Let’s understand what happened here. This Christian jeweler agreed to custom-make engagement rings for a lesbian couple, knowing that they were a couple, and treated them politely. But when they found out what he really believed about same-sex marriage, even though the . . . Continue reading →
2015 Archive
Heidelberg 71: What’s Baptism Got To Do With It?
Scripture does not say that baptism is the instrument of salvation any more than the Noahic flood or the Red Sea were the instruments of salvation. No, faith is the sole instrument of salvation. We were delivered through, i.e., out of of the flood and the Red Sea. Continue reading →
He Bobbles Decently And In Order
Heidelberg 70: Washed With Christ’s Blood And Spirit—The Double Benefit Of Christ
Baptism testifies and seals to us believers that we have been declared clean on the basis of Christ’s perfect righteousness and condign merit imputed to us. We have come “to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Heb 12:24). It also testifies and seals to us believers that we are being cleansed, i.e., that we are being progressively, graciously sanctified by Christ’s Spirit, that Christ’s sprinkled blood not only justifies but it is unto (toward) actual “sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 1:2). Continue reading →
Canadian Speech Tribunals In Our Future?
Laws intended to change how individuals think—about anything—require enforced silencing. If the “Freedom for All Americans” meme is about freedom (which it’s not), then it’s only about negative freedom. That is, freedom from “discrimination.” Freedom from “hate.” Which basically gives carte blanche . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 69: How Is Baptism A Sign And Seal?
69. How is it signified and sealed to you in Holy Baptism, that you have part in the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross? Thus: that Christ instituted this outward washing with water and joined therewith this promise: that I am . . . Continue reading →
Augustine On Justification, Salvation, And Assurance
Our predestination is not wrought in ourselves, but in secret with Him, in His foreknowledge. But we are called by the preaching of repentance. We are justified in the calling of mercy and fear of judgment. He feareth not judgment, who hath . . . Continue reading →
Fifth-Century Church: Instruments Were For Moses
Q: If songs were invented by unbelievers with a design of deceiving, and were appointed for those under the law, because of the childishness of their minds, why do they who have received the perfect instructions of grace, which are most contrary . . . Continue reading →
From 1815: A Brief History Of Instruments In Worship
I come now to say somewhat of the antiquity of musical instruments. But that these were not used in the Christian church in the primitive times, is attested by all the ancient writers with one consent. Hence they figuratively explain all the . . . Continue reading →
Ridgley: No Precept Nor Precedent For Instruments In NT Worship
QUESTION CLIV. What are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of his mediation? ANSWER. The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to his church the benefits of his mediation, are all his ordinances; especially the word, sacraments, . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Justice, The Bible, And The Modern World
Few questions heat up the Evangelical and Reformed worlds in North America quite as quickly as the question of how to relate biblical law to contemporary civil life. A significant number of American evangelicals think that the biblical laws of the Mosaic . . . Continue reading →
Schaff: There Was Opposition To The Organ At The Council Of Trent
The Latin church introduced it pretty generally, but not without the protest of eminent men, so that even in the Council of Trent a motion was made, though not carried, to prohibit the organ at least in the mass. The Lutheran church . . . Continue reading →
The PCUSA: Proudly Dying Since 1936
Now that the number of persons departing the denomination has increased from 89,296 to 92,433, and the statistical rate of decline has bumped from 4.83 percent to 5.54 percent, Parsons can no longer soothe fellow church bureaucrats in Louisville that decline is . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 68: How Many Sacraments?
68. How many Sacraments has Christ instituted in the New Testament? Two: Holy Baptism and Holy Supper (Heidelberg Catechism) To Protestants, whether confessional or more broadly evangelical, it may seem obvious that there are only two sacraments but to the 60 . . . Continue reading →
Guilty Until Proven Innocent. In America
“We don’t have to prove that the person is guilty,” Sean Waite, the agent in charge at the DEA’s Albuquerque’s office, told the Journal. “It’s that the money is presumed to be guilty.” —Nick Wing, “DEA Steals $16,000 In Cash From Young . . . Continue reading →
The Thrill Is Gone
Heidelberg 67: The Sacraments Are True Signs And Seals Of Christ And His Gospel (2)
67. Are both the Word and the Sacraments designed to direct our faith to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation? Yes truly, for the Holy Spirit teaches in the Gospel and assures us by . . . Continue reading →
A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall
Why Churches Are Tax Exempt In America
Religious institutions are exempt from taxation because our government has not been given the power to govern religion. This is an expression of the basic principles behind the founding of this country—that is, there is an Authority above the government that has . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 67: The Sacraments Are True Signs And Seals Of Christ And His Gospel (1)
67. Are both the Word and the Sacraments designed to direct our faith to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation? Yes truly, for the Holy Spirit teaches in the Gospel and assures us by . . . Continue reading →