Our assessment, in a nutshell, is as follows: TLNF’s (Book — The Law is not of Faith) doctrine of republication represents a reactionary pendulum swing against the views of Norman Shepherd and the Federal Vision (FV) theology. Although advocates of the republication view properly recognize many of the deviant formulations in the Shepherd/FV theology, many of the alternatives they propose are also problematic, and warrant careful evaluation….
In the estimation of TLNF, the OPC needs the one and true remedy for ridding the denomination of the bad fruits of “Shepherd-ism” (in all its varieties), by laying the proverbial axe to its root in “Murray-ism.” Of course, according to TLNF, that axe is the doctrine of republication. However, it will become clearer how the republication
viewpoint, following Meredith G. Kline, is itself a reactionary theological pendulum swing away from the plumb line of the Confession….Kline’s Reactionary Theology
As noted above, Kline and the authors of TLNF are correct to point to dangerous imbalances in the theology of Norman Shepherd and FV. But is it possible that even as Shepherd and FV represented a pendulum swing away from the WCF in one direction, Kline’s reaction to it might constitute a swing in another? We may identify three components of Kline’s teaching and writings intended to counteract the teaching of Shepherd and FV. In our view, these components also swing wide of the plumb line of the Westminster Standards.
Elam, Van Kooten, Berquist
Merit and Moses; A Critique of the Klinean Doctrine of Republication, pg. 3, 16, 17
So just how did Kline’s theology end up being a reactionary pendulum swing to Shepherd and putatively Murray?
Well, what Shepherd did was to fold grace into law so that there was not enough discontinuity between grace and law with the consequence that the covenant of works was seen as a gracious covenant, on the other hand, er hand went all reactionary by folding law into grace and strangely enough also found himself, like his nemesis Shepherd, with not enough discontinuity between law and grace with the consequence that the covenant of Grace is described as “being a covenant of grace except when it’s not.” Shepherd made a legal covenant gracious. Kline has made a gracious covenant legal.
For Shepherd’s folding of grace into the legal covenant the result was a confusion of faithfulness and faith for justification. For Kline’s folding of law into the gracious covenant the result is a confusion of law and Gospel for the Old Testament saints in the Mosaic administration of the covenant of grace. If Shepherd make the mistake of making the Covenant of works, gracious, Kline has made the mistake of making the covenant of grace, legal so that the covenant of grace in the Mosaic covenant is described as one that includes “works.” In Kline’s covenant of Grace one can earn merit, via law-keeping, to stay in the land. Shepherd and Kline agree that law and grace must be folded into each other. The only difference is that Shepherd folded grace into law (Covenant of works is seen as being gracious) while Kline folded law into grace (Gracious Mosaic covenant is seen as being legal).
