If life and justice come not by the law, the law then is in vain. And this objection is expressed by way of interrogation, ‘Wherefore then serves the law?’ The answer is in the next words, ‘It is added for transgressions,’ that . . . Continue reading →
Salvation
Perkins: Eternal Life Is By Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone
If the inheritance of life eternal be by the law, it is no more by the promise. But it is by the promise because God gave it unto Abraham freely by promise. Therefore it comes not by the law. The opposition between . . . Continue reading →
Christ Is The Firm Foundation For Your Assurance
I would fain leave every one of you upon a good bottom, built upon the rock, that ‘sure foundation,’ Isa. xxviii. 16, which will stand firm and steady in all winds and weather, having that anchor-hold which will abide under all storms. . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: We Are Not Justified By Our Works Either Before Or After Our Justification
"Cooperation Is Not In The Act Of Justification, Nor In The Work Of Our Salvation"
“[I] answer, that not only works done before faith are excluded, but also works that follow faith and are done in the estate of grace. For Paul here reasons thus: If no flesh be justified by works, then not we believers; but . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Your Good Works Are All Imperfect And Mixed With Corruption
The child of God is like a lame man that goes the right way, but yet halts at every step. Abraham and Sarah desire issue, that is from the Spirit; but they desire issue by Hagar their handmaid, that is from the . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: The Whole Doctrine Of Godliness Rests Upon The Doctrine Of Salvation Through Free Grace
The principal design of preaching the Gospel is, that men may be reconciled to God, and this is accomplished by the unconditional pardon of sins; as Paul also informs us, when he calls the Gospel, on this account, the ministry of reconciliation, . . . Continue reading →
A Good Friday Meditation: The Three Marys
…but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene (John 19:25). Beginning in the late patristic and early medieval period, the eyes of the church were gradually drawn away from Christ . . . Continue reading →
It Is All Sola Gratia, Sola Fide
From first to last, the Christian life is a life of faith. At no point can fleshly works do anything to move the soul one inch closer to God. Do you believe this? I am not sure that all of us do. . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 174: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (18): Applying The Analogy To Preaching, Sacraments, Baptism, And Salvation
The argument of the series is that this is Peter’s over-arching picture or paradigm for the way New Covenant believers are to think about their place in the world and about the return of Christ. There will be no literal 1,000 year . . . Continue reading →
William Perkins: Both Justification And Salvation Are Through Faith Alone
“Faith therefore justifies because it is an instrument to apprehend and apply that which justifies, namely, Christ and His obedience. As the Israelites stung of fiery serpents were cured, so are we saved (John 3:14). The Israelites did nothing at all, but . . . Continue reading →
Living Through A Time Of Great Loss
Americans born after World War II, for most of that time, have experienced prosperity and medical progress hitherto unknown in human history. We have been led to expect that, given enough resources, medical science can conquer virtually anything. In an undated story . . . Continue reading →
With The Guilt, Grace, Gratitude Podcast Talking About The History Of The Reformation
I had fun talking with Nick Fullwiler of the Guilt, Grace, Gratitude podcast about the history of the Reformation. What led to it and why did it happen? Is there a new Reformation under way today? Do we need a Reformation today . . . Continue reading →
Is This A Covenant Of Works Or A Covenant Of Grace?
We Know How Luther And Calvin Answered This Question
I am hard pressed to imagine something more important for our lives than fulfilling the covenant that God has made with us for our final salvation. John Piper, Future Grace (1995 edition), 249. Resources How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia Resources On The . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 160: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (7): Christ’s Abounding Graces
One of the principal reasons I became an amillennialist in eschatology was my study of 1 and 2 Peter. One of the reasons that, after study, investigation, and prayer, I rejected the claims of the Pentecostal moment is the triumphalism of the . . . Continue reading →
Surprising Comfort
…Does personal confidence that we will receive everlasting rewards for our works square with all the biblical data? To be very clear, the question here is not about whether we will receive those rewards, but about the issue of personal confidence that . . . Continue reading →
How Virtue Ethics Helps Address Final Salvation Through Works
Christian ethical theory has seen various changes over the centuries, but I believe that one of the reasons why some think that we need to teach the idea of final rewards in order to make obedience important owes to the dominance of . . . Continue reading →
In His Covenant Faithfulness He Remembered Us In Our Low Estate
It is Yahweh who remembered us in our low estate, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever; and snatched us from our foes, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever; he who gives food to all flesh, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. Give . . . Continue reading →
Marrowmen: Our Good Works Are Not Instrumental Or Causal In Our Justification Or Salvation
“If a sinner, being justified, has all things at once that are necessary for salvation? And if personal holiness, and progress in holy obedience, is not necessary to a justified persons’s possession of glory, in case of his continuing in life after . . . Continue reading →
Boston: Remember, You Are Clothed With Borrowed Feathers
2. I shall drop a few words to the saints. (1.) “Remember—that at that time,” namely, when you were in your natural state, “ye were without Christ—having no hope, and without God in the world.” Call to mind the state you were . . . Continue reading →
Liability, Inability, Inevitability, And, Incarnability
The following is a recent sermon (July 26, 2020), delivered in the Escondido United Reformed Church from Hebrews 10:1–18 and Lord’s Day 5 of the Heidelberg Catechism. The United Reformed Churches follow the ancient Christian pattern of meeting twice each Lord’s Day. . . . Continue reading →