“Thank God!” It rolls right off the tongue. It is so easy to say most times that you do not even need to think about it. But perhaps that is the problem. How often do we think about giving thanks? When and . . . Continue reading →
Thankfulness for grace received is one of the principal duties that is incumbent on believers in this world. Now, how can a man in faith bless God for that which he is utterly uncertain whether he have received it from him or . . . Continue reading →
If you do a search in the ESV for the word “grateful” you only get three hits in the whole Bible, two of which produce the word “ungrateful” (Luke 6:35; 2 Tim. 3:2), leaving only one place where the word “grateful” is . . . Continue reading →
Resurrection & Sanctification All those who are justified, will also be sanctified. What is Sanctification? “Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more . . . Continue reading →
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a supernatural historical event that is well attested in the Biblical data. Furthermore, the resurrection of Christ is central to the biblical story of God redeeming his people, and thus, it is an . . . Continue reading →
You do not have to hang around Reformed teachers and pastors very long before hearing about “guilt, grace, and gratitude.” We like it because it is a handy summary for the structure of the Christian religion. And it is a way to . . . Continue reading →
As we meditate on these truths and thus come to a greater understanding of what our Lord Jesus went through on our behalf, hopefully, this adds depth to our appreciation of him and his suffering for us. And so, this week, as we hear of his final Passover, his prayers in Gethsemane, his midnight trial, his disciples scattered, his discussion with Pilate, his death sentence, his torment on the way to the cross, his agony on the cross, his final words, his being pierced through by the spear, and his burial in the tomb, it is my prayer that we will not only see these as events that truly did occur in history but that they would have a profound influence on our lives. Continue reading →
On the night wherein he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus, knowing that he would soon be arrested and crucified, went to the Garden of Gethsemane, fell on his face in great agony, with sweat coming down his head like great drops of . . . Continue reading →
Scripture clearly teaches that Christ’s active obedience is imputed to sinners. It can also, however, be found all throughout Reformed theology in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, particularly in the Reformed confessions and catechisms. Continue reading →
Many of us have family, friends, or co-workers who show up to events with ash on their foreheads or announce the fact that they are fasting and cannot eat certain foods on certain days. Is that what this time of the year is all about? Letting people know that you are fasting? Showing up to work or social events with ash on your forehead? What should Reformed Christians be doing at this time of the year? Continue reading →
170 Q. You are not saying, then, that good works are useless? Continue reading →
Objection: But does not the apostle say, Rom. 6:14. ‘Ye are not under the law but under grace?’ and Gal. 5:22, 23. ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, &c.—against such there is no law?’
The magisterial Protestant Churches, i.e., the Lutherans and the Reformed, agreed that salvation (justification, sanctification, and glorification) is by divine favor alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), in Christ alone. These convictions were essential to the Reformation but those convictions . . . Continue reading →
The Heidelberg Catechism is in three parts: Law, Gospel, and Sanctification or Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude. This is not an artificial interpretation of the Catechism nor is it an artificial arrangement of the Christian faith. Question 2 outlines the Catechism for us: Continue reading →
Although the Protestant movement gained political legitimacy with the Religious Peace of Augsburg in 1555, Luther’s reformation had not yet been won. Rome still sought to regain the Palatinate and, by the middle of the 16th century, controversies had already divided the . . . Continue reading →
It ought to be particularly noticed, that it is no ordinary token of gratitude which he promises, but such as God required for rare blessings; namely, that the faithful should come into his sanctuary, and there bear solemn testimony to the grace . . . Continue reading →
The charge made by Rome and the Anabaptists, among others, was that the evangelical doctrine of salvation sola gratia, sola fide would make Christians cold and careless about their sanctification. The Reformed churches refuted that charge by arguing that the same grace by which we have been given new life also produces faith and it is “impossible for this holy faith to be unfruitful.” True faith is God’s gift. It unites us to the risen and ascended Christ who, by his Spirit, works in us conformity to himself and to his moral will. This is how we understand “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6). Rome, remember, turned “faith working through love” into “faith formed by love” (on this see part 1). In response, Calvin wrote on Galatians 5:6, “When you are engaged in discussing the question of justification, beware of allowing any mention to be made of love or of works, but resolutely adhere to the exclusive particle.” Continue reading →
Most adults probably know by now that the story of the first Colonial Thanksgiving was a little more complex than that learned as a child. To catch up see Robert Tracy McKenzie, The First Thanksgiving: What the Real Story Tells Us About . . . Continue reading →
The first commandment of God’s holy moral law is unequivocal: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 2o:3). In the ground (כִּ֣י) of the second commandment Yahweh Elohim declares, “I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the . . . Continue reading →
God’s Word teaches us to have the highest, most reverent view of God’s law generally. The Psalmist declares “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (v. 97; ESV). To be sure, in Psalm 119 the noun . . . Continue reading →