The Reformed churches have ever considered Christ and justification by faith in his merits, as the great centre of the Christian system. The Oxford Tract writers make the church the main point; the church as an ordinance for conveying life to all . . . Continue reading →
Justification
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 →
Faith Is The Open Hand Of A Beggar
Question 36. But how are we justified by faith? Answer: Not because of the worthiness of our faith, as if God justifies us because of it, as the Remonstrants would have it, and [as if] faith is here reckoned as a virtue . . . Continue reading →
Owen: Sanctification A Grace Of The Spirit Proceeding From Justification
Sanctification, as here described, is the immediate work of God by his Spirit upon our whole nature, proceeding from the peace made for us by Jesus Christ, whereby, being changed into his likeness, we are kept entirely in peace with God, and . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 59: What Good Is Faith?
One of the more disturbing aspects of the reaction to antinomianism in recent years, whether that antinomianism is real or perceived does not matter for the purposes of this discussion, is how quickly some have been willing to write, speak, and act . . . Continue reading →
Notes On Calvin’s Doctrine That Justification Sola Fide Is The Principal Axis Of The Christian Religion
Christ was given to us by God’s generosity, to be grasped and possessed by us in faith. By partaking of him, we principally receive a double grace: namely, that being reconciled to God through Christ’s blamelessness, we may have in heaven instead . . . Continue reading →
Justification: One Of The Two Chief Articles Of Our Faith
The doctrine of justification, which now follows, is one of the chief articles of our faith, not only because it treats of those things which are fundamental, but also because it is most frequently called in question by heretics. The controversies between . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg Catechism: Only By True Faith (2)
60. How are you righteous before God? Only by true faith in Jesus Christ; that is, although my conscience accuse me, that I have grievously sinned against all the commandments of God, and have never kept any of them, and am still prone always . . . Continue reading →
Pietists And Romanists Together
In 1994 a notable collection of Evangelicals and Roman Catholics, or Romanists, signed the first in a series of documents known as “Evangelicals and Catholics Together.” In a couple of places, Reformation 21 and First Things the beginning of those discussions are . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 60: Only By True Faith (3)
Only by true faith in Jesus Christ; that is, although my conscience accuse me, that I have grievously sinned against all the commandments of God, and have never kept any of them, and am still prone always to all evil; yet God without any . . . Continue reading →
Christ’s Merits Affirmed And Ours Denied In The Reformed Confessions
Christ’s Merit For Us Affirmed “only for the sake of Christ’s merits” (Heidelberg Catechism 21) “for the sake of Christ’s merits” (Heidelberg Catechism 84) “if they did not rest on the merit of the suffering and death of our Savior” (Belgic Confession, . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 60: Only By True Faith (4)
“Yet God without any merit of mine, of mere grace, grants and imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never committed nor had any sin, and had myself accomplished all the obedience which Christ has fulfilled for me…” Continue reading →
Heidelberg 60: Only By True Faith (5)
And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (Rom 4:5; ESV) Continue reading →
Muddying The Distinction Between Justification And Salvation
Ultimately, the Socinians, the Romanists, and the moralists (e.g., Baxter) agreed: the gospel of free justification with God and free salvation must be rejected because it’s insufficient to produce the desired outcome. Continue reading →
Muddying The Distinction Between Justification And Salvation (2)
…although they make their boast of Him, yet in deeds they deny the only Savior Jesus, for either Jesus is not a complete Savior, or they who by true faith receive this Savior, must have in Him all that is necessary to their salvation. Continue reading →
Packer: Shepherd Reinvented The Neonomianism Of Richard Baxter
Shepherd in effect reinvented the neonomianism of Richard Baxter in the 17th century—and from the same motive—recoil from the practical antinomianism that surrounded him, and a desire to state the gospel as to make perfectly obvious that persevering holiness is enjoined on . . . Continue reading →
Ursinus On Christ’s Merits And Sola Fide
1. Because we are justified by the object of faith alone, that is by the merits of Christ only, without which we can have no righteousness whatever: for we are justified for Christ’s sake. Nothing but the merit of Christ can be . . . Continue reading →
Roger Nicole On A Distinguishing Mark Of Shepherdite Theology
In attempting to claim a fundamental cleavage between Reformed thought and Lutheranism, evangelicalism and other movements on the point of justification, Shepherd appears to abandon the traditional view that there is substantive agreement among all evangelical Protestants concerning this topic. The fact . . . Continue reading →
R. C. Sproul: Why Can’t We Say That Good Works are Necessary As Evidence?
Thesis #23 illustrates the problem: “…good works…though not the ground of his justification, are nevertheless necessary for salvation from eternal condemnation and therefore for justification.” This thesis is replete with the confusion of formulation that I’ve already mentioned. The good works are . . . Continue reading →
Morton Smith: Shepherd Teaches Justification Through Faith And Works
As one who has been trained in, and has taught the classic systematic theology with the biblical theological basis of Professor John Murray’s approach, I find Mr. Shepherd’s original paper, and also his later statements, quite confusing and disturbing. For example, he . . . Continue reading →