What Is True Faith? (9) Its Gospel Agency

In part 8 we saw that the source of true faith is the sovereign, powerful, re-creating work of the Holy Spirit. Ordinarily, however, he works through what the classic Reformed writers, including Calvin, and the Reformed churches call “the means of grace” . . . Continue reading →

Office Hours: Sanctification And The Means Of Grace

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 →

Heidelberg 65: Faith, Union With Christ, And The Means Of Grace (1)

65. Since then we are made partakers of Christ and all His benefits by faith only, whence comes this faith? The Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the Holy Gospel, and confirms it by the use of the . . . Continue reading →

Heidelberg 65: Faith, Union With Christ, And The Means Of Grace (2)

65. Since then we are made partakers of Christ and all His benefits by faith only, whence comes this faith? The Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the Holy Gospel, and confirms it by the use of the . . . Continue reading →

Heidelberg 65: Faith, Union With Christ, And The Means Of Grace (3)

Neither Holy Baptism nor the Holy Supper create the realities they signify and seal but they are gospel sacraments. They are promises of good news to believers. Faith receives what they promise. Faith knows, assents, and trusts and receives all that they promise. The sacraments do not replace faith. They supplement faith. They confirm faith the way a registered letter embossed or stamped with a government seal confirms a declaration. Continue reading →

Between Magic And Mere Memory

When Christians receive the Lord’s Supper or when people are baptized, what happens? Is it the case that, as Rome claims, at consecration, the elements of bread and wine are transformed (transubstantiated) so that they are no longer, in substance, bread and . . . Continue reading →