Almost since the beginning of the Reformation there were two reactions to the recovery of the gospel: legalism, or nomism, and antinomianism. There are associated doctrines and practices but the core of antinomianism is the rejection of the abiding validity of the . . . Continue reading →
The claim by some that there are two stages of justification (initial and final) and that the so-called “initial justification” is by grace alone (sola gratia) through faith alone (sola fide) and the so-called “final justification” is in some degree (either partly . . . Continue reading →
For confessing Protestants, there is no question whether believers are under the civil and normative uses of the law. To deny the normative use (the third use) is the definition of antinomianism, a scourge which Martin Luther opposed in the 1520s, against which the Lutherans confess in the Book of Concord (1580), and which the Reformed have always opposed. The Heidelberg Catechism (1563) organized the Christian faith under three headings: Guilt (Law), Grace (Gospel), and Gratitude (Sanctification). The third part of the catechism contains an exposition of the moral law of God, the decalogue (Ten Commandments). The Westminster Standards also affirm and explain the moral law and apply it to the Christian life not in order that we might be keep it and thereby be justified and saved but because we have been justified and saved by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide) in Christ alone. Continue reading →
Broadly, in evangelicalism, there are two stances toward the Ten Commandments or the moral law. For many, if not most evangelicals, it is believed that the Ten Commandments are so uniquely Mosaic, so identified with the Mosaic epoch in redemptive history, that . . . Continue reading →
In response to yesterday’s column, a correspondent to the HB asked how we know that racism is sin. It is true that I assumed that we all know that racism is sin, that it is obvious on the face of Scripture but . . . Continue reading →
Racism is sin. There can be no hedging or qualifying here. To regard another image bearer as inferior because of his ethnicity is sin and has no place in the church of Jesus Christ. God’s Word is clear about the only remedy . . . Continue reading →
In Colossians 2:8 Paul warned the Colossians Christians not to be taken captive by unbelieving ways of thinking (philosophies) nor by “the stoicheia (στοιχεῖα) of the world.” The noun stoicheia is usually translated with something like “elemental principles” or the like. That . . . Continue reading →
“Would you make Christ another Moses again? Is Christ your accuser or your Redeemer, Deliverer, Advocate, and Mediator? Has He only partly forgiven your sins or has He totally and completely forgiven them? Is He a complete or only a half Savior?” . . . Continue reading →
5. In the same light are we to consider the law of the Decalogue, delivered by God to His peculiar people, the Jews, by the hands of Moses. For though it reveals the greatness of sin, and more and more convinces man . . . Continue reading →
2017 is a “Reformation Year.” It is the 500th anniversary of Luther’s 95 Theses and an opportunity to remember the Reformation basics. One of those is the distinction between law and gospel. One of the five most basic distinctions Luther recovered for . . . Continue reading →
The Good news is the message that Jesus Christ is God the Son incarnate, who obeyed in the place of his people, suffered for them, was crucified, dead, and buried for them, was raised for their justification, and is coming again. We . . . Continue reading →
Hence, also, we see the error of those who, in comparing the Law with the Gospel, represent it merely as a comparison between the merit of works, and the gratuitous imputation of righteousness. This is indeed a contrast not at all to . . . Continue reading →
The gospel really does become again a strange announcement, totally unexpected to fallen ears—especially when sermons are caught between “evangelical” encouragement and culture wars bellicosity. Anonymous, 2017.
10 Q. What is the difference between the law and the gospel? A. The law is a doctrine that God has implanted in human nature and has repeated and renewed in His commandments. In it He holds before us, as if in . . . Continue reading →
A godly person observed that Christians are usually to blame for three things: 1) they seek in themselves what they can only find in Christ; 2) they seek in the law what will only be found in the gospel; and 3) they . . . Continue reading →
It’s always a genuine pleasure to talk to Mike Abendroth on No Compromise Radio. Mike is pastor of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boyleston, MA, where he has served for 20 years. His latest book is Evangelical White Lies. His brother, Pat, . . . Continue reading →
One of the privileges of editing the Classic Reformed Theology series for Reformation Heritage Books is that I get to work closely with significant Reformed texts and shepherd them through the process from translation (e.g., from Latin to English) to publication. Currently . . . Continue reading →
IV. This double covenant is proposed to us in Scripture: of nature and of grace; of works and of faith; legal and evangelical. The foundation of this distinction rests both on the different relation (σχέσει) of God contracting (who can be considered . . . Continue reading →
IX. Although faith in Christ is not prescribed specifically and expressly in the law (which does not know Christ), still it is contained in it generically and implicitly (inasmuch as the law commands us to believe every word of God and all . . . Continue reading →
IV. (2) Before the fall, he had the power to love God and obey him in all things; for love supposes faith, a part of obedience. For he who is commanded by law to love God and obey him is also commanded . . . Continue reading →