Perhaps one of the reasons we have a difficult time reaching our neighbors with the gospel of Christ is that we are unwilling to sacrifice anything for their sake, breaking down relational and cultural walls that make it hard for them to . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
Trueman: What We Can Learn From Confessional Lutherans
Toward the end of the seminar, one pastor asked what I thought confessional Lutheranism could offer to the church catholic at this moment in time. My answer was threefold. …I went on to say that confessional Lutheranism, more specifically, has two particularly . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: The Moral Law Is The Rule Of Life For Believers
The law as a rule of life is also of great use to believers. … Now in this point of view, it serves in the following ways, under the illuminating influences of the Holy Spirit: …To show them how far they are . . . Continue reading →
But Even Tax Collectors
The ordo amoris isn’t a justification for cruelty, nor does it exempt us from loving strangers, enemies, etc. Loving your own is natural and necessary, but even tax collectors and sinners do that. Grace doesn’t destroy nature, and natural affection must be . . . Continue reading →
Ferguson: Our Identity In Christ The Key To Putting Sin To Death
My friend—a younger minister—sat down with me at the end of a conference in his church and said: “Before we retire tonight, just take me through the steps that are involved in helping someone mortify sin.” We sat talking about this for . . . Continue reading →
Fesko: When The Church Is Not Like Costco
It seems like far too many people treat relationships of all sorts as being disposable. As soon as they hit a rough patch of any sort they decide to pull up stakes, move on, and find a new relationship. This is especially . . . Continue reading →
Sibbes: Preaching Must Be Of Nothing But Christ
Preaching must be of Christ. Some may question, “But must nothing be preached but Christ?” Yes, nothing but Christ, or that which tends to Christ. Whatever is done in preaching to humble men, it is to raise them up again Christ. When . . . Continue reading →
Luther: We Pray For Trivial Things And Neglect God’s Majesty
We too are in the habit of praying for trivial and insignificant things. When we pray, we don’t take into account the great majesty of God. If God wanted to give us only petty and superficial things, he wouldn’t have given us . . . Continue reading →
Erskine: A Sonnet On The Law And The Gospel
An angry God the law revealed, The gospel shows Him reconciled; By that I know He was displeased, By this I see His wrath appeased… Lo, in the law, Jehovah dwells, But Jesus is concealed; Whereas the gospel’s nothing else But Jesus . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: The Republication Of The Law Points Us To Christ
In its covenant form, [the Law] serves to show them what Christ, the second Adam, did and suffered in their stead. By requiring from all who are under it perfect holiness of nature and perfect obedience of life with complete satisfaction for . . . Continue reading →
The Marrow: Seeing Evidence Of Faith Is Not A Return To The Covenant Of Works
Ant. But I pray you, sir, is not this his reflecting upon himself to find out a ground to lay his believing that he hath believed upon, a turning back from the covenant of grace to the covenant of works, and from . . . Continue reading →
Christ Fulfilled The True Covenant Of Works
Christ fulfilled the true covenant of works by being born under the Mosaic law as the situation most resembling it. Mosaic typology thoroughly signified Christ’s obedience. Read more» Harrison Perkins | Reformed Covenant Theology (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2024), 331. (HT: Reformed Dogmatika) . . . Continue reading →
Formula Of Concord, Solid Declaration On The Use Of The Law For Christians
And, indeed, if the faithful and elect children of God were perfectly renewed through the indwelling Spirit in this life, so that in their nature and all their powers they were completely free from sin, they would need no law, and therefore . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger on “Why Then the Law?”
In Galatians 2:16, Paul makes his case that “a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and . . . Continue reading →
Trueman: What Thielicke Can Teach Us About Nihilism
Bonhoeffer may be the most famous German theologian to oppose Hitler and Nazism, but he was not the only one. Another who speaks to our times is Helmut Thielicke, a Lutheran theologian and pastor. Like Bonhoeffer, Thielicke was hounded by the Nazis, . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: The Holy Spirit Applies Christ Through The Gospel
It is by means of the gospel that the Holy Spirit continues to apply Christ, with His righteousness and fullness, to the hearts of believers for increasing their sanctification and consolation. They are said in Scripture to be sanctified “through thy truth” . . . Continue reading →
Stuart Robinson On The Superiority Of The American System Over Christendom
Next, after a thousand years of repose and silence in the Church, the third was developed (Soteriology) through the labors of Luther and Calvin, proclaiming salvation as by grace through faith, leaving the fourth, Ecclesiology, yet to be developed. Do not the providences . . . Continue reading →
Isbell On The Types Of Christian Nationalists
There are at least three types of Christian Nationalists: the highbrow Wolfeans (HW), the folk evangelicals (FE) who have always spoken vaguely of “takin’ this country back,” and the barely Christian, mostly charismatic/megachurch dominionist-NARcrowd (I’ll call them CMDs). The self-consciously protestant HW . . . Continue reading →
Fesko On The Red Sea And Infant Baptism
Whenever I teach on any doctrine, I encourage my students to look at the unfolding history of redemption and trace the doctrinal line from Genesis to Revelation to ensure they get a full-orbed picture. In this case, the Apostle Paul’s inerrant and . . . Continue reading →
Review: Michael Horton, Theology for Pilgrims on the Way
In Tolkien’s Two Towers Gimli, Aragorn, and Legolas attack a white-clad old man, thinking him Saruman. Realizing their error, they apologize to Gandalf saying, “We thought you were Saruman.” Gandalf says, “I am Saruman, or rather Saruman as he should have been.” . . . Continue reading →