The two covenant scheme of the Westminster Standards has been absolutely essential in combatting the Neonomianism of both Norman Shepherd and the Federal Vision, not to mention Roman Catholicism. There are, of course, matters in which the two covenants are similar (they . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
Sproul: Man’s Relationship To God Based On Works
Man’s relationship to God in creation was based on works. What Adam failed to achieve, Christ, the second Adam, succeeded in achieving. Ultimately the only way one can be justified is by works. —R. C. Sproul, Getting the Gospel Right (Grand Rapids: . . . Continue reading →
Packer: Shepherd Reinvented The Neonomianism Of Richard Baxter
Shepherd in effect reinvented the neonomianism of Richard Baxter in the 17th century—and from the same motive—recoil from the practical antinomianism that surrounded him, and a desire to state the gospel as to make perfectly obvious that persevering holiness is enjoined on . . . Continue reading →
A Uniform Concept Of Covenant Faithfulness For Adam, Israel, & The New Covenant People
Mr. Shepherd rejects not only the term ‘covenant of works’ but the possibility of any merit or reward attaching to the obedience of Adam in the creation covenant. He holds that faithful obedience is the condition of all covenants in contrast to . . . Continue reading →
Williamson: A Free society In Peril
When a governor can be indicted for vetoing a bill, when a university regent can be threatened with criminal prosecution for exposing corruption, and when you have armed men kicking down your door because you signed the wrong petition, you don’t live . . . Continue reading →
Christ Is Both The Foundation And Fulfillment
As far as I can tell, this perspective has been all but lost in modern biblical studies. But a text like Gal 3:16 was fertile ground for the development in classical Reformed theology for the belief that the covenant of grace was . . . Continue reading →
Whitaker On Sola Scriptura
If he feign another rule of faith besides the written word of God, we reject, repudiate, and refuse to acknowledge any such, and reduce the whole rule of the catholic faith to the scripture alone. …Faith, therefore, is not the gift of . . . Continue reading →
The Pain You Feel Is Real
I understand and deeply identify with the desire to defend one’s parents. Nonetheless, it is not the state’s fault these children are suffering a “psychological burden,” nor can the state ever relieve such a burden. Many children find themselves in same-sex-headed households . . . Continue reading →
How Science Should Operate
Science is not about “consensus” but facts. Not only were some physicists not initially convinced by Einstein’s theory of relativity, Einstein himself said that it should not be accepted until empirical evidence could test it. That test came during an eclipse, when . . . Continue reading →
The Last Song Calvin Sang In His Last Public Worship Service
Calvin is not mute and his tremulous voice rises with the rest and “on his dying countenance,” says Beza, whose eyes are fixed upon his master, “was not obscurely indicated a holy joy.” They sang, as usual, the Song of Simeon, with . . . Continue reading →
Our Salvation Is By Grace Alone
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Continue reading →
They Knew That They Had No “Right” To The Ring
Was one of us Jewish? The jeweler wanted to know. Was either of us leaving another religion to become Jewish? No, we were not. Well then, he was sorry but he would not give us that particular quotation. The point was non-negotiable. . . . Continue reading →
Calvin Against Baptism By The Laity
20. It is also pertinent here to know that it is wrong for private individuals to assume the administration of baptism; for this as well as the serving of the Supper is a function of the ecclesiastical ministry. For Christ did not . . . Continue reading →
It’s All about Eschatology
…advocacy of big government is by its very nature a quest for power and control, for the ability to use force against others—a cause that naturally attracts the bitter and intolerant. …beneath all of these factors, there is something deeper, something more . . . Continue reading →
The Three Points Of Synod Kalamazoo (1924)
Synod, having considered that part of the Advice of the Committee in General which is found in point III under the head: Treatment of the Three Points, comes to the following conclusions The First Point Concerning the first point, touching the favorable . . . Continue reading →
Social Media Puts Us All In A Covenant Of Works
Even before the NSA spying scandal, Zygmunt Bauman studied the contemporary surveillance society in collaboration with sociologist David Lyon, director of the Surveillance Studies Centre. In the digital age, no one could ever be sure they weren’t being monitored—leading to a kind . . . Continue reading →
He Is Not Here. He Has Risen
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the . . . Continue reading →
The Organized Campaign To Demand Ideological Conformity
Barack Obama can run for office as an anti-gay-marriage candidate — which he did, more than once — and that is a ho-hum business, because nobody believed him to be sincere. Brendan Eich was driven out of the company he helped found . . . Continue reading →
It Was A Slippery Slope
…I was quick to smack down fears that churches would be forced to perform same sex marriages, or that people would be punished for not being made to agree. I deemed these wildly hypothetical fantasies. But I was wrong. …I apologize for . . . Continue reading →
Jefferson: Conscience Protected Against The Enterprises Of Civil Authority
No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority. It has not left the religion of its citizens under the power of its public functionaries, . . . Continue reading →