Why Must He Be a True and Righteous Man? (Heidelberg Catechism 16 pt 2)

Question 16 Part 2: Satisfaction for Sin Few things rankle the modern mind more than the idea that God’s justice must be “satisfied.” The old liberals (and some new feminists! See Lucy Reid, She Changes Everything, 16) derided this notion as “slaughterhouse . . . Continue reading →

Calvin on Christ’s Active Obedience

From Institutes 2.16.5 (Battles edn): Now someone asks, How has Christ abolished sin, banished the separation between us and God, and acquired righteousness to render God favorable and kindly toward us? To this we can in general reply that he has achieved . . . Continue reading →

The Consensus Of The Divines, Legalism, And The Covenant Of Works

The charge of legalism against the covenant of works is one of those allegations that seems persuasive at first because we all know that legalism is bad and that grace is good. It is almost instinctive to react to the charge by asserting the graciousness of the covenant of works. That is a trap, however, into which we ought not step. Continue reading →