Thanks to Scott Oakland for inviting me to do episode 145 of the ReformedCast. We talked about the distinction between law and gospel. Scott asked good questions and we were able to cover a lot of what is currently being discussed now: . . . Continue reading →
It is easy to imagine that sanctification is the result of an immediate action by God upon the soul. By “immediate” I mean that the Spirit is thought to act without using means. In the history of the church more than a . . . Continue reading →
Most Lord’s Days, in the evening (second) service, the congregation recites the Apostles’ Creed. This is an ancient, biblical practice. The church has been reciting creedal formulae since the Israelites first said the Shema (Deut 6:4): “Hear O Israel, Yahweh Our God, . . . Continue reading →
Mark Galli (HT: Alex Webster) has an interesting story in CT Online about the power of religious euphoria. He likens the attraction to, indeed the addiction to euphoria to attraction and addiction to a drug. Galli writes: We disdain faith that is . . . Continue reading →
HT: Logos Reformed
The Heidelblog is devoted to recovering the Reformed confession. In this context the word confession has two senses. In the first sense it refers to the official, ecclesiastical, public, constitutional documents to which ministers and elders subscribe and to which members of . . . Continue reading →
For he means, that not an individual among mankind will be found in whom the promise of salvation may be accomplished, if it involves the condition of innocence; and that faith, if it is propped up by works, will instantly fall. This . . . Continue reading →
Digging through an old hard drive, looking for another file, I stumbled across an interview I thought was lost, the Covenant Radio interview with William Hill on the Federal Vision and Recovering the Reformed Confession. Here’s the interview:
The grace of sanctification immediately follows the grace of justification, and it is understood under calling, as its continuous progression, under justification, as its fruit, and under glorification, as the beginning of the same. —J. H. Heidegger, The Concise Marrow of Christian . . . Continue reading →
Something I heard recently led to a tangent not directly related to his excellent, as always, sermon. He’s been preaching through the life of Abraham. Something he said made me think about the claim that is frequently made about the three great . . . Continue reading →
The Heidelcast is working through The Marrow of Modern Divinity (1645) as a model for how to account for justification and sanctification, how to keep them together, without losing either and without confusing them. The circumstances in which The Marrow first appeared were . . . Continue reading →
But that the covenant of works was also, for special ends, repeated and delivered to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, I cannot refuse— 1. Because of the apostle’s testimony, ‘These are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gendereth to . . . Continue reading →
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, . . . Continue reading →
As a boy I got up early in order to watch cartoons on Saturdays. I did the same on Sundays but back then, in the mid-60s, television on Sundays was a little different than it was on Saturdays. First there was a . . . Continue reading →
Since the very earliest days of the post-apostolic church, in the 2nd century, there have been preachers who thought that the best way to produce godliness (sanctification) in believers is to pound it into them, as it were, with a hammer. It’s . . . Continue reading →
The questions often arise, “what must a Christian believe to be saved”? or “what are the essentials?” Most often the broad evangelical answer is “not much.” The tendency is toward minimalism in doctrine (belief) and practice. In some circles it is enough . . . Continue reading →
First of all, then, let us observe that this “faithful saying” takes us back into the counsels of eternity and reveals to us the ground, in the decree of God, for the gift of His Son to the world, and the end . . . Continue reading →
It is now clear beyond all reasonable doubt that Hitler and his associates believed they were socialists, and that others, including democratic socialists, thought so too. The title of National Socialism was not hypocritical. —George Watson, “Hitler And The Socialist Dream”
Note: This post first appeared 5 years ago. The links to the original posts at Emergent Village and Daily Scroll are gone. I searched for the original post on the EV sub-site on Patheos.com but did not find it. What I did . . . Continue reading →