Federal Gratitude

According to page 2 of the official minutes of the “First Triennial General Council Meeting of the Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches,” dated October 14, 2005, the “General Council” unanimously resolved to officially honor the Orthodox Presbyterian Church on June 11, 2006, with “a day of celebration and prayer . . . for the OPC’s seventy years of confessional adherence to the Reformed faith,” yada, yada, yada. The resolution states:

Honoring the Orthodox Presbyterian Church
The Following Resolution was Passed at the 2005 CREC Council Meeting:

In celebration and grateful acknowledgment of the seventieth anniversary of the formation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church [OPC] at its First General Assembly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 11–14 June 1936, the first General Council meeting of the Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches hereby resolves:

That 11 June 2006 shall be proclaimed a day of celebration and prayer in our various churches; that we thank God for the OPC’s seventy years of confessional adherence to the Reformed faith, and for that body’s steady witness of the Gospel against unbiblical pietism and liberalism; that we thank God for the many faithful teachers and pastors of that body from whom we in the CREC have learned so much; and that we petition God for his continued protection and blessing upon our brethren in the OPC — for their continued peace, reformation, and faithfulness to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ for generations to come.

Accordingly, the CREC published this resolution on its website and the membership spent June 11, 2006, celebrating the OPC’s faithful testimony. But the celebration didn’t last long. One week later, in a post titled “The OPC Report on the Federal Vision,” the CREC’s chief spokesman cut loose (mildly by his standards) on the OPC’s integrity, by giving the faithful teachers and pastors from that body a score of “thirty-five percent out of a possible one hundred” on a report they wrote criticizing Federal Vision.

Unmoved by this irresponsible rant, one week later, on June 27, 2006, the 73rd General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church adopted a “Report on the Doctrine of Justification” that contained this recommendation:

That the General Assembly recommend that presbyteries, sessions, and pastors be proactive in addressing teaching of the New Perspective on Paul and of the Federal Vision and other like teachings that compromise the purity of the gospel. (page 93, emphasis added)

In other words, God heard the prayers of the CREC, and the OPC continued its “seventy years of confessional adherence to the Reformed faith” and its “steady witness of the Gospel” as its “faithful teachers and pastors” repudiated Federal Vision for “compromising the purity of the gospel.”

Now, if only the ministers of the CREC would prove their resolve by submitting to the “many faithful teachers and pastors of that body from whom [they] in the CREC have learned so much,” so that they could help facilitate the answer to their prayer for the OPC’s “continued peace . . . for generations to come.”

Thank you.