The issue before this week is this: The nomist (i.e., the legalist) will frequently deny that he is a legalist. We can even get the nomist to profess orthodox things about the doctrine of justification but here’s an acid test—by the way . . . Continue reading →
In March I had the privilege of contributing to the 9 Marks blog. The point of my post there (and here) was not to argue the specifics of the paedobaptist (infant baptizing) case but, nevertheless, in response to that contribution a correspondent . . . Continue reading →
Merrit asks this question. “Two friends and I have been talking about this verse (1 Peter 3:21) and passage for quite some time today. The more we seem to talk about it the more confused I seem to get about it.” Merritt, . . . Continue reading →
[T]he Son of God, having been constituted by the Father as Mediator of the covenant, the guarantor on two counts: 1) He shall satisfy for the sins of all those whom the Father has given him (John 17) and he decreed from . . . Continue reading →
XLVIII. Secondly, we more especially remark, that when the law was given from Mount Sinai or Horeb there was a repetition of the covenant of works. For those tremendous signs of thunders and lightnings, of an earthquake, a thick smoke and black . . . Continue reading →
Controversy can be ugly and painful and the recent controversy over sanctification has been both at times. It can also be helpful by bringing greater clarity and this controversy has been useful in that respect. Some orthodox Reformed pastors are being charged . . . Continue reading →
…Just as Adam was obliged to meet the conditions of the covenant that God graciously established with him, so believers are obliged to meet the conditions of the covenant of grace in order to inherit eternal life. Just as Christ was obliged . . . Continue reading →
Wes Bredenhof, pastor of Providence Canadian Reformed Church (Hamilton, ON) has published a helpful post. Here is part of it: We distinguish between the administration of the covenant of grace in this era and administrations of the covenant of grace in previous . . . Continue reading →
In the 16th and 17th centuries, indeed, from the 2nd century until the 20th century there was little question among Christians whether God has revealed his moral law in nature and in the conscience. In the 20th century, however, that verity came to . . . Continue reading →
The Heidelcast is working through The Marrow of Modern Divinity (1645). Last time we began looking at the doctrine of the covenant of grace. We saw that the principle of the covenant of grace is fundamentally different from that of the covenant of works. . . . Continue reading →
Thanks to Scott Oakland for inviting me to do episode 145 of the ReformedCast. We talked about the distinction between law and gospel. Scott asked good questions and we were able to cover a lot of what is currently being discussed now: . . . Continue reading →
The Heidelcast is working through The Marrow of Modern Divinity (1645) as a model for how to account for justification and sanctification, how to keep them together, without losing either and without confusing them. The circumstances in which The Marrow first appeared were . . . Continue reading →
But that the covenant of works was also, for special ends, repeated and delivered to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, I cannot refuse— 1. Because of the apostle’s testimony, ‘These are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gendereth to . . . Continue reading →
Course Description An introduction to Reformed federal or covenant theology. The course surveys the historical-theological development of covenant theology, its exegetical foundations, and systematic-theological consequences. Fall Semester. 2 Credits. Course Goals —Academic Goal: To enable the student to understand and discuss intelligently the . . . Continue reading →
I ran into Zach Keele this morning. I mentioned how much I’ve appreciated Sacred Bond and he mentioned this morning and he mentioned that there is now a Kindle version. If you’ve been looking for a clear, simple introduction to traditional Reformed . . . Continue reading →
My friend and colleague Mike Brown published a revision of his excellent MA (Historical Theology) thesis (Westminster Seminary California) in 2012 as Christ and the Condition: The Covenant Theology of Samuel Petto (1624-1711). As part of the background to explaining Petto, Mike . . . Continue reading →
It will now be asked, what manner of covenant was that at Mount Sinai, which is called the worst covenant? What kind of covenant was it? Sol. In general, it was a covenant of works, as to be fulfilled by Jesus Christ, . . . Continue reading →
Beginning at least in the 1560s, it was non-controversial for Reformed theologians to teach that God, before the fall, entered into a legal, probationary covenant with Adam, who was the representative of the whole human race, the condition of which was perfect . . . Continue reading →
This is the key. No Reformed thinker that I am aware of has taught that the Mosaic covenant was exclusively a covenant of works. I wonder if perhaps people hear us teaching this under the influence of dispensationalism, which teaches that each . . . Continue reading →
Parts of the confessional Reformed world in North America are in the midst of a controversy over whether it is biblical, confessional, and historically Reformed to teach that the Mosaic covenant was, in some sense, a republication of the covenant of works. . . . Continue reading →