This new state of Justification is continuing and permanent; not in this sense, that God renews and frequently reiterates the enstating of them into this new relative state; but in this sense, that once justified always justified; they are fixed and preserved . . . Continue reading →
Salvation
We Attain Heaven Through Faith Alone (Part 2)
What Is Salvation? In order to understand the biblical teaching we must first ask what is salvation? From what must we be saved? To what is salvation? Scripture is abundantly clear. The thing from which we must be saved is God’s holy . . . Continue reading →
Establishmentarian Politics And Evangelical Feast Days In The Dutch Reformed Church Calendar
Our church order has a separate article on ecclesiastical feast days which stands in a long tradition on this subject, going right back to the beginnings of Reformed churches in the Netherlands. In the following I wish to investigate the purpose and . . . Continue reading →
Piper’s Covenant Theology Is Not Reformed
Keeping the covenant of God did not mean living perfectly. It meant a life of habitual devotion and trust and love to the Lord, that turned from evil and followed him in his ways. When there was a shortcoming, a covenant-keeping person . . . Continue reading →
We Attain Heaven Through Faith Alone (Part 1)
For decades John Piper has taught the substance of what he wrote in the preface to Tom Shreiner’s 2015 book, Faith Alone: The Doctrine of Justification. The claim is that Christians should believe that we “attain heaven” by more than faith, i.e., by . . . Continue reading →
Waters: Piper Must Choose Between Edwards And The Reformation On The Definition Of Saving Faith
By way of preface, it is important to underscore the Reformational convictions in WSF that Piper repeatedly affirms – the sinner is justified through faith alone apart from works; faith is purely receptive in justification; the sinner is justified solely on the . . . Continue reading →
Bethlehem Baptist: “Final Salvation In The Age To Come Depends On The Transformation Of Life”
We believe that this persevering, future-oriented, Christ-embracing, heart-satisfying faith is life-transforming, and therefore renders intelligible the teaching of the Scripture that final salvation in the age to come depends on the transformation of life, and yet does not contradict justification by faith alone. . . . Continue reading →
Warfield: Christ Took The Jewish Sabbath Into The Grave With Him
The Sabbath came out of Christ’s hands, we see then, not despoiled of any of its authority or robbed of any of its glory, but rather enhanced in both authority and glory. Like the other commandments it was cleansed of all that . . . Continue reading →
Marshall On Seeking To Obey As The Condition Of The Right And Title Of Salvation
Those that endeavor to perform sincere obedience to all the commands of Christ, as the condition by which they are to procure for themselves a right and title to salvation, and a good ground to trust on Him for the same, do . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck: A Universal Atonement Sacrifices Quality For Quantity
The universalists tend, therefore, to diminish the value and power of Christ’s work. What they gain in quantity—and then only seemingly–they lose in quality. Herman Bavinck | Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 3: Sin and Salvation in Christ, trans. John Bolt and John Vriend . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck: A Universal Atonement Isolates Christ From Covenant And Election
It gives precedence to the person and work of Christ over election and the covenant, so that Christ is isolated from these contexts and cannot vicariously atone for his people, since there is no fellowship between him and us. Herman Bavinck Reformed . . . Continue reading →
Review: Scripture and Metaphysics: Aquinas and the Renewal of Trinitarian Theology By Matthew Levering
Biblicism is a tough drug to kick, as recent years in evangelical circles have demonstrated. Arguments have proliferated about traditional understandings of God, his attributes, how to formulate the Trinity, how the unchanging God—as at least classical theists assert—relates to the changing . . . Continue reading →
Luther: To The Contrite We Offer The Gospel
Therefore when I see that a man is sufficiently contrite, oppressed by the Law, terrified by sin, and thirsting for comfort, then it is time for me to take the Law and active righteousness from his sight and to set forth before . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck: The Ground Of The Free Offer Is Not A (Hypothetical) Universal Atonement
For the universal offer of grace we need no other ground than this clearly revealed will of God. We no more need to know specifically for whom Christ died than we need to know specifically who has been ordained to eternal life. . . . Continue reading →
Review: Hope and Holiness: How the Gospel Enables and Empowers Sexual Purity By John Fonville
Sex is a recurring issue of interest. I imagine readers are already engaged more fully in this article just because of the topic it flags. We understand why the world retains interest: As the axiom goes, “sex sells.” This axiom’s lamentable counterpart . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck: Hypothetical Universalism Leaves Something For Us To Do
The conclusion of universal atonement is that “Christ only secured for God the possibility of entering into a covenant of grace with us… if we believe. The most significant part of the work of salvation, that which really effects salvation, is still . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck Contra Hypothetical Universalism: Christ Really Saved His People
If Jesus is truly the Savior, he must also really save his people, not potentially but really and in fact, completely and eternally. And this, actually, constitutes the core of the difference between the proponents and opponents of particular satisfaction. Herman Bavinck . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck: Christ’s Intercession, Acquisition, And Application Are Inseparably Linked
The idea from which the reference to “the many” arises, however, is a very different one: Christ did not die for a few but for many, for a large multitude. He gives his life as a ransom for many; he sheds his . . . Continue reading →
Review: The Giver Of Life: The Biblical Doctrine Of The Holy Spirit And Salvation By J. V. Fesko
It is a familiar experience: A non-Reformed believer finds out you are of a Calvinistic persuasion, and before long there is an either explicit or implicit assertion that you do not have a prominent place for the Holy Spirit in your theology. . . . Continue reading →
Review: The Eternal Son By Robert Letham
Jesus Christ is the center of Christianity. Our faith is named after him. One of the crucial questions then must be: Who is Jesus Christ? In his new volume, The Eternal Son, Robert Letham tackles this question about Christ’s identity. This book . . . Continue reading →