We may shed further light on the nature of Warfield’s position by looking at the broader historical-theological context within which it emerges. Toward the conclusion of his ISBE article, Warfield offers a brief sketch of the history of Trinitarian doctrine. On his . . . Continue reading →
Make no mistake. No one comes to new life and true faith apart from the sovereign, gracious, mysterious, wonderful work of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit who hovered over the face of the deep (Gen 1:2) also gives new life to dead (Eph 2:1–4) sinners. You must be born again (or from above). The mistake comes when we identify that fact with a particular experience of praying a prayer, walking the aisle, or making a decision for Christ. We should all rejoice when someone is brought to new life, even if through irregular means (e.g., a Billy Graham Crusade or the like). It is not our business to tell the sovereign, free Holy Spirit where and when he may work. It is our business, however, to pay attention to what he has told us, in Scripture, to do and say and he tells us to pay attention to the “revealed things” which are “for us and for our children forever” (Deut 29:29). Scripture tells us that the Spirit ordinarily operates through the preaching of the gospel. Continue reading →
Audio and articles on the history and theology of the social gospel and on the problem of the confusion of the law and gospel as Christians seek to bring the faith to bear on contemporary social issues. Continue reading →
If it does not care much about the Lord’s Supper (either to observe it or as to who communes) neither does it necessarily have a vital interest in the facts of the history of salvation. This tendency is plainly evident in two great figures in the history of Pietism, Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) and Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918). Both were raised in the Pietist tradition and both abandoned historic Christianity. Continue reading →
Among New Testament scholars, Mark Seifrid, influenced by Clifford’s interpretation of Protestant orthodoxy, says that it “added the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the forgiveness of sins.” The distinction between active and passive righteousness is “unnecessary and misleading” and arose from a . . . Continue reading →
It is often objected, in my experience, that the Reformed confession of the covenant of works, e.g., Westminster Confession 7.2, “II. The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam; and in him to . . . Continue reading →
After the Westminster Assembly, John Owen defended the imputation of active obedience against Piscator, turning to Christ’s active obedience as a source of encouragement and consolation for the Christian. According to Owen, Christ had to provide active obedience because Adam was under . . . Continue reading →
SO THANKFUL FOR THE ACTIVE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST.
NO HOPE WITHOUT IT. Continue reading →
[responding to Art. 1 of the Schleitheim Confession]…But I reply, first of all, that infant baptism is not a recent introduction, nor are its origins traceable to the papal church. For I say that it has always been a holy ordinance observed . . . Continue reading →
Now it is certain that our Lord did not want to change anything about the government (police) or the civil order, bus without reviling it in any way, he made his office, for which he came into the world, that of forgiving . . . Continue reading →
It was on 18 April 1521 that Luther appeared before the powers of this world and, ostensibly, the next, at at the Diet of Worms. It was there he announced publicly the formal cause of the Reformation, sola Scriptura. That doctrine says . . . Continue reading →
Kelo v. City of New London effectively turned an explicit constitutional right into a nullity. Though the language of the Fifth Amendment is clear — “nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation” — state and local governments . . . Continue reading →
Dan Warne is from Kansas and grew up on the mission field in Sinaloa, Mexico (just across the Gulf of California from Baja California, Mexico). He is also a 2017 graduate of Westminster Seminary California. Unlike most of the graduates, his ministry . . . Continue reading →
Thomas Müntzer (c. 1489–1525) was a university-trained pastor and theologian. Martin Luther recommended him to be the pastor of St Catharine’s Church in Zwickau (117 km south of Leipzig). There he came into contact with three fiery souls, Nicholas Storch (c. 1500–25), Thomas . . . Continue reading →
Q. 154 Therefore, you say that good works are necessary to salvation? A: If faith is necessary to salvation, and works necessarily flow out of true faith, (as that which cannot be idle), certainly also it follows, that good works are necessary . . . Continue reading →
Broadly, in evangelicalism, there are two stances toward the Ten Commandments or the moral law. For many, if not most evangelicals, it is believed that the Ten Commandments are so uniquely Mosaic, so identified with the Mosaic epoch in redemptive history, that . . . Continue reading →
In response to yesterday’s column, a correspondent to the HB asked how we know that racism is sin. It is true that I assumed that we all know that racism is sin, that it is obvious on the face of Scripture but . . . Continue reading →
Racism is sin. There can be no hedging or qualifying here. To regard another image bearer as inferior because of his ethnicity is sin and has no place in the church of Jesus Christ. God’s Word is clear about the only remedy . . . Continue reading →