Heidelcast 82: The Holy Law Of God (6)—The Fourth Commandment

by Heidelcast on January 19, 2015

That there is a Sabbath is evident in the first chapter in God’s Word. According to Scripture, Almighty God “worked” for six days, six mornings and evenings, and rested the seventh. Have you ever stopped to wonder why Scripture says that God “rested”? Was . . . Continue reading →

Calvin Contra The Anabaptist Prohibition Against Lawful Oaths

by R. Scott Clark on January 11, 2015

The Anabaptists, not content with this moderation in swearing oaths, condemn all oaths without exception, since Christ’s prohibition of them is general. “I say to you, Do not swear at all, … but let what you say be simply, ‘Yes, yes’ or . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 81: God’s Holy Law (5)—The Third Commandment

by Heidelcast on January 10, 2015

God’s holy law says, “You shall not take the name of the Yahweh your God in vain; for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” The first thing we need to say about the name of the . . . Continue reading →

Concupiscence: Sin And The Mother Of Sin

by R. Scott Clark on January 10, 2015

Introduction In recent years, the study of virtue has experienced a renaissance.1 While we are recovering our classical grammar of virtue, we should also to recover our vocabulary of vice as well. Concupiscence is among our choicest words to be recovered. Because . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 80: God’s Holy Law (4)—The Second Commandment

by Heidelcast on January 1, 2015

All the commandments are challenging to us sinners. In the first commandment we saw that God will not share his glory with another. In the 2nd commandment we read and hear that we must worship the true God truly. We do not . . . Continue reading →

God Will Not Share His Glory

by R. Scott Clark on December 10, 2014

This is the fundamental commandment, the one that comes before all the others and lays the foundation for them. Before we learn anything else about what God demands, we need to know who he is, and who we are in relationship to . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 79: The Holy Law of God (3)—You Shall Have No Other Gods

by Heidelcast on December 9, 2014

The first commandment says: “You shalt have no other gods before me.” The Hebrew text says literally, “You shall not have any other Elohim before my face.” Elohim is the generic word for God in the Hebrew Bible. When Genesis 1:1 says, . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 78: God’s Holy Law (2)

by Heidelcast on October 18, 2014

This is part 2 of the series God’s Holy Law. In order to use the law rightly we need to make some important distinctions. One of the most important of these is the distinction between law and gospel. Historically, confessional Reformed theologians . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 77: God’s Holy Law (1)

by Heidelcast on October 13, 2014

With this episode we begin a new series: God’s Holy Law. In this episode we consider what the law is, how the moral law is distinguished from the civil and ceremonial aspects of the law, the universality of the law, its expression . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 76: Was The Marrow Antinomian?

by Heidelcast on October 7, 2014

This is 13th and final part of the our series, nomism, antinomianism and The Marrow of Modern Divinity. If you’re just joining us, you can start at the beginning with episode 58. Why this series? Because The Marrow was an important classic . . . Continue reading →

Facts, Evidence, Wisdom, And Gossip

by R. Scott Clark on September 30, 2014

I’m not sure why, as a child, the TV show Dragnet captured my attention and imagination. Perhaps it was theme song with its beat and blaring horns or perhaps it was the staccato, film-noir dialogue or the claim that the episodes were . . . Continue reading →

Law, Wisdom, And Charity: Life In A Twofold Kingdom

by R. Scott Clark on September 12, 2014

Under the subject line “2k” P writes, If Abraham the sojourner had no trouble making secular deals with people in Canaan, why did he refuse the offer of possessions from the king of Sodom? What would have been so wrong if the . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 74: Nomism And Antinomianism (12)

by Heidelcast on September 3, 2014

Before I began this series my intent was to do a series of episodes on the Reformed understanding of the Christian use of the moral law as the norm or rule of the Christian life. Confessional Protestants (Reformed and Lutheran) call it . . . Continue reading →

It’s Not Unusual

by R. Scott Clark on September 2, 2014

To borrow from that paragon of 1960s Welsh hipness: It’s not unusual for one generation to doubt the mores (the customs) of the previous generation. What we think of as the “teen culture” rebellion of the 1950s (e.g., Elvis) and 60s (e.g., . . . Continue reading →

The Fugitive, The Truth, And Social Media

by R. Scott Clark on August 31, 2014

One of the television shows I remember watching as a boy, briefly when it was first run (1963–67) and then again re-runs, was The Fugitive. It was the story of a man who was falsely convicted of murder and who sets out . . . Continue reading →

Preaching The Third Use And Encouraging The Saints

by Jack Miller on June 21, 2014

What about preaching and the third use of the law? Preachers often end their sermons with a moral application of the text. This practice has a long and honorable history in the Reformed and Presbyterian churches. Certainly pastors should preach the third use . . . Continue reading →

Law, Gospel, Law

by Jack Miller on June 16, 2014

I think, not only the content of preaching, but the order of the content is important; indispensable even. J. Gresham Machen, in Christianity and Liberalism, wrote, The consciousness of sin was formerly the starting-point of all preaching, but today it is gone… . . . Continue reading →

Right On Time: Godfrey On The Law And Sanctification

by R. Scott Clark on May 19, 2014

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 →

Calvin Against Images Of Christ

by Heidelblog on April 7, 2014

God has forbidden two things [ cf. Exodus 20:4-5]. First, the making of any picture of Him…. The other is, that no image may be worshipped…. The setting up of images in churches, is a defiling . . . By and by, . . . Continue reading →

Calvin: God’s Accommodation No License For Images

by Heidelblog on April 6, 2014

God, indeed, from time to time showed the presence of his divine majesty by definite signs, so that he might be said to be looked upon face to face. But all the signs that he ever gave forth aptly conformed to his . . . Continue reading →