Our Lord Jesus called the church to make disciples (Matt 28:18–20) and he even ordained means by which we might become disciples and grow in our discipleship. The Apostles followed this pattern (Acts 2:42; Rom 10:14). Nevertheless, when we think about discipleship . . . Continue reading →
Everyone will have to agree that for Adam, perfect keeping of the law for a fixed period of time was the means to acquire eternal beatitude that cannot be lost. When the covenant of works was broken, God could have rescinded this . . . Continue reading →
Hywel Jones is one of God’s gifts to his church. He is a model of piety and grace. He gave devotions every week in chapel for several years during his career at Westminster Seminary in California. One of those series was on . . . Continue reading →
What Augustine so strikingly formulated concerning the relation of the two historic economies of the history of redemption: “Novum Testamentum in Vetere latet, Vetus in Novo patet” [The New Testament hides in the old, the Old reveals itself in the New] permits . . . Continue reading →
I. It is a matter of the greatest moment, that we learn distinctly to consider the covenant of grace, either as it is in its substance or essence, as they call it, or as it is in diverse ways proposed by God, . . . Continue reading →
[5.] We on all accounts stand in need of a surety for us, or on our behalf. Neither without the interposition of such a surety could any covenant between God and us be firm and stable, or “an everlasting covenant, ordered in . . . Continue reading →
For those who’ve inquired about any PCA precedent on digitally “administering” the Lord’s Supper, below is a pertinent string of excerpts from the Minutes of the 39th, 40th and 41st General Assemblies (2011, 2012 and 2013 in Louisville, Virginia Beach and Greenville SC). Continue reading →
FIFTH QUESTION: THE UNITY OF THE COVENANT OF GRACE Was the covenant of grace one and the same as to substance under each dispensation? We affirm against the Socinians, Anabaptists and Remonstrants I. This most important controversy is waged by us with . . . Continue reading →
IV. IN WHAT DO THE OLD AND THE NEW COVENANT AGREE, AND IN WHAT DO THEY DIFFER? Since there is but one covenant, and the Scriptures speak of it as though it were two, we must consider in what particulars the old . . . Continue reading →
The Covenant of Grace Identical in both Old and New Testaments Question #1: When was this covenant of grace initiated? Answer: Due to a misunderstanding concerning the nature of the covenant of grace, the Socinians and Arminians, who are in this respect . . . Continue reading →
A Preface On Paradigms As Baptists and Reformed folk engage each other’s theological traditions two things need to happen to make that engagement productive: 1) They need to realize that each tradition is theologically distinct. Some Baptists have historical and institutional relations . . . Continue reading →
As Philip Rieff once commented, in past times people did not go to church to be made happy; they went to have their misery explained to them. If the Book of Common Prayer is a guide, that is understandable: Life in the . . . Continue reading →
Regular readers of this space will know that I am a regular (or perhaps, more properly, an irregular) guest of the Presbycast podcast hosted by Brad Isbell (Chortles Weakly) and Wresbyterian. This is a valuable (if sometimes quirky) resource for the confessional . . . Continue reading →
In reading Particular Baptist sources from the classical period of Particular Baptist theology, piety, and practice and from modern proponents of that tradition I have become more deeply impressed with how superficial my understanding was and how great the differences are in . . . Continue reading →
Obs. III. Divine institutions cease not without an express divine abrogation.—Where they are once granted and erected by the authority of God, they can never cease without an express act of the same authority taking them away. So was it with the . . . Continue reading →
In internet speak a “404” is the message that comes up when a link is broken. That is what happened when I searched the website of Calvary Chapel South Bay (Gardena, CA) for information about James MacDonald. This is good news because . . . Continue reading →