From Stones to Children

"And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham" (Matt 3:9)

In his rebuke of the Pharisees and Sadducees, John the Baptist's is not only telling these men what God COULD DO, in raising up children for Abraham, but what God DOES DO in raising up children for Abraham. All men are conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity with the stony heart of Jeremiah 17:9. As such it takes the resurrecting grace of God to turn the stony heart of man into a child of Abraham who has a hunger and thirst for righteousness. This clearly established biblical truth is an odd doctrine in this Laodicean age. Yet it sets the Primitive Baptist Church apart from virtually every other group of people who lay claim to the name of Christ by giving God 100% of the glory for the election and salvation of his people.