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 →
The two covenant scheme of the Westminster Standards has been absolutely essential in combatting the Neonomianism of both Norman Shepherd and the Federal Vision, not to mention Roman Catholicism. There are, of course, matters in which the two covenants are similar (they . . . Continue reading →
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 →
Usually, if a boss wants greater efficiency and productivity from her employees, she sets up a system of incentives for her employees. If the boss is of the ordinary, uncreative sort, those incentives are likely to be negative. Fail to meet this goal and x (e.g., loss of pay, demotion etc) shall happen. A more creative boss might set up a series of positive incentives: meet this target and you shall receive y reward (e.g., extra paid vacation, flexible scheduling, company car etc). Whatever the nature of the incentive, the very structure is a covenant of works. Continue reading →
Judged by the mainstream of Reformed theology and particularly by confession of by the Reformed Churches, Richard Baxter (1615–91) was not Reformed. Remarkably, because many are not aware of what Baxter taught about the central issue of the Reformation, the article by . . . Continue reading →
1. That justifying faith, or that faith whereby we are justified, is our receiving of Christ as our Lord and Saviour, trusting in him and yielding obedience to him. 2. That faith, in justifying, is not to be considered as a hand . . . Continue reading →
What Martin Luther (1483–1546) expressed as a distinction between the distinction between a theology of glory (theologia gloriae) and the theology of the cross) the Reformed tended to express as a distinction between the Creator and the creature but same set ideas . . . Continue reading →
There is a phrase in journalism called “burying the lead” (or, since about 1979, the cloying variant lede). The lead (lede) is the paragraph in which the most important, salient facts are contained. In the old days (c. 1975), the writer was . . . Continue reading →
Last Sunday I had the pleasure of speaking to the adult class at Christ United Reformed Church in Santee, CA. I was filling in for my friend and colleague, Dr Ryan Glomsrud, a ruling elder at CURC. He has been teaching a . . . Continue reading →
For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren to believe in Christ and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. 2 . . . 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.
We are approaching on Reformation Day again this seems like a good time to cover the basics again. The medieval church came to teach that we enter a state of grace through baptism. According to the medieval church, we remain in a . . . Continue reading →
My first interaction with the theology of Norman Shepherd probably came in seminary. He was dismissed from his position as a professor in a Reformed and Presbyterian seminary, where he taught the course on the doctrine of salvation (soteriology) in 1981. I . . . Continue reading →
The magisterial Protestant churches (i.e., the Lutheran and Reformed) and their theologians did not speak of, teach, or confess a “two-stage” doctrine of justification or even a “two-stage” doctrine of salvation (justification, sanctification, and glorification). Yet, today, one sees leading evangelical and . . . Continue reading →
Introduction None of us knows the specifics of the future. There are a few things that every Christian knows from Scripture about the future. We know that Christ shall return (Acts 1:11), that there shall be a bodily resurrection (1 Thess 4:16), . . . Continue reading →
At the 1518 Heidelberg Disputation (academic presentation), Martin Luther (1483–1546), the father of the Protestant Reformation, as he was coming to his Protestant convictions, argued: “One is not worthy to be called a theologian who looks upon the ‘invisible things of God’ . . . Continue reading →
The Problem Of Antinomianism Repeatedly in the history of Christianity there have been two competing, damaging impulses regarding the moral law of God. One of those impulses is known as “antinomianism.” This view denies the abiding validity of the moral law for . . . Continue reading →
At the 1518 Heidelberg Disputation (academic presentation), Martin Luther (1483–1546), the father of the Protestant Reformation, as he was coming to his Protestant convictions, argued: “One is not worthy to be called a theologian who looks upon the ‘invisible things of God’ . . . Continue reading →
This was seconded by an observation of some men’s dangerous mistakes, who of late days have taken upon them to give directions for the mortification of sin, who, being unacquainted with the mystery of the gospel and the efficacy of the death . . . Continue reading →
We deny that law and gospel should be considered as hermeneutics, or treated as such. We believe that any passage, whether indicative or imperative, can be heard by the faithful as good news, and that any passage, whether containing gospel promises or . . . Continue reading →