Heidelberg 53: We Believe In The Holy Spirit (3)

In part 2 we looked at what the church catholic (universal) has confessed about the Holy Spirit and how our confession of the person and work of the Spirit developed. 53. What do you believe concerning the Holy Spirit ? First, that . . . Continue reading →

Heidelberg 45: Three Benefits of Christ’s Resurrection (3)

In part 2 we looked at how Christ overcame death by his resurrection. Now we must add a layer to the story. Imagine this: you get a letter announcing that a relative has died and you’ve to receive a million dollars. That’s it. There’s no return address . . . Continue reading →

Olevianus On Romans 2:13

In 1529, one of Luther’s principal opponents, Johannes Eck (1486–1541) published the first edition his Enchiridion Against Luther and Other Enemies of the Church a refutation of the Protestant errors. Under the heading, “De fide et operibus” he proposed the thesis that . . . Continue reading →

Useful Myths And Reformed Identity Markers

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) first provides multiple definitions of the word “myth.” The first says, “A traditional story, typically involving supernatural beings or forces, which embodies and provides an explanation, aetiology, or justification for something such as the early history of . . . Continue reading →

Berkhof On Union With Christ

The mystical union in the sense in which we are now speaking of it is not the judicial ground, on the basis of which we become partakers of the riches that are in Christ. It is sometimes said that the merits of . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 32: D. G. Hart On Union With Christ

Heidelcast

The doctrine of union with Christ has been a controversial issue in Reformed circles for several years. On the surface, judging by the older Reformed writers and by the Reformed confessions, it is difficult to see exactly why the doctrine of union . . . Continue reading →

Muller: Utterly Unwarranted To Conclude Against Ordo Salutis

It is utterly unwarranted, moreover, to conclude from the pedagogical arrangement of the Institutes that Calvin “deliberately subverts any chronological” or other ordering of salvation “by not only putting sanctification first, followed by justification, but by placing predestination last” on the ground . . . Continue reading →

Kuyper On Mystical Union With Christ

This union is not the subsequent fruit of a higher degree of holiness, but coincides with the first exercise of faith. Faith which does not live in Christ is no faith, but its counterfeit. Genuine faith is wrought in us by the . . . Continue reading →

Semi-Pelagianism and Faith as the Instrument of Existential-Mystical Union with Christ (5)

Part 4. In part 4 we saw that William Perkins taught that believers are given new life by the Spirit and by the same Spirit given faith and through that faith united to Christ. It is particularly useful to be aware of . . . Continue reading →

Semi-Pelagianism and Faith as the Instrument of Existential-Mystical Union with Christ (Pt 4)

Part 3. William Perkins on Mystical Union: The benefits which we receive by this Mystical union are manifold. For it is the ground of the conveyance of all grace. The first is, that by means hereof every Christian as he is a . . . Continue reading →

Semi-Pelagianism and Faith as the Instrument of Existential-Mystical Union with Christ (Pt 3)

Part 2 That faith which secures eternal life; which unites us to Christ as living members of his body; which makes us the sons of God; which interests us in all the benefits of redemption; which works by love, and is fruitful . . . Continue reading →

Semi-Pelagianism and Faith as the Instrument of Existential-Mystical Union with Christ (Pt 2)

Last time we saw that, according to William Perkins, semi-Pelagianism asserts that the will (or other faculties) are able to operate in salvation partly on the basis of nature, i.e., they are not entirely dependent upon grace. In contrast, the Reformed argue . . . Continue reading →

Semi-Pelagianism and Faith as the Instrument of Existential-Mystical Union with Christ (Pt 1)

William Perkins (1558-1602), in his 1595 Exposition of the Apostles’ Creed, on the question of effectual call, wrote: Againe, if the Vocation of every man be effectual, then faith must be common to all men either by nature, or by grace, or . . . Continue reading →

Office Hours: Union with Christ

Office Hours talks with John Fesko, Academic Dean and Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at WSC, about his new book: Beyond Calvin: Union with Christ and Justfication in Early Modern Reformed Theology (1517-1700). There is some confusion about the Reformed doctrine . . . Continue reading →