Is the moral law of perpetual obligation? Then it follows that, as a covenant of works, it retains and will continue throughout eternity to retain its whole authority and obligation over every sinner of mankind who lives and dies under it. In . . . Continue reading →
Author Archives: Tony Phelps
Luther: Only Christ’s Merits And Works Save
Listen to this: For Christ alone it is proper to help and save others with His merits and works. The works of others are of benefit to no one, not to themselves either; for the statement stands: “The just shall live by . . . Continue reading →
Machen: According To Christ, The Gospel Is About Christ
But what was this gospel which Jesus proclaimed. this gospel that is now to replace the gospel about Him which has been proclaimed by the Apostle Paul and the historic Church? Our only knowledge of it is obtained from the works of . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: Sincere Obedience Is Not Enough
Is the law of the Lord perfect, and does it require that our obedience be perfect in its principles, parts, degrees, and continuance? It is impossible, then, that sincere obedience can entitle a sinner to eternal life. A man’s faith may be . . . Continue reading →
Boston: The Mosaic Covenant Was An Administration Of The Covenants Of Grace And Works
Wherefore I conceive the two covenants to have been both delivered on Mount Sinai to the Israelites. First, The covenant of grace made with Abraham, contained in the preface, repeated and promulgate there unto Israel, to be believed and embraced by faith, . . . Continue reading →
Machen: It Is Not Enough To Know That Jesus Is Great And Good
It is not enough for us to know that Jesus is great and good; it is not enough for us to know that He was instrumental in the creation of the world and that He is now seated on the throne of . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: Sinai Considered As Covenant Of Works
The law that was given from Mount Sinai by the ministry of Moses, considered as the matter of the covenant of works, was a ministry of rigor and of terror in opposition to the gospel dispensation, which is called grace; it was . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: Christ Brings Only To the Father Those Given To Him By The Father
Christ brings none to the Father, but those given him by the Father; and this donation, we know, depends on eternal election; for those whom the Father has destined to life, he delivers to the keeping of his Son, that he may . . . Continue reading →
Boston: In The Covenant Of Grace We Are Not Sent Back To The Covenant Of Works
For Adam, by his sin, being become the child of wrath, and both in body and in soul subject to the curse, and seeing nothing due to him but the wrath and vengeance of God, was “afraid, and sought to hide himself . . . Continue reading →
Machen: Faith Is Not A Meritorious Work
Faith is not a meritorious work; the New Testament never says that a man is saved on account of his faith, but always that he is saved through his faith. Faith is the means which the Holy Spirit uses to apply to . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: Ignorance Of The Distinction Between Law And Gospel Fuels Self Righteousness
Ignorance of the difference between the law and the gospel promotes also, in a great degree, the strength and influence of a self-righteous temper. When a man is driven to acts of obedience by the dread of God’s wrath revealed in the . . . Continue reading →
Machen: Justification Sola Fide Is Liberating
[Justification by faith alone] has been a liberating doctrine; to it is due most of the freedom that we possess today, and if it is abandoned freedom will soon depart. If we are interested in what God thinks of us, we shall . . . Continue reading →
Boston: Faith Establishes The Law
Object. “Do we then make void the law,” (Rom. 3:31.) leaving an imputation of dishonour upon it, as a disregarded path, by pretending to return another way? Answ. Sinners, being united to Christ by faith, return, being carried back the same way . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: New Converts Need To Be Taught The Distinction Between Law And Gospel
If awakened sinners are ignorant of the leading points of difference between the law and the gospel, this will discourage them much from attempting to come to Christ for salvation. If they cannot distinguish aright between the law and the gospel, they . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: No Natural Knowledge Of The Gospel
The law is known partly by the light of nature (Rom. 2:14–15), but the gospel is known only by a revelation from heaven (Matt. 11:27). Man, though he is a fallen creature, has in some degree a natural knowledge of the law, . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Distinguishing Law And Gospel Is Basic To Preaching
The basic principle in application is to know whether the passage is a statement of the law or of the gospel. For when the Word is preached, the law and the gospel operate differently. The law exposes the disease of sin, and . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: We Were Created Able To Obey
The law [as a covenant of works] regards us as creatures originally formed with sufficient ability to yield perfect obedience to it; and accordingly, it requires us to retain and exert that ability in performing perfectly all the duties that we owe . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: Our Union With Christ Is A Source Of Comfort
It avails not, indeed, a little to increase our confidence, that we are united to the Son of God by a bond so close, that we can find in our nature that holiness of which we are in want; for he not . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: We Are Wired For Works
The children of fallen Adam are so bent on working for life that they will on no account cease from it till the Holy Spirit so convinces them of their sin and misery as to show them that Mount Sinai is wholly . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: Republication Revealed Self-Righteousness
One reason, therefore, why the Lord displayed the law as a covenant of works* on Sinai was that self-righteous Israelites and all pharisaic professors to the end of time might see that as they have sinned and so have not performed perfect . . . Continue reading →