KJV)

So allow me to deal with a cluster of comments next that show these two gents representing me as saying that “faith + obedience in some other arena results in justification.” If I were saying that, it really would be bad. If I were to say that justifying faith rests in Christ, receives Christ, and then tithes ten percent of its income, then Hicks and Walden would be correct in their concerns. But I do not say anything like that. I hotly deny it. I throw rocks at it. If Kevin DeYoung didn’t already think I cuss too much, I would hurl a few imprecations at it.

Here are those comments.

“Therefore, it is evident that Wilson is saying that faith in its character as obedience, or life, is instrumental for justification before God.” “Fuller makes the important distinction between faith’s receptive act for justification and faith’s obedient act for salvation.” They say I hold that “faith as obedience is the instrument of justification.” “when he links the obedience to the instrumentality of faith in justification” “what Baxter and Wilson have done when they collapse the distinction between faith’s receptive aspect and faith’s active aspect.”

But does justifying faith do anything? It certainly does. It rests and it receives. And in the hope that Hicks and Walden might read this particular sentence, that’s the only thing that justifying faith ever does . But . . . does it do these things in a particular way? Does it need to be alive in order to rest this way? Does it need to be living in order to be receptive like this? The answer is obviously, clearly, yes .

So I do not collapse the distinction between faith’s receptive aspect and faith’s active aspect. I am not sending justifying faith out into town in order to help little old ladies across the street, thereby earning Merit Points that can be turned in at the Justification Mart. I am simply saying that faith’s receptive aspect is alive, and so is faith’s active aspect, and they each respectively do what they were created to do, and told to do, and not something else. And doing what you were told to do is obeying.

The faith that God gives is alive from the moment that God first gives it. It is not a dead, inert faith that receives justification, and then somehow comes to life after that. It is alive from the get-go. And this living faith, at each stage, does what it was given in order to do. And the very first thing it does is rest and receive. That obedient resting and receiving is the instrument of justification.

The position that Hicks and Walden want to maintain about the mechanism of this is therefore incoherent. They say, “The Reformed faith would agree that obedience is an essential characteristic of faith. But to say that its obedience is an essential characteristic of faith’s instrumentality is unorthodox.” But this is to say that obedience is an essential characteristic of faith, but that it must leave this essential characteristic behind—thereby ceasing to be what it is—when it undertakes to do anything related to resting and receiving. How is this possible? In order to act as the instrument of justification, this faith must leave an essential characteristic of its very nature behind? Justifying faith must die in order to rest and receive, and then it comes to life again when the topic is sanctification?

Now when we believe the gospel, we do it by resting in and receiving the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. And when we do this, what are we doing? We are doing as we were commanded. What is the name for doing as we were commanded? It is called obeying. The gospel is a summons that must be obeyed (2 Thess. 1:8). God commands all men to repent (Acts 17:30). God commands all men to believe (1 John 3:23). This is done by abandoning all hope of self-improvement and self-reformation, and casting ourselves upon the mercy of God, sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ, plus nothing else. Plus nothing else .

“Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” John 6:29 (KJV)

This whole thing reminds me of the Marrow controversy in 18th century Scotland, not excluding the blinkered condemnation of things they did not understand by the General Assembly, would not investigate properly, and refused afterwards to clean up. This issue is an awful lot like that one. And Donald MacLeod says, echoing Thomas Boston, that . . .

“Faith is not the qualification for coming to Christ. It is the coming itself”

Donald Macleod, From the Marrow Men to the Moderates , p. 74

Coda About the Optics and Politics of the Thing

I trust I have made myself clear. When living faith rests and receives the righteousness of Jesus Christ, these are the only activities that God uses as instruments for our justification. This is what I believe.

Now this presents Hicks and Walden with a dilemma. If they were to say something like “Thank you for clarifying. We can see that you are within the boundaries of historic Reformed orthodoxy. Apologies for giving you the Andrew Fuller treatment,” I would say “Thanks. Completely forgiven.” The thing would be over as far as I was concerned. But it would not be over for Hicks and Walden. They would be stepping into their very own firestorm. How dare they acquit me as orthodox on one of the central FV slanders? And nobody likes creating their very own firestorm. So there’s that.

But if they ignore my explanation above, or refuse to accept it, this will be yet one more demonstration to the people who are leaving their churches as to why they feel the need to leave such old guard churches. This would not be “doing theology,” but rather “doing politics,” with theological terms as weapons. The truth of God is food for the sheep, and the sheep need to be fed. But the reply will be that shepherds need to fight the wolves in order that they might continue to feed the sheep. Right, that is correct. But if instead of doing that, you fight with fellow shepherds over turf concerns, and you won’t accept a plain statement of orthodoxy from them if it conflicts with those turf concerns, at some point the sheep are going to turn away in disgust. As it appears they are starting to do.

I linked to a YouTube clip on the image above, but haven’t watched it—so I don’t know if it is any good. But I thought I should link to it as thanks for the use of their graphic. Regardless, the reply to the question they raise in their title is no, I am not redefining faith. See above.