This is a significant question for many evangelical Christians, particularly for those influenced by Dispensationalism. E.g., Charles Ryrie, a self-described “classic” Dispensationalist,1 wrote: …Even though a dispensation ends, certain commands may be re-incorporated into a later era. Nine of the Ten Commandments . . . Continue reading →
For confessing Protestants, there is no question whether believers are under the civil and normative uses of the law. To deny the normative use (the third use) is the definition of antinomianism, a scourge which Martin Luther opposed in the 1520s, against which the Lutherans confess in the Book of Concord (1580), and which the Reformed have always opposed. The Heidelberg Catechism (1563) organized the Christian faith under three headings: Guilt (Law), Grace (Gospel), and Gratitude (Sanctification). The third part of the catechism contains an exposition of the moral law of God, the decalogue (Ten Commandments). The Westminster Standards also affirm and explain the moral law and apply it to the Christian life not in order that we might be keep it and thereby be justified and saved but because we have been justified and saved by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide) in Christ alone. Continue reading →
Broadly, in evangelicalism, there are two stances toward the Ten Commandments or the moral law. For many, if not most evangelicals, it is believed that the Ten Commandments are so uniquely Mosaic, so identified with the Mosaic epoch in redemptive history, that . . . Continue reading →
But touching other nations and specially Christian Commonwealths in these days, the case is otherwise. Some are of the opinion that the whole judicial law is wholly abolished and some again run to the other extreme, holding that the judicial laws bind . . . Continue reading →
San Diego County has places of obvious beauty. Mt Palomar is grand and so are the beaches and, of course, the Pacific Ocean. My little corner of San Diego County (North County), has areas of quiet beauty. The back roads are quiet . . . Continue reading →
When it comes to Christmas it gets, as they say, complicated for confessional Presbyterian and Reformed Christians. On the one hand, we heartily affirm the Scriptures and the ecumenical creeds on the incarnation of our Lord. We confess that Mary was the . . . Continue reading →
It must be commanded by God. No creature has the right, or power to institute the worship of God. But good works (we speak of moral good) and the worship of God are the same. Moral good differs widely from natural good, . . . Continue reading →
From 1980, when I first came into contact with Reformed theology, I also came into contact with theonomists. As a naïve evangelical I took Romans 13 to God’s Word and as part of the New Testament authoritative for believers in a way . . . Continue reading →
Passion City, an evangelical congregation in Atlanta founded in 2009 by Louie Giglio (whom the reader may remember from the inauguration controversy), announced this week that the congregation will be taking a Sabbath from the Sabbath this Lord’s Day and the next. . . . Continue reading →
Walter Sobchak is a memorable character in the brilliant Coen Brothers’ film, The Big Lebowski. For all that he is not (e.g., careful about his use of certain a Anglo-Saxon profanity), Walter is faithful to his commitment to Shabbos (the Yiddish term . . . Continue reading →
In the last few weeks the Reformed-ish world has been rocked by allegations against two ministers, one very visible, very well known and the other with somewhat famous name but relatively well known. In the first case, this minister, Tullian Tchividjian, has . . . Continue reading →
The 2016–17 academic year has begun. It’s time for introductory and orientation lectures. Yesterday I was talking with the Ancient Church (patristics) class about the what history is or what historians do and why history is important. Americans, in particular, it seems . . . Continue reading →
The law of the Lord our God that was handed down to His people through Moses is partly ethical, partly sacrificial, and partly political.3 The ethical portion shows in what way each person must be disposed of both toward God most of . . . Continue reading →
Another use of the moral law is, that it may be a rule of divine worship and of a Christian life. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” “I will put my law in their . . . Continue reading →
The first commandment of God’s holy moral law is unequivocal: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 2o:3). In the ground (כִּ֣י) of the second commandment Yahweh Elohim declares, “I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the . . . Continue reading →
James writes to ask, I am trying to work out the Law/Grace distinction, and am having some trouble understanding the imperative/indicative divide. For example, in Acts 3 Peter is preaching what appears to be the gospel in the Temple, and he preaches . . . Continue reading →
By “law and gospel” I’m referring to the debate between those of us who hold to the historic and confessional distinction between those places in Scripture where God commands and promises blessing conditioned upon our obedience (law) and where he promises blessing . . . Continue reading →
God’s covenant, is his contract with man, concerning the obtaining of life eternal, upon a certain condition. This covenant consists of two parts: God’s promise to man, Man’s promise to God. God’s promise to man, is that, whereby he binds himself to . . . Continue reading →
…without the knowledge of our sinfulness and misery, we cannot hear the gospel with profit; for unless, by the preaching of the law as touching sin and the wrath of God, a preparation be made for the proclamation of grace, a carnal . . . Continue reading →
Objection: 1. But Christ says, “Swear not at all;” and James says, “Nor by any other oath…”. Therefore Christians are not allowed to swear [oaths] under any form. Answer: There is here a fallacy of composition; for when Christ says, swear not . . . Continue reading →
