God has mercy on whom he wills and whom he wills he hardens. Some are vessels for wrath, others for mercy. And ultimate destiny is envisioned in destruction and glory. But this differentiation is God’s action and prerogative, not man’s. And, because . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
A Review Of J. H. Heidegger, Concise Marrow of Theology
“These are the guys in your footnotes.” That is a good way to describe “Classic Reformed Theology.” If one peruses a manual Heppe or reads Richard Muller, he will come across names such as Heidegger, Cocceius, and Olevianus. If he then tries . . . Continue reading →
Trueman: May Christians Attend Gay Weddings?
It is not hard to guess what reasons a Christian might give for attending a gay wedding: a desire to indicate to the couple that one does not hate them, or a wish to avoid causing offense or hurt. But if either . . . Continue reading →
Chariots Of Hire
WE ARE RELIABLY INFORMED that this is “Super Bowl Week,” a promotional publicity-fest that is something like Advent for the USA’s greatest holy day. That this holy day falls on the first day of next week—the Lord’s Day if you are a confessional presbyterian—may . . . Continue reading →
Lawsuits Are An Alternative To Christian Nationalism
Virginia state officials agreed to settle a lawsuit with a Christian wedding photographer after he refused to use his business to celebrate same-sex marriage, according to a press release. Bob Updegrove filed a lawsuit against then-Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring in September 2020 after a . . . Continue reading →
Trueman: Protestants Need To Get Back To Basics
Recent scholarship in both the ancient church and sixteenth-and seventeenth-century Protestantism have exposed an unfortunate problem with large swathes of the conservative, and especially evangelical, Protestant world. Much good work was done over the last century in both articulating a high view . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger On The Rapture
Many Protestants have historically seen this event [i.e., “the rapture”] as one aspect of the general resurrection at the end of the age (1 Cor. 15:50–55; 1 Thess. 4:13–5:11). The rapture, therefore, refers to the catching away of believers who are living . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: Hebrews On What God Does For His People
. . Hebrews speaks of Jesus’ fulfillment of the Servant’s side of the covenant in three specific ways: (1) He maintains flawless loyalty to the Lord and fulfills every command and requirement, thereby achieving the blessedness promised by the Lord for himself . . . Continue reading →
Luther: We Must Strive To Think Of Jesus As Paul Does (Not As Rome Does)
We adults, who are imbued with the noxious doctrine of the papists, which we absorbed into our very bones and marrow, acquired an opinion of Christ altogether different from the one that Paul sets forth here. No matter how much we declared . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger: Jesus Is The True Israel
Israel’s possession of the land of promise, therefore, was part of a national covenant and was conditioned upon national obedience. The New Testament writers are clear (much to the dispensationalist’s dismay) that the everlasting land promise God made to Abraham is now . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: How The Apostles Applied The Scriptures
Apostolic application displays the texture of renewal in the image of God. We will also be helped in relating any text to the Scripture’s central purpose as we sensitize ourselves to the categories of truth (knowledge), authority (righteousness) and relationship (holiness)—themes that . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Christ Is The Ground And Fountain
If Christ be the ground of the promise, then is He the ground and fountain of all the blessings of God. And for this cause, the right way to obtain any blessing of God is first to receive the promise, and in . . . Continue reading →
Muller On The Distinction Between Scholasticism And Orthodoxy
The term scholasticism has a narrower reference than the term orthodoxy: it well describes the technical and academic side of this process of the institutionalization and professionalization of Protestant doctrine in the universities of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. If the . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger: The Promises Are Yes And Amen In Christ
Amillenarians hold that the promises made to Israel, David, and Abraham in the Old Testament are fulfilled by Jesus Christ and his church during this present age . . . The millennium is the period of time between the two advents of . . . Continue reading →
Johnson On How To Preach The Imperatives
Since the grace of the exodus set the context for the stipulations that Israel was to observe as the Lord’s servant, how much more should Christian preachers expound those many biblical texts that shine the spotlight on the responsibilities of God’s covenant . . . Continue reading →
Our Standing Before God Is Not Contingent On Our Obedience
Jesus, the God-man, obeyed God perfectly and was the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf, and his completed work on our behalf means that his righteousness is counted to us and his atoning death has paid for our sins in full. . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Christ’s Curse Brings Abraham’s Blessing
Whence comes the benediction of Abraham? Answer. From the cursed death of Christ. For thus are the words, “He was made a curse for us, that the benediction of Abraham might come on the Gentiles.” Mark here how God works one contrary . . . Continue reading →
Prove It
Firstly, the Old Testament (OT) church functioned as a state church grounded in theocratic model of ancient Israel, where God’s Word intertwined religious and civil governance. This is evidenced through the Mosaic Law. There, the church and state were twain made one. . . . Continue reading →
Muller: Protestant Orthodoxy “Altered But Little” The Theology Of The Reformation
By the death of Calvin, all of these founders of the Reformed tradition had produced their major writings and had prepared their churches for the next generation—having argued the basic doctrinal positions of the Reformed faith, whether in their larger more systematic . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck: The Names And Revelation Of God Are An Accommodation To Our Weakness
God’s revealed names do not reveal his being as such but his accommodation to human language. Scripture is accommodated language; it is anthropomorphic through and through. God himself is described in human terms via human faculties, body parts, emotions, sensations, and actions… . . . Continue reading →