What Not To Do When Visiting The Dying

by on March 9, 2026 | 17 Comments

Recently, my dear friend and co-laborer in the gospel Mike Abendroth posted a video from Paul Washer, a well known figure in the Young, Restless, and Reformed (YRR) movement.1 The video touches on a practice with roots in the medieval church.

The New Inquisition

In 1184 Pope Lucius III promulgated the papal decree, Ad Abolendam (i.e., “Unto the Abolishing” of heresy in the church). In 1233, Gregory IX “appointed full-time Papal inquistors drawn mainly from the Dominican and Franciscan Orders” to root out the Cathars.2 There has been, in some quarters of the Reformed movement, perhaps more in the British Isles and in the American Colonies, particularly among the Congregationalists and Baptists a kind of inquisition, which seeks to root out nominal Christianity in the church in a never-ending quest to achieve a pure, gathered church. Washer, a Baptist missionary and founder and executive director of HeartCry Missionary Society, is a representative of this tradition.3

He became well known in 2002 for his “Shocking Youth Message” from Matthew 7:13 in which he said,

I stand here today . . . I’m not troubled in my heart about your self-esteem. I’m not troubled in my heart about whether or not you feel good about yourself, whether or not life is turning out like you want it to turn out, or whether or not your checkbook is balanced. There’s only one thing that gave me a sleepless night. There’s only one thing that troubled me all throughout the morning, and this is this. Within a hundred years, a great majority of people in this building will possibly be in hell. And many who even profess Jesus Christ as Lord will spend an eternity in hell. . . . I want you to know that the greatest heresy in the American evangelical and protestant church is that, if you pray and ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart, He will definitely come in. You will not find that in any place in Scripture. You will not find that anywhere in Baptist history until about 50 years ago. What you need to know is that salvation is by faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ. And faith alone in Jesus Christ is preceded and followed by repentance . . . a turning away from sin, a hatred for the things that God hates and a love for the things that God loves, a growing in holiness and a desire not to be like Britney Spears, not to be like the world, and not to be like the great majority of American Christians, but to be like Jesus Christ! I don’t know why you’re clapping. I’m talking about you. I didn’t come here to get amens. I didn’t come here to be applauded. I’m talking about you.4

Big conferences and fiery, even startling sermons are the stuff that inaugurated the YRR movement. These are their “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” moments. After all, John Piper’s famous “Sea Shells” sermon was preached about two years prior to 40,000 college students gathered for a Passion Conference.5 Collin Hansen characterizes it as one of the seminal moments in the development of the YRR movement.6 In 2021 I wrote, “Evangelicals flocked to Driscoll and Piper, in part, because those preachers told them exactly what God wanted them to do with every moment of their lives. The control that people ceded to Piper, Driscoll, MacDonald et al. over their lives was an abdication of the Reformation doctrine of Christian liberty.”7 I stand by those words as I stand by these:

Piper is entitled to his opinion about when you should retire and what you should do with those years. He is not entitled to bind your conscience and say, “Thus says the Lord” about what you should do with your retirement. The preacher does not have that authority. Should we be critical of American materialism? Certainly but when I stand before God I will not be presenting to him the last thing I did with my life. I will be presenting to him the last thing Jesus did with his life for me. If you think that Piper’s doctrine of final salvation through works does not have practical implications you are not listening carefully enough. His doctrine of final salvation through works gives him the leverage he needs to tell you what you must do with your retirement. Driscoll was going to take back and transform Seattle so he got to tell the Gen-Xers who followed him when to marry and who could work and not work and how many children to have.8

So it is with Paul Washer’s death-bed inquisition. In the video he tells the story of how he visited John MacArthur as he, MacArthur, was dying. He recounts how he began by doing something “that men do not often do to men like him but should do all the time. I walked in and I said ‘Dr. MacArthur, is it well with your soul? Are you reading the Word, talk to me about your prayer life. How is your communion with Christ?'”

It is healthy to think through what is wrong with this approach to pastoral ministry and visitation for a couple of reasons. First, it provides a clear contrast with good practice, and second, it highlights and illuminates the differences between Reformed theology, piety, and practice and the YRR movement.

As I mentioned last month regarding elder visits,9 the tendency is to open with an interrogation of the spiritual state of the family being visited (i.e., begin with the subjective rather than the objective—that is, the good news of what Christ has done for us and consequently what the Spirit is doing in us, with attendance to the means of grace, before moving to the subjective).

Washer’s inquisition of John MacArthur makes for a dramatic story in which Washer is the fearless Nathan-like prophet, but it reverses the Pauline order. He has started with Ephesians 4 when he should be starting with Ephesians 1:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him. (Eph 1:3–10)

In Reformed theology, piety, and practice we respect the visible church. Someone in good standing in his congregation (i.e., not under discipline) is regarded according to his profession of faith. He is treated as a believer. We call that the judgment of charity. We do not approach people under the presumption that they are mere professors of faith who must prove to every inquisitor, especially to someone who is not an elder or minister in his congregation, that his profession of faith is genuine.

A Pastoral Visit

I have been a professor for the last three decades, but before I was a professor I was a pastor, and as a pastor I made regular house calls and hospital calls, and I still have occasion to make pastoral calls. Were I visiting someone who is not under discipline, who has been in faithful attendance to the means of grace, who has given the church no reason to doubt his profession of faith, whom I reasonably believe to be dying, the first words out of my mouth would be to offer him the comfort of the gospel: “Friend, you know your time is short, but I have good news for you: Jesus loves you and he has not brought you this far to let you go.” I would read a psalm, perhaps Psalm 23 or Psalm 25, or Psalm 27—what a precious spiritual resource are the psalms!— I would pray briefly and, depending on the circumstances, I might sit for a while (but not too long) with the member of my congregation. Is it appropriate to ask this person if he is trusting in Jesus? Yes, but to interrogate him on the quality and quantity of his prayers and devotions is, in this context, at this time, untimely and unseemly. It is a great joy to pastors and to every believer when a member asks for a psalm and a prayer and spontaneously gives a profession of faith and assurance, but suffering and its consequences are real.10

Those who have been gravely ill know how debilitating a serious illness can be. Dying is even more difficult. Those in hospice are often on pain medication, which clouds the mind. If there must be the sort of inquisition Washer conducted it ought to come before the last days and hours of someone’s life. Pain, suffering, and the fear of death can bring doubts, and it is not the calling of the shepherd of Christ’s flock to exacerbate those doubts. He is there to heal, as he can, not to pour salt in the spiritual wounds created by illness and death.

We have a wonderful example of best practices when visiting the dying. We have a model pastor, “the Great Shepherd of the Sheep” (Heb 13:20), Jesus, who shepherded one of his lambs even while he himself was dying. There were two men with Jesus as he was being crucified, one on his right and one on his left. Unlike Jesus they were criminals. Luke says,

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:39–43)

In the mysterious providence of God, one of the criminals was a reprobate, but by the sovereign grace of God, one of the criminals was, in his last hours, given the grace of new life and true faith. He knew the greatness of his sin and misery and, by marvelous favor of God, he knew who and what Jesus was, the Savior, and he believed. His profession of faith is as profound as it is brief, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Our Good Shepherd did not treat the dying, penitent the way Washer treated MacArthur. He did not question him about his prayer life, his Bible reading, or the quality of his faith. Rather he immediately accepted the man’s profession despite the incongrutity between the man’s profession and his previous life.

Our Lord responded not with the law but with the good news: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” That is a pastoral visit to the dying Christian that we should emulate.

notes

  1. Source. See the resources below for more on the YRR movement.
  2. F. L. Cross and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press, 2005), 841.
  3. HeartCry Missionary Society.
  4. Shocking Youth Message (video); transcript.
  5. Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, “How John Piper’s Seashells Swept Over a Generation” (March 20, 2017).
  6. Collin Hansen, Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists (Crossway, 2008), 14.
  7. R. Scott Clark, Piper’s Sea Shell Sermon Illustrates How Far the YRR Was From the Reformation
  8. Clark, “Piper’s Sea Shell Sermon.”
  9. R. Scott Clark, “Making Elder Visits Good News Instead of Bad News.“
  10. For more on assurance see the resources below.

©R. Scott Clark. All Rights Reserved.

RESOURCES

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  • R. Scott Clark
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    R.Scott Clark is the President of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, the author and editor of, and contributor to several books and the author of many articles. He has taught church history and historical theology since 1997 at Westminster Seminary California. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.

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17 comments

  2. I remember back when I listened to MacArthur faithfully him telling of a hospital visit where the elderly man dying told him how he never got the victory over a particular sin he wrestled with. Sounds like a Rome death bed confession kind of thing.
    I’m 73. Ive been with too many dying people-family. I just try to comfort them with song, Prayer and the reading of the scriptures.

    Reply ↓

    • Jeffrey,

      Indeed, there are many ways in which a Nathan-like ministry is most useful and needed. That would be one. The time for Nathan to speak is probably before the deathbed. Now, were it a man under discipline who was dying, a Nathan could be most valuable but an inquisition about one’s prayer life and devotions doesn’t quite reach Nathan-esque status.

      Reply ↓

  4. Dr Clark,

    I recently heard a discussion on a podcast hosted by Confessional Reformed pastors on the topic of sanctification. One expressed the view that our sanctification progress and works in this life will directly affect our eternal enjoyment/experience of heaven. The scripture referenced was Jesus’ parable of the talents. This was a commonly held view in the Baptistic churches I grew up in.

    However, Jesus’ parable of all the laborers getting equal pay at the end regardless of hours spent working seems to contradict that interpretation. I am interested to hear your thoughts on this.

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Diane,

      There are Reformed people who talk this way, typically out of a desire to drive people to become more sanctified but it isn’t the way our confessions or better theologians speak.

      Consider Heidelberg 63:

      63. Do our good works merit nothing, even though it is God’s will to reward them in this life and in that which is to come?

      The reward comes not of merit, but of grace.

      Our good works merit nothing. That’s the Reformed confession. Consider Belgic Confession art. 24:

      We believe that this true faith, produced in man by the hearing of God’s Word and by the work of the Holy Spirit, regenerates him and makes him a “new man,”58 causing him to live the “new life”59 and freeing him from the slavery of sin.

      Therefore, far from making people cold toward living in a pious and holy way, this justifying faith, quite to the contrary, so works within them that apart from it they will never do a thing out of love for God but only out of love for themselves and fear of being condemned. So then, it is impossible for this holy faith to be unfruitful in a human being, seeing that we do not speak of an empty faith but of what Scripture calls “faith working through love,” which leads a man to do of himself the works that God has commanded in his Word.

      These works, proceeding from the good root of faith, are good and acceptable to God, since they are all sanctified by his grace. Yet they do not count toward our justification—for by faith in Christ we are justified,
      even before we do good works. Otherwise they could not be good, any more than the fruit of a tree could be good if the tree is not good in the first place. So then, we do good works, but not for merit—for what would we merit?

      Rather, we are indebted to God for the good works we do, and not he to us, since it is he who “works in us both to will and do according to his good pleasure”—thus keeping in mind what is written: “When you have done all that is commanded you, then you shall say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have done what it was our duty to do.’ ”

      Yet we do not wish to deny that God rewards good works—but it is by his grace that he crowns his gifts. Moreover, although we do good works we do not base our salvation on them; for we cannot do any work that is not defiled by our flesh and also worthy of punishment. And even if we could point to one, memory of a single sin is enough for God to reject that work.

      So we would always be in doubt, tossed back and forth without any certainty, and our poor consciences would be tormented constantly if they did not rest on the merit of the suffering and death of our Savior.

      I highlighted the key phrases. Grace is free favor. It’s not proportional favor. Christ earned our rewards. God freely, disproportionately rewards them. Our good works are, of themselves, stained with sin so that they have to be sanctified by God! How can they ever be the basis for a reward? I discuss this also in the new commentary on the catechism. This episode of the Heidelcast also discusses this issue.

      Heidelminicast Q&A: What About The Judgment According To Works?

      Reply ↓

  5. Good day, Dr Scott.

    I truly understand your position. I recently just started reading the Heidelberg Catechism and converted to the Reformed faith.

    I saw your recent reply to a comment where you said, it places us in a work based salvation.

    I have a question concerning that, sir and here is it:

    What if on a dying bed, a Christian has sin in his bosom and then like David and Nathan, God uses another brethren to remind and convict the dying brother? What do you think about that, Sir?

    Reply ↓

    • We are not Catholic, we do not need last rites. We will all likely die with unconfessed sin “in our bosom.” If I die in a car accident on the way to work after a fight with my wife, I am still as saved and heaven-bound as if I had died quietly praying with my pastor. David was not convicted of his sin on his deathbed, but during his life when he then had time to write Psalm 51. Our assurance is in the perfect, finished work of Christ, not our imperfect confession of sin moments before we die. This is the comfort of HC 1.

      Reply ↓

    • Osho,

      I’m not sure what you mean by “sin in his bosom.”

      As I understand Romans 7 (as the Reformed have historically understood it), Paul, as a mature Christian so struggled with sin that sometimes he almost despaired. He didn’t despair but threw himself on the grace of God. In that case, who of us is sinless, even before death? That’s why I need the gospel and no more so than in the last hours. That’s why Machen’s last words were, “So thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it.” He knew that his righteousness was Christ, that Christ’s active and suffering obedience were imputed to him and therefore he was right with God. My standing with God isn’t continent upon my sanctity. I’m not under a covenant of works. I’m under a covenant of grace.

      A believer, i.e., one who has been given new life and true faith, knows his sins and confesses them to the Lord but he trusts in the grace and mercy of God.

      I don’t accept the premise, however, that what really leads a man to mortification is the sort of examination proposed by Washer. I am convinced of what Walter Marshall called “The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification.” The road to sanctification isn’t through Sinai (though the law has its role!) but through Golgatha. The law exposes our sin but it the good news that the Spirit uses to change us and to conform us to Christ.

      The question isn’t so much whether a man is a sinner even up to the moment of death but whether he is penitent. Our Lord said,

      “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you (Matt 21:28–31).

      What did our Lord say about the tax collector and the Pharisee?

      “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9–14)

      According to Heidelberg 87, the issue is impenitence:

      87. Can they then not be saved who do not turn to God from their unthankful, impenitent life?

      By no means, for, as the Scripture says, no unchaste person, idolater, adulterer, thief, covetous man, drunkard, slanderer, robber, or the like shall inherit the Kingdom of God.

      We agree with Jesus. Tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom before the self-righteous because tax collectors and prostitutes know what they are.

      Reply ↓

  6. Thanks for the post. It was a good reminder that one’s views on the law and gospel affect real things, such as how one speaks with the dying.

    Do you, by any chance, have a link to the full Paul Washer video?

    Reply ↓

  7. Hi Scott,
    Great article, thank you. This is a genuine follow-up question: What do we do with the texts that read like 2 Cor 5:10:

    “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” (ESV)

    Paul is writing to believers, to the church at Corinth. So it appears that all believers must appear before the divine tribunal, and be judged according to their works. How do the Reformed incorporate such texts into their understanding of soteriology? No doubt you have already written on this topic, so if you would point me to where I’d be extremely grateful.

    Reply ↓

    • Chris,

      I have written on this in my commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism and here on the HB but more importantly, the Reformed churches confess an interpretation of this passage in Belgic Confession art. 37:

      Finally, we believe, according to God’s Word, that when the time appointed by the Lord is come (which is unknown to all creatures) and the number of the elect is complete, our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, bodily and visibly, as he ascended, with great glory and majesty, to declare himself the judge of the living and the dead. He will burn this old world, in fire and flame, in order to cleanse it.

      Then all human creatures will appear in person before that great judge—men, women, and children, who have lived from the beginning until the end of the world. They will be summoned there by the voice of the archangel and by the sound of the divine trumpet.

      For all those who died before that time will be raised from the earth, their spirits being joined and united with their own bodies in which they lived. And as for those who are still alive, they will not die like the others but will be changed “in the twinkling of an eye” from “corruptible to incorruptible.” Then “the books” (that is, the consciences) will be opened, and the dead will be judged according to the things they did in the world,83 whether good or evil.

      Indeed, all people will give account of all the idle words they have spoken,84 which the world regards as only playing games. And then the secrets and hypocrisies of men will be publicly uncovered in the sight of all.

      Therefore, with good reason the thought of this judgment is horrible and dreadful to wicked and evil people.

      But it is very pleasant and a great comfort to the righteous and elect, since their total redemption will then be accomplished. They will then receive the fruits of their labor and of the trouble they have suffered; their innocence will be openly recognized by all; and they will see the terrible vengeance that God will bring on the evil ones who tyrannized, oppressed, and tormented them in this world.

      The evil ones will be convicted by the witness of their own consciences, and shall be made immortal—but only to be tormented in the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels

      In contrast, the faithful and elect will be crowned with glory and honor. The Son of God will “confess their names” before God his Father and the holy and elect angels; all tears will be “wiped from their eyes”; and their cause—at present condemned as heretical and evil by many judges and civil officers—will be acknowledged as the “cause of the Son of God.” And as a gracious reward the Lord will make them possess a glory such as the heart of man could never imagine.

      So we look forward to that great day with longing in order to enjoy fully the promises of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

      See also Heidelberg Catechism 52:

      52. What comfort is it to you, that Christ “shall come to judge the living and the dead”?

      That in all my sorrows and persecutions, with uplifted head, I look for the very same one, who before offered himself for me to the judgment of God, and removed all curse from me, to come as judge from heaven, who shall cast all his and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but shall take me with all his chosen ones to himself into heavenly joy and glory.

      We have already undergone the judgment at Golgatha. We who are in Christ are no longer under law (condemnation) but under grace.

      Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

      and

      Rom 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

      and

      Rom 5: 1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

      and

      Rom 8:1: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

      As to 2 Cor 5:10, it helps to read that verse in its broader context and to remember what’s happening in the Corinthian church. The self-proclaimed “Super Apostles” have denounced Paul, his office, message, and ministry. This is part of his reply. There are some in the congregation (and a world outside it) who have not yet believed, who are under judgment. That likely includes the power-mad “Super Apostles.” So, he says,

      2 Cor 5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

      He is not putting believers back under the covenant of works for their salvation or standing with God. Paul is saying that he is prepared to stand before God. The question is whether the self-proclaimed “Super Apostles” are also prepared. He is in Christ. Are they?

      Calvin:

      But while Paul, from a holy desire of acting aright, constantly sisted himself before the bar of Christ, he had it in view to reprove indirectly those ambitious teachers, who reckoned it enough to have the plaudits of their fellow-men. For when he says, that no one can escape, he seems in a manner to summon them to that heavenly tribunal. Farther, though the word translated to be manifested might be rendered to appear, yet Paul had, in my opinion, something farther in view—that we shall then come forth to the light, while for the present many are concealed, as it were, in the darkness. For then the books, which are now shut, will be opened. (Dan. 7:10.)

      John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, trans. John Pringle vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 225–26.

      We who are in Christ “have died.” We are in Christ. Therefore we do not live for ourselves unlike the “Super Apostles, who still regard people “according to the flesh” (apparently even Christ). Paul is a new creation. Are the “Super Apostles”? All who are reconciled to God are at peace with God and we do not fear the judgment.

      Reply ↓

      • Hi Scott,
        Thank you a ton for taking the time to offer these reflections, and thank you for your patience with such questions, as you probably get them ad nauseam. I’ve put your commentary on the Heidelberg on my to purchase list. Does it have a Scripture Index? That would be so helpful. For the Belgic Confession too (and WCF), that would be incredibly useful.

        Reply ↓

  8. Praise be to God that in the ebb and flow of life on this pilgrim journey, our assurance is found not in our dedication to outward acts of piety but in the grace and mercy of God given through Jesus Christ. HC 1: My only comfort in life and in DEATH, is that I am not my own . . .

    Reply ↓

  9. Agreed. But, being a refugee from liberal religion myself, I can understand where some of the YRR are coming from. I understand that some YRR are from the RCA and UPCUSA where the Gospel of grace gets swallowed up by every “social justice” fad. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” preaching has its place. It is way too easy to be among those who are “at ease in Zion”.

    Reply ↓

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