I have been a Presbyterian pastor for twenty-five years, the last three of which I was privileged to serve as an aged-care chaplain. I ministered in three Presbyterian nursing homes with a community of 220 residents, some 400 staff, and hundreds of . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
Stankorb Understands Wilson
This November, Wilson’s month of antagonistic blog posts (usually printed later as anthologies sold for $6.95) did not evoke his anticipated fear and trembling. For Wilson watchers and critics, some days online it felt like Wilson’s annual firestorm might have finally reached . . . Continue reading →
A Review of Petrus van Maastricht’s Theoretical-Practical Theology (vol. 1)
Petrus van Mastricht, Prolegomena, ed. Joel R. Beeke, trans. Todd M. Rester, vol. 1, Theoretical-Practical Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2018. Recent (that is, pre-1992 A.D.) Reformed theology can be sadly described as a generation arising “which knew not the Reformed Orthodox.” . . . Continue reading →
Luther: Faith Great Or Small Is Still Faith
Thus we see that Christ does not make a distinction between those who are weak and strong in faith and rejects no one, for small faith is also faith, and if it only continues, it will always become stronger. Christ came into . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: Christ’s Present Reign Is Hidden Under The Cross
The appearance of Christ and his kingdom mean the same thing; for although he now reigns in heaven and earth, yet hitherto his reign is not clearly manifested, but, on the contrary, is obscurely hidden under the cross, and is violently assailed . . . Continue reading →
Johnson On The Biblical Basis For The Covenant Of Works
Although the term “covenant” (berith) is not used in Genesis to designate the original commitment that bound the newly created Adam to his creator, the essential features of later biblical covenants between God the covenant Lord and his people as his servant . . . Continue reading →
DeYoung On The Attraction Of Wilson
I’m convinced the appeal of Moscow is visceral more than intellectual. That’s not meant to be a knock on the smart people in Moscow or attracted to Moscow. It is to say, however, that people are not mainly moving to Idaho because . . . Continue reading →
A Brief Guide To Islam For Christians
Islam is the second-largest religion in the world. Today, an estimated 1.3 billion people profess to be Muslims—that is, followers of the religion of Islam. Of these, nearly 1 billion reside in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. Islam is . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Christ Voluntarily Became Accused For Us
. . . how Christ was a curse, or accursed, who is the fountain of blessedness? Answer. He is not so by nature. For He is the natural Son of God. Not by His own fault, for He is the unspotted lamb . . . Continue reading →
Vos: Don’t Give Stones For Bread
In the Judaistic controversy which shook the early church, forces and tendencies were at work deeply rooted in the sinful human heart. In modernized apparel they confront us still to the present day. There are still abroad forms of a Christless Gospel. . . . Continue reading →
Murray: We Don’t Guess The Decree, We Follow The Word
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 →
Owen: Thankfulness For Grace Received Is A Principal Duty Of Believers
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 →
Hodge: The Same Gracious God Who Wills The End Also Wills The Free Offer Of The Gospel
Paul considered it as involved in what he had already said, and especially in the predictions of the ancient prophets, that it was the will of God that all men should call upon him. This being the case, he argues to prove . . . Continue reading →
Luther On What Galatians 2:21 Teaches About Law And Gospel
We, on the other hand, declare with Paul that no law, whether it is human or divine, justifies or makes alive. Therefore we distinguish the Law from righteousness as sharply as death from life or hell from heaven. We are prompted to . . . Continue reading →
Christ Is More Forgiving Than We Are
𝘖𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: But I have often relapsed and fallen into the same sin again and again. 𝘈𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳: If Christ will have us pardon our brother seventy-seven times, can we think he will press us [to do] more than He will be ready to . . . Continue reading →
Muller: Protestant Scholasticism Was A Continuation Not A Corruption Of The Reformation
When this orthodox or scholastic Protestantism is examined in some depth and viewed as a form of Protestant theology in its own right rather than as merely a duplication or reflection of theology of the Reformation, it is clearly a theology both . . . Continue reading →
God Has Original Knowledge, Humans Have Analogical Knowledge
Theology is the study of God, and nothing can be known with certainty about God without a special revelation from God Himself… And if Theology is viewed insofar as it is the knowledge that God either has communicated to created beings endowed . . . Continue reading →
Luther On What It Means To Be Indwelled By The Spirit
We shouldn’t doubt that the Holy Spirit lives in us, but we should certainly recognize that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19. If someone feels a love for God’s Word and gladly hears, speaks, . . . Continue reading →
Serious Wisdom From Steve Baugh
How does a modern wife submit while retaining her God-given integrity as a fellow heir of life and fellow citizen with the saints? I think Paul answers that in 5:15: She submits with wisdom and careful reflection on biblical truths that bear . . . Continue reading →
Baxter’s “Hot Peppercorn” Of Justification And Salvation Through Good Works
Touching the latter, how far he will extol the peppercorn of our own works, and righteousness to justification and salvation he does not here (though afterward, he does) in express words signify. But that he means to extol them, he does enough . . . Continue reading →