We should also reject soundly and unreservedly that teaching that will not say that believers, who are united to Christ by the Spirit, through faith alone, who are justified freely (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), have no moral obligation to be conformed to Christ and thus to do good works. That is antinomianism. No, the Spirit is conforming us to Christ’s image. Those who have been given new life (regenerated) will do good works. They want to do good works out of thankfulness. Gratitude is not, as some say, a second blessing any more than oranges are a second blessing on an orange tree (see Belgic Confession art. 24) Continue reading →
Gratitude
Heidelberg 86: Why Good Works? (1)
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 →
Worthy Of The Gospel
In our proper desire to see Christians grow in sanctity (holiness) Christians have often succombed to the temptation to encourage sanctity by making justification or deliverance from the judgment to come contingent upon our degree of sanctity. The great difficulty with this scheme, . . . Continue reading →
Preaching The Third Use And Encouraging The Saints
What about preaching and the third use of the law? Preachers often end their sermons with a moral application of the text. This practice has a long and honorable history in the Reformed and Presbyterian churches. Certainly pastors should preach the third use . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 51: Happy Thanksgiving From The Heidelcast
According to the Heidelberg Catechism there are three great heads of the Christian faith: guilt, grace, and gratitude. There may be other motivations to godliness but the catechism isn’t structured by them. It is structured by gratitude. Yet, there are those who . . . Continue reading →
Perkins On Christ’s Active Obedience And Our Gratitude
CHAP. XXXVII. CONCERNING THE SECOND DEGREE OF THE DECLARATION OF GODS LOVE. The second degree, is Justification, whereby such as believe, are accounted just before God, through the obedience of Christ Jesus. 2. Cor. 5. 21. He has made him to be . . . Continue reading →
Resources On the Doctrine of Sanctification And The Third Use Of The Law
Apparently, there is only one way to speak about sanctification and it is no longer sufficient to uphold and teach the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the Westminster Standards (Reformed confessions) on justification, sanctification, and the third use of the law. . . . Continue reading →
Why Is Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude Insufficient?
My doctrine of sanctification is the doctrine of the Heidelberg Catechism: Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude and the doctrine of the Belgic Confession Art. 24. We believe that this true faith, produced in man by the hearing of God’s Word and by the . . . Continue reading →
Ursinus on True Thankfulness
Note: Zacharias Ursinus was the primary author of the Heidelberg Catechism. The comments below come from his lectures on the catechism that were authorized by the Elector Palatinate, Frederick III. Happy Thanksgiving. § Having now considered the misery of man, and his . . . Continue reading →