I remember having a conversation with A.D Robles about Federal Vision stuff and kind of going back a little bit five minutes in our conversation like I think you know both of us were able to recognize he wouldn't adhere to Federal Vision as far as I can tell I I can't you know even if I wanted to which I don't but uh consistently as a Baptist but we both were able to recognize I think that like what you said is true the good intentions it seems like and it kind of goes back to the whole Baptists are trans but what we meant was American Baptist and individualism and those kinds of things it seems like you know what a lot of these guys were trying to do for one there's a spectrum within the Federal Vision guys you know Peter lightheart and Doug wouldn't see eye to eye on exactly on some of those things but um but it seems like it was trying to set up a hedge of protection against a bunch of people who had no Assurance of Salvation that America had become American Christianity had become so in your you know your own internal identity and and how much sincerity did I have and the size of our faith rather than the object of our faith and personal decision decisionism revivalism these kinds of things and atomistic you know and um such a um just no no view of Covenant that I was kind of like trying to set up some kind of metric um for helping people to not spend their entire Christian Life thinking that they were going to hell like there's there's a standard there's a metric for determining um do I belong to Christ or do I know you know and um and so I think a lot of it was you know and so I I find myself not using the same standards but I find myself often as a Baptist you know 1689 Pastor I mean the bulk I feel like of pastoral counsel is in the realm of assurance of Salvation like at some ways shape or form that's what it just about always comes to is um you know wanting to assure a person rightly that they actually have Union with Christ and that they're doubting that ensuring them up in the gospel to then motivate them in Repentance and in obedience and so um so to be able to say like here are some some objective outward not just inward subjective feelings but outward signs and seals that a person actually belongs to Christ I think that was a lot of the incentive that I've been able the little brief study and that I've done with looking back on some of the Federal Vision stuff I think it's it's likened to that debate with you know Doug Wilson and James y you know over a Roman Catholic baptism it's just trying to say like you know um does it does does the legitimacy the validity of a baptism rest on on on that Church's faithfulness to the gospel and it's preaching of the Gospel uh the yeah I mean because there are you know and ironically Catholics do this but like there there have been huge moments in church history where um an entire you know an entire sector of individuals all of a sudden uh lose every ounce of assurance because this priest baptized this person and this person and this person and then ordained this other priest and he baptized this person but it turns out that this priest when he was first ordained you work up the chain and when this guy was first ordained they didn't say the words right in his ordination and they missed awareness so his ordination is not valid which means everyone that he ordained is not I have a valid ordination everyone they baptize therefore does not have a like and it you know you know and so trying to like how how much of the legitimacy of our baptism ISM and more importantly our faith have to do with with sincerity and some of these inward things versus these outward objective signs and seals um and I feel like that's what it was they were trying to accomplish there's a lot of lack of assurance going on um in evangelical church today get some of that yeah presumption too so you have both of the things operating but the um the the lack of a certain thing is a problem and it's interestingly connected to the individualism conversation because the what is a person doing that's that's lacking Insurance say uh without without warrant like they're just it's not like this person is involved in Grievous sin um let's say this person's just thinking you know how can I know that I know that I know um I remember hearing the likes of John Piper back in the day to say you know don't look in like you can't don't there's no Center to that onion Maria this great line that's and that's true yeah I think it's a rather for everyone to self take 10 looks to Christ so you have you have some of that going on but with the with the lack of assurance it's um what's just kind of me it's just I need to I need to look entirely to myself um it's a it's a selfie kind of thing well you do you need to look to God and then you need to love the brothers right um right it is it's about your fruit you'll know them um so but that's that's a corporate thing like who are my brothers well love them care for them and there's going to be evidence in that and this is where the covenantal idea comes in again where we know all right I know who my brothers are and I'm going to I'm going to love them I'm going to serve them and as I do that's gonna that's gonna bear fruit I mentioned this in my um in my follow-up to the Cross politic episode um that the what I find is happening with all of the social justice stuff so you have these intersectional you not only have intersectional victim identities they're intersectional corporate victim identities right so it's not just something that a person's claiming like I am white or I'm black White's not a not one of the victim categories of course I'm black I'm I'm uh whatever lady female gay all that but you're when you baptize buy into one of transports that's a victim category now there are the oppressors that's right absolutely remember suffering your oppression I remember I'm still I still have that uh memory um when somebody when somebody claims one of these my point is they're actually buying into the corporate uh deal and I think that this is because people are I wrote somebody like they're lonely isolationists individual expressionists and they want a community they want like a visible Community a corporate identity and the beauty is we have all of that we Covenant Christians because Christians that are thinking covenantally have that you say well there's your brother um there is he's baptized in the China name and he's at the Lord's table with you he's in your church like there he is and you have this you have this clear line drawn and you you are a part of these people now and I that will help um with the person like they don't just have to it's not just a matter of personal soul searching within one's own own life look at your fruit you know test yourself to see if you're in the faith amen look at look at the work you're doing but then look around at the brothers and sisters that you're with these are your Covenant people are you with the Covenant people yeah you're with the Covenant people um and that that corporate identity thing will would leave no room for these ridiculous victim identity statuses we put all of the the ones that are real would be put in their appropriate place like you your um ethnicity is a real kind of thing of the ones that don't even exist like um being trans is not even a thing um and it would eradicate those as well as we recover the covenant's idea oh hi I didn't see you there thanks for sticking around I've gotten an important announcement to make that's the theonomy and post-millennialism Conference 2023 May 5th 6th and 7th Friday Saturday and Sunday theonomy and post-millennialism we've got the speakers that we've already had lined up that's Dr James White Dr Joseph boot Dr Gary Demar non-doctor Pastor Joel weapon but we also have a bonus speaker and that is Dale Partridge from real Christianity perhaps you've heard of them if not you should start listening to his podcast it's fantastic Dale Partridge is going to be joining our team we're going to have live panels on Friday night and Saturday night where you'll be able to write in questions and get them answered we're also going to have a catered barbecue Texas style barbecue meal on Friday that's a part of your registration for fee all that is covered so you need to get that this is how you do it go and register right now at right responseconference.com again that's right responseconference.com come on God bless