God therefore displayed on Mount Sinai the law of the Ten Commandments as a covenant of works in subservience to the covenant of grace. He displayed it in that form in order that the people might, by contemplating it, see what kind . . . Continue reading →
Author Archives: Tony Phelps
Perkins: We Are Clothed With Christ Now
…though we be clothed with Christ in baptism, yet we must further desire to be clothed upon (2 Cor. 5:4). In this life we are clad with the [righteousness] of Christ (1 Cor. 1:30). This is one garment. In the life to . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: The Mercy Seat Pointed To The Covenant Of Redemption
Moreover, the tables of the law in the ark were covered and hid by the mercy seat, or propitiatory cover. This prefigured that the violated law should be so covered by the divine Surety, who was to fulfill all the righteousness of . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger: The Last Days Begin With The First Advent
Another way New Testament writers linked the coming Redeemer with the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy was by referring to the new messianic age as the “last days.” In fact, the phrase “latter days” appears twenty-seven times in the New Testament. In . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: We Come To God In Christ Even Though We Sin
…there is a great temptation arising upon the consideration of our own indignity. For when our sins come to our remembrance, they drive us from the presence of God and make us that we dare not pray. Now the remedy is this. . . . Continue reading →
Luther On The Difference Between Hagar’s Children And Sarah
Therefore the Law or the old covenant contains only physical promises, to which some such condition as this is always attached: “If you will hear My voice” (Ps. 95:7); “If you will keep My covenant” (Ex. 19:5); “If you walk in My . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: Moses Was A Mixed Administration
The Ten Commandments, accordingly, were published from Sinai in the form of a covenant, or federal, transaction. The Sinai transaction was a mixed dispensation. In it, the covenant of grace was repeated and published; the covenant of works was awfully displayed in . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: We Must Receive Christ Where He Is Offered
Of our receiving of Christ given by God, two things must be observed. One is that we must there receive Christ where God offers and gives Him, that is, in the word and sacraments. The second is that faith is our hand . . . Continue reading →
Luther: The Law And The Gospel Make Promise On Different Conditions
For the Law did not have promises added to it about Christ and His blessings, about deliverance from the curse of the Law, sin, and death, and about the free gift of the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and eternal life. But the . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: The Covenant Of Works Was Displayed On Sinai
That the law as a covenant of works was displayed on Mount Sinai appears also from this: the Ten Commandments, written on tables of stone and so given to Moses on Sinai are called, by the apostle Paul, “the ministration of death, . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger: Christ Fulfilled Prophecy In Detail
It is clear from the Gospel accounts that many details of Jesus’s life and messianic mission fulfilled otherwise obscure Old Testament prophecies in stunning and exacting detail. Notice the way New Testament writers spoke of the finished work of Christ in providing . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: The Whole Christ Is Given To Us
. . . how are all believers made one with Christ? Answer. By a donation on God’s part whereby Christ is given unto us and by a receiving on our part. The donation is whereby Christ is made ours for right, so . . . Continue reading →
Luther: A Christian Expects To Be Shamed By The World
See here: a Christian must not think or undertake to arrange his affairs so that he is praised and blessed by the people of this world. No, it is already decided that he must expect shame and cursing, and submit to it . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: The Unregenerate Are Under The Covenant Of Works
As an evidence that all unregenerate persons are under the dominion of the law as a covenant of works, the natural bent of their hearts in all their views respecting the means of salvation is to the way of that covenant [of . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger: Three Elements Of New Testament Eschatology
There are three basic elements of New Testament eschatology. The first of these is that the Old Testament promise of a coming Redeemer was realized in Jesus Christ. This was a prominent theme throughout the New Testament, especially in the Gospel of . . . Continue reading →
Luther: If You Are Under The Law You Are A Slave
Now it should be noted that the Holy Spirit insults the people of the Law and of works here by calling them “sons of the slave woman.” It is as though He were to say: “Why do you boast about the righteousness . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: The Sins Of Believers Do Not Wreck Their Justification
Believers are perfectly and irreversibly justified, and therefore, though their iniquities deserve eternal wrath, yet they can no more make them actually liable to that wrath. It is the peculiar privilege of believers only, who are already justified and so set forever . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck Distinguished Between Law And Gospel
The Word is differentiated into law and gospel. The law finds its end in Christ, who sets believers free from the curse of the law so that they may walk according to the Spirit and delight in God’s law in their inner . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger On The First Resurrection
The first coming of Christ and his resurrection ensured that in the present age Christians are already raised with him. Christ’s resurrection from the dead also ensured that we believers will be raised bodily at the end of the age (1 Cor. . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: God Accepts The Obedience Of Believers As Fruit And Evidence
Although the law as a rule of duty to believers requires perfect obedience from them, yet it admits of God’s accepting their sincere obedience performed in faith, though it is imperfect. It admits of His accepting this obedience not indeed as any . . . Continue reading →