Unlike with the covenant of promise that God made with Abram, in this covenant of law, God did not swear the oath of ratification. Rather, the people of Israel did so. By swearing their obedience on oath, they would receive the promised . . . Continue reading →
Scripture
Luther Vs Papal Wickedness
With this wicked doctrine, by which he commands men to doubt the favor of God toward them, the pope has removed God and all His promises from the church, has undermined the blessings of Christ, and has abolished the entire Gospel. Then . . . Continue reading →
Kline: The First Resurrection In Revelation 20:6
One of the critical points in the exegesis of Revelation 20 is the interpretation of prōtos in the phrase, “the first resurrection” (v. 5). Premillennarians understand it in the purely sequential sense of first in a series of items of the same kind. They . . . Continue reading →
Audio: Paul Defends His Ministry | 1 Thessalonians 2:1–6
A devotion by R. Scott Clark on 1 Thessalonians 2:1–6. Editor’s Note: This audio was originally published by Westminster Seminary California in 2005. RESOURCES Subscribe To The Heidelblog! The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical Creeds The Reformed Confessions The Heidelberg . . . Continue reading →
Luther On The Chief Point Of Scripture
Moreover, the chief point of all Scripture is that we should not doubt but hope, trust, and believe for a certainty that God is merciful, kind, and patient, that He does not lie and deceive but is faithful and true. He keeps . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger On The Analogy Of Faith
A third critical factor [for the historic Protestant hermeneutic] is the analogia fidei or the “analogy of faith.” This refers to the importance of interpreting an unclear biblical text in light of clear passages that speak to the same subject rather than . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger: The Prophets Cast Messianic Glory In Mosaic Terms
The Old Testament prophets and writers spoke of the glories of the coming messianic age in terms of their own premessianic age. They referred to the nation of Israel, the temple, the Davidic throne, and so on. These all reflect the language, . . . Continue reading →
Luther: Not Our Merit But Christ’s
But by what merit have we received this righteousness, sonship, and inheritance of eternal life? By none. For what could be merited by men confined under sin, subjected to the curse of the Law, and condemned to eternal death? Therefore we have . . . Continue reading →
Kline: The Abrahamic Covenant Is An Administration Of The Covenant Of Grace
By its identification with the gospel of Jesus Christ the Abrahamic Covenant is seen to be a promissory anticipation of the new covenant. It is a subadministration of the overarching Covenant of Grace, which as a whole is mediated by the Son . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger On The Reformation Principles Of Interpretation
Three major presuppositions underlie the historic Protestant system. The first is that the New Testament should explain the Old. This is one of the most basic principles of Bible study. The New Testament must be seen as the final authority and interpreter . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: We Need Both Biblical And Systematic Theology
Both systematic theology and biblical theology are essential to our study of Scripture for preaching. One contribution of systematic theology, including the historic creeds and confessions of the church, is to safeguard our interpretation of a particular text, lest we misread (and . . . Continue reading →
Luther: A Christian Must Believe He is In A State Of Grace
I have indicated in a variety of ways that the Christian man must believe for a certainty that he is in a state of divine grace, and that he has the cry of the Holy Spirit in his heart, especially when he . . . Continue reading →
Baptists, The Definition Of Reformed, And Identity Politics (Part 3)
If the objective, historical evidence is as clear as I claim about the historic definition of the word Reformed, why does this debate even exist? Again, the roots of this debate are partly to be found in the way Baptists think of themselves and others, particularly in the USA. Continue reading →
Luther: Christ Is Our Comfort In The Struggle With Sin
With these words, then, Paul wants to indicate the weakness there still is in the pious, as in Rom. 8:26: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness.” For because the awareness of the opposite is so strong in us, that is, because . . . Continue reading →
Baptists, The Definition Of Reformed, And Identity Politics (Part 2)
In part one, we began a survey of Reformed statements to demonstrate how the Reformed and the Baptists are two different traditions with distinctly separate understandings of redemptive history. Theodore Beza’s personal confession of faith (Confession De Foi Du Chretien, 1559) was . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger On The Rapture
Many Protestants have historically seen this event [i.e., “the rapture”] as one aspect of the general resurrection at the end of the age (1 Cor. 15:50–55; 1 Thess. 4:13–5:11). The rapture, therefore, refers to the catching away of believers who are living . . . Continue reading →
Baptists, The Definition Of Reformed, And Identity Politics (Part 1)
It is a widely held belief among a relatively large number of Baptists and not a few Presbyterian and Reformed (P&R) folk that Baptists can be Reformed. Indeed, it is widely held among those in the Baptistic traditions that they (as distinct . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: Hebrews On What God Does For His People
. . Hebrews speaks of Jesus’ fulfillment of the Servant’s side of the covenant in three specific ways: (1) He maintains flawless loyalty to the Lord and fulfills every command and requirement, thereby achieving the blessedness promised by the Lord for himself . . . Continue reading →
Luther: We Must Strive To Think Of Jesus As Paul Does (Not As Rome Does)
We adults, who are imbued with the noxious doctrine of the papists, which we absorbed into our very bones and marrow, acquired an opinion of Christ altogether different from the one that Paul sets forth here. No matter how much we declared . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger: Jesus Is The True Israel
Israel’s possession of the land of promise, therefore, was part of a national covenant and was conditioned upon national obedience. The New Testament writers are clear (much to the dispensationalist’s dismay) that the everlasting land promise God made to Abraham is now . . . Continue reading →