According to many, Richard Baxter (1615–91) was a model Reformed pastor, a tireless advocate for Christian piety, and evangelist but a deeper look at Baxter’s theology should give us pause in proposing him as a model for 21st-century Reformed theology, piety, and practice. Most who identify with the Reformed theology, piety, and practice do not realize that Baxter effectively scuttled the Reformation doctrine of justification by God’s unconditional favor alone (sola gratia), through faith resting, receiving, and trusting alone (sola fide). To put this error in context, J. H. Alsted (1618) said: “the article of justification is said to be the article of the standing or falling of the church.” Baxter sponsored a great crisis in the doctrine of justification in the Reformed churches. His 1649 Aphorisms on justification taught quite clearly that faith justifies because it obeys. Where the orthodox (e.g., Westminster Larger Catechism, 70–73) had been explicit that only Christ’s obedience is the ground and that, in the act of justification, faith’s only virtue is Christ’s finished work. Baxter’s revision of the doctrine of justification prompted sharp responses from John Owen, whose 1677 treatise On the Doctrine of Justification By Faith (volume 5 of his Works) was an extended repudiation of Baxter.

1. R. Scott Clark, Burying The Lead On Baxter
2. R. Scott Clark, Richard Baxter On Initial And Final Justification Through Faith And Works
3. Tim Cooper, How Baxter Came To Reject The Reformation Doctrine Of Salvation
4. Erskine: Were Paul Alive He Would Excommunicate Richard Baxter
5. Heidelminicast Q&A: Is Richard Baxter “OK”?
6. Boston: Baxter Turned The Gospel Into Law
7. John Crandon, Baxter’s “Hot Peppercorn” Of Justification And Salvation Through Good Works
8. Boston And Rutherford: Baxter Turned The Covenant Of Grace Into A Covenant Of Works
9. R. Scott Clark, Owen Defended The Imputation Of Christ’s Active Obedience Against Richard Baxter
10. R. Scott Clark, “‘Do This And Live:’ Christ’s Active Obedience As the Ground Of Justification”
11. Packer: Shepherd Reinvented The Neonomianism Of Richard Baxter
12. Mihai Corcea, Puritans Opposed Richard Baxter
13. Paul Helm, “Baxter Soup and Wright’s Soap“
14. Michael S. Horton, Which Covenant Theology?
15. R. Scott Clark, How We Got Here: The Roots Of The Current Controversy Over Justification
16. R. Scott Clark, ed.,  Covenant, Justification, and Pastoral Ministry
17. Resources On The Doctrine Of Justification
18. Resources On Keeping Justification And Sanctification Together Without Confusing Them

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