At first sight, covenantal nomism may seem to be strongly supported by the analogy of a marriage relationship that the Old Testament uses to describe the relationship between the Lord and Israel. Continue reading →
Covenant Nomism And The Exile
Covenant of Grace
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 →
Colquhoun: Sinai As A Covenant Of Works Was Subservient To The Covenant Of Grace
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
Colquhoun: The Believer’s Interest In The Covenant Of Grace
Since true believers are already irrevocably interested in the covenant of grace, in the righteousness of Christ, and in the favor of God; and since they have in Christ and on the ground of His righteousness imputed to them a complete security . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger On The Difference Between Moses And Abraham
Unlike with the covenant of promise that God made with Abram, in this covenant of law, God did not swear the oath of ratification. Rather, the people of Israel did so. By swearing their obedience on oath, they would receive the promised . . . Continue reading →
Kline: The First Resurrection In Revelation 20:6
One of the critical points in the exegesis of Revelation 20 is the interpretation of prōtos in the phrase, “the first resurrection” (v. 5). Premillennarians understand it in the purely sequential sense of first in a series of items of the same kind. They . . . Continue reading →
Audio: Covenant Curses, Confidence, and Blessings
A sermon by R. Scott Clark entitled, “Covenant Curses, Confidence, and Blessings” Editor’s Note: This audio was originally published in 2013. RESOURCES Subscribe To The Heidelblog! The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical Creeds The Reformed Confessions The Heidelberg Catechism Resources . . . Continue reading →
Kline: The Abrahamic Covenant Is An Administration Of The Covenant Of Grace
By its identification with the gospel of Jesus Christ the Abrahamic Covenant is seen to be a promissory anticipation of the new covenant. It is a subadministration of the overarching Covenant of Grace, which as a whole is mediated by the Son . . . Continue reading →
This Year’s Top Podcast Episode: Chad Vegas On Covenant And Baptism (1)
This year’s top podcast episode was part one of a six-part Heidelcast series by Chad Vegas on covenant theology and baptism. This Heidelcast series was followed by a series of articles on Recovering the Reformed Confession, which you can find here. . . . Continue reading →
Luther: Reformation Basics—Good Works Follow Faith
Therefore we, being justified by faith, do good works, through which, as 2 Peter 1:10 says, our call and election are confirmed and made more certain day by day. But because we have only the first fruits of the Spirit and do . . . Continue reading →
Abraham, Moses, and Baptism
I am in the midst of an interesting discussion of baptism with a friend. This friend has Baptist convictions, yet he understands Reformed theology better than many of the Reformed. He is quite sympathetic to historic and confessional Reformed theology. For example, . . . Continue reading →
On The Death of Infants and the Promise of the Covenant of Grace
Despite the widely accepted American dogma of an “age of accountability”–that unspecified moment when children supposedly become responsible for their sins, and for any possible rejection of Christ–there is no such doctrine taught anywhere in Scripture. Sadly, this unsupported dogma holds out . . . Continue reading →
Witsius Sharply Distinguished Between The Covenants of Works and Grace
For here I observe, that men of learning in other respects have stumbled, who, when explaining the nature of those Sacraments, too incautiously blend things belonging to a quite different covenant. Nothing is here to be brought in which does not belong . . . Continue reading →
Review: More Than Heaven: A Biblical Theological Argument for a Federal View of Glorification by T. Jeff Taylor
Even Reformed theology has continually grappled with the major question concerning the relationship between good works and our everlasting condition. Even some who reject the idea that our good works contribute to our final entry into glorification have argued that they play . . . Continue reading →
The Significance Of The Covenant Of Grace In Reformed Theology
It is correctly said that covenant theology is the center of Reformed theology. In Eden, while under the covenant of works, all of humanity fell when the first of our race (Adam), rebelled against his creator, thereby plunging the entire human race . . . Continue reading →