Don’t miss the RE-FORMATION Conference, January 17-19, hosted by Paramount Church at the Salem Centre. Featured speakers include Michael Horton, Ashley Null, Jonathan Linebaugh, Dorothea Wendebourg, and R. Scott Clark. The conference is presented by the Wittenberg Center for Reformation Studies. Registration . . . Continue reading →
Sola Gratia
Luther: Bernard Trusted In Christ Alone
Therefore we are fighting today, not against the obvious wickedness and vice of the papacy but against its fictitious saints, who think that they lead an angelic life when they observe not only the commandments of God but also the counsels of . . . Continue reading →
Luther: A Christian Is Simultaneously Sinner And Righteous
Thus a Christian man is righteous and a sinner at the same time, holy and profane, an enemy of God and a child of God.* None of the sophists will admit this paradox, because they do not understand the true meaning of . . . Continue reading →
With Kids Talk Church History Podcast On The Reformation Solas
Kids ask the best questions and the Kids Talk Church History podcast is no exception to the rule. In this episode Dr Clark joins Emma, Grace, and Christian to discuss the history and the meaning of the Reformation solas. Here is the episode . . . Continue reading →
Was the Reformation a Big Misunderstanding?
The socially conservative evangelicals do not have a doctrine of a twofold kingdom; nor do they typically distinguish between nature and grace or between the sacred and the secular. Thus the only way they can cooperate with Roman Catholics on social questions is to get them converted and baptized. Continue reading →
Vos: Don’t Give Stones For Bread
In the Judaistic controversy which shook the early church, forces and tendencies were at work deeply rooted in the sinful human heart. In modernized apparel they confront us still to the present day. There are still abroad forms of a Christless Gospel. . . . Continue reading →
William Perkins: Grace Admits No Partner
The Galatians are removed not only from the doctrine of Paul, but also from the grace of God. And the reason is because they joined the works of the law with Christ and His grace in the cause of their justification and . . . Continue reading →
Why You Cannot Earn Grace
To understand the importance of the statement “faith alone,” we need to remember why the Reformers sought to recover the doctrine of God’s grace. They wanted to emphasize the fact that we are made right with God not through any merit of . . . Continue reading →
Embracing The Reformation Doctrine Of Salvation Is Not “Wearying From The Battle”
John MacArthur is the old lion of modified Dispensationalism, which has been a gateway for many into the Reformation, but which has also been an obstacle to the Reformation. State Of The Controversy One way in which that has been true is . . . Continue reading →
Faith: The Cause Of Love
The third conclusion is that true faith works by love. Hence the papists gather that love is the form and life of faith, not because it makes faith to be faith but because it makes it to be a true faith., a . . . Continue reading →
Rome Believes In A Two-Part Justification
Before justification the sinner enters into a state of preparation whereby he, by his own free-will and in co-operation with the Holy Spirit, is prepared for future justification. During this preparation the sinner comes to accept a general knowledge of God and . . . Continue reading →
Calvin On Justification Without The Aid Of Love Or Works
John Calvin insists on the importance of adhering to the exclusive particle. Continue reading →
Reformation Day Lecture 2022: Why The Reformation Matters For Ministry
©R. Scott Clark. All Rights Reserved. Resources How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical Creeds The Reformed Confessions The Heidelberg Catechism Recovering the Reformed Confession (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2008) Why I Am A Christian Support Heidelmedia: . . . Continue reading →
Friday, October 28, 2022 At 10:00 AM Pacific: Why The Reformation Matters For Ministry
In confessional Protestant churches October 31 is Reformation Day and Dr Clark will be starting his Reformation Day celebration early, this Friday, 10:00 AM, in the chapel at Westminster Seminary California. He will be speaking on the topic, “Why the Reformation Matters . . . Continue reading →
Second Council Of Orange: Mercy Unto Salvation Comes From God Alone
CANON 6. If anyone says that God has mercy upon us when, apart from his grace, we believe, will, desire, strive, labor, pray, watch, study, seek, ask, or knock, but does not confess that it is by the infusion and inspiration of . . . Continue reading →
Second Council Of Orange On The Nature And Gift Of Faith
CANON 5. If anyone says that not only the increase of faith but also its beginning and the very desire for faith, by which we believe in Him who justifies the ungodly and comes to the regeneration of holy baptism — if . . . Continue reading →
Regarding Piper’s Notion Of Justification And Love
But surely that is a progressive response of sanctification. It is not definitive, but justification is a once-for-all act of divine declaration “Righteous!” I am certainly more satisfied with Christ today than I was sixty years ago when I first believed, but . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast For June 26, 2022: Every Tribe, Tongue, And Nation (6): First Head Of Doctrine (3)
Perhaps the most fundamental complaint of the Remonstrants against Reformed theology, the concern that most animated Arminius’ desire to revise Reformed theology, was the charge that the Reformed view makes God the author of evil. In his desire to fix this problem . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: The Doctrine Of A Two-Stage Justification Is A “Popish Device”
That popish device of a second justification is a satanical delusion for the Word of God does acknowledge no more but one justification at all, and that absolute and complete of itself. There is but one justice, but one satisfaction of God . . . Continue reading →
Paul Contra Final Salvation Through Works (Romans 5:9–10)
For many evangelicals and for some ostensibly Reformed folk it has been fashionable for the last several years to teach that we are justified now by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), based on Christ’s righteousness imputed, but that . . . Continue reading →