3. THE NECESSITY OF GOOD WORKS. There can be no doubt about the necessity of good works properly understood. They cannot be regarded as necessary to merit salvation, nor as a means to retain a hold on salvation, nor even as the . . . Continue reading →
Justification
Puritans Opposed Richard Baxter
“Just searched “federal vision” at meet the Puritans.com and there are no returns. Puritans have everything to say re Tullian and nothing to say re FV” —Mihai Corcea on Twitter.
Yes Virginia, There Is A Law-Gospel Distinction
When Martin Luther appeared before the Diet of Worms (1521), on the day after he asked for time to think, his examiner asked whether all the books stacked on the table were his. Luther began to answer by distinguishing between the various . . . Continue reading →
Resources On Keeping Justification And Sanctification Together Without Confusing Them
Justin writes to the HB to ask, Dr. Clark, You’ve probably been asked this many times, and have given a clear answer on it; But with the focus on sanctification and the gospel, how do we understand passages that emphasize “striv[ing] for . . . Continue reading →
Right On Time: Godfrey On The Law And Sanctification
Well, obviously, the Reformed world is in the midst of a controversy over sanctification. To help bring some balance and perspective to the discussion the faculty of Westminster Seminary California has been discussing sanctification this season on Office Hours. In the providence . . . Continue reading →
Good News! He Lived For Us
This is the glory of the Protestant doctrine of justification. The person who is in Christ is at the very same instant a sinner and just. If I could be justified only by actually becoming just and having no sin me, I . . . Continue reading →
By The Seat Of His Celestial Pants
If an angel comes in here and says, “Wait a minute. You can’t get to heaven by trusting Christ and Christ alone, and having the imputation of His merit. And the angel came here and said, “For you to really be justified . . . Continue reading →
The Most Destructive Problem At Present: Confounding Law And Gospel
Many are the mistakes at present about religious matters; but none are more destructive than those which concern the law and the gospel. The generality of our people confound them, and put one in the place of the other. Some suppose they . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 64: Nomism And Antinomianism (7)
The nomist wants to know whether the works he did before coming to faith are of any value. He asks, “why then, sir, it would seem that all my seeking to please God by my good works, all my strict walking according . . . Continue reading →
You Might Be An Antinomian (Or Maybe Not)
Intermittently over the last 30 years we’ve been discussing justification. It began when Norman Shepherd, who taught at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, proposed in class that sinners are justified through faith and works. He used that language. He used it in a . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 63: Nomism And Antinomianism (6)
The Heidelcast is working through The Marrow of Modern Divinity (1645). Last time we began looking at the doctrine of the covenant of grace. We saw that the principle of the covenant of grace is fundamentally different from that of the covenant of works. . . . Continue reading →
ReformedCast: On The Distinction Between The Law And The Gospel
Thanks to Scott Oakland for inviting me to do episode 145 of the ReformedCast. We talked about the distinction between law and gospel. Scott asked good questions and we were able to cover a lot of what is currently being discussed now: . . . Continue reading →
Justification And Sanctification: Conjoined, Coherent, But Distinct
For he means, that not an individual among mankind will be found in whom the promise of salvation may be accomplished, if it involves the condition of innocence; and that faith, if it is propped up by works, will instantly fall. This . . . Continue reading →
The Grace of Sanctification Follows the Grace of Justification
The grace of sanctification immediately follows the grace of justification, and it is understood under calling, as its continuous progression, under justification, as its fruit, and under glorification, as the beginning of the same. —J. H. Heidegger, The Concise Marrow of Christian . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 62: Nomism And Antinomianism (5)
The Heidelcast is working through The Marrow of Modern Divinity (1645) as a model for how to account for justification and sanctification, how to keep them together, without losing either and without confusing them. The circumstances in which The Marrow first appeared were . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: The Gospel Mystery Of Sanctification
Since the very earliest days of the post-apostolic church, in the 2nd century, there have been preachers who thought that the best way to produce godliness (sanctification) in believers is to pound it into them, as it were, with a hammer. It’s . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 61: Nomism And Antinomianism (4)
The first major section of the Marrow of Modern Divinity was a defense of the covenant of works. It is fascinating to see how, already in the 1640s, the covenant of works came under criticism from the nomists (legalists, moralists). Nothing really . . . Continue reading →
Calvin On Faith, Union With Christ, And Justification
10. Who died. From the design of Christ’s death he confirms what he has said, for if he died with this view—that he might make us partakers of his life, there is no reason why we should be in doubt as to . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 60: Nomism And Antinomianism (3)
With this episode I had intended to begin a survey of The Marrow of Modern Divinity but Chris Gordon, my friend, colleague, and pastor at Escondido URC put in my hands a terrific little volume from 1831, which was an assessment of the Marrow . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 59: Nomism And Antinomianism (2)
The Reformed confess that we were justified in order that we might be progressively sanctified, i.e., gradually and graciously conformed to the image of Christ. The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead, who united us to him through faith, is . . . Continue reading →