For this was the sovereign counsel and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of His Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the . . . Continue reading →
salvation
Perkins: The Law Promises Salvation On The Basis And Through Obedience. The Gospel Promises Salvation On The Basis Of Christ’s Obedience And Through Faith Alone
Perkins On The Threefold Use Of The Law
[W]hy the Lord says, “He that doeth the things of the law shall live,” considering no man since the fall can do the things of the law? Answer. The Lord since man’s fall repeats the law in his [its] old tenor, not . . . Continue reading →
Boston: Remember, You Are Clothed With Borrowed Feathers
2. I shall drop a few words to the saints. (1.) “Remember—that at that time,” namely, when you were in your natural state, “ye were without Christ—having no hope, and without God in the world.” Call to mind the state you were . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: Ignorance Of The Difference Between Law And Gospel Leads To Self-Righteousness
Ignorance of the difference between the law and the gospel promotes also, in a great degree, the strength and influence of a self-righteous temper. When a man is driven to acts of obedience by the dread of God’s wrath revealed in the . . . Continue reading →
Demons In The Digital Age
One of the myths that has been exploded in late modernity is that we Westerners are an “Enlightened” people, who have moved beyond demons, ghosts, and religion. We are not and we have not. I am not saying that we have not . . . Continue reading →
New: Resources On The Doctrine Of Justification
According to J. H. Alsted (1588–1638), “the article justification is said to be the article of the standing or falling of the church.” It was said to be such by the confessionally Reformed and Lutheran alike. The language was probably borrowed from . . . Continue reading →
In His Covenant Faithfulness He Remembered Us In Our Low Estate
It is Yahweh who remembered us in our low estate, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever; and snatched us from our foes, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever; he who gives food to all flesh, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. Give . . . Continue reading →
Surprising Comfort
…Does personal confidence that we will receive everlasting rewards for our works square with all the biblical data? To be very clear, the question here is not about whether we will receive those rewards, but about the issue of personal confidence that . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 160: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (7): Christ’s Abounding Graces
One of the principal reasons I became an amillennialist in eschatology was my study of 1 and 2 Peter. One of the reasons that, after study, investigation, and prayer, I rejected the claims of the Pentecostal moment is the triumphalism of the . . . Continue reading →
When It Comes To Assurance The Equation Stops With Christ
When it comes to assurance, the equation stops with Christ. Did he finish the work? Is he enough? You will NEVER (yes, I’m raising my voice a bit) achieve the sanctity you want without first trusting in the sufficiency of the finished . . . Continue reading →
Is This A Covenant Of Works Or A Covenant Of Grace?
We Know How Luther And Calvin Answered This Question
I am hard pressed to imagine something more important for our lives than fulfilling the covenant that God has made with us for our final salvation. John Piper, Future Grace (1995 edition), 249. Resources How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia Resources On The . . . Continue reading →
How Not To Respond To Antinomianism Or Nomism
The Antinomian denies the abiding validity of God’s moral law. Continue reading
William Perkins: Both Justification And Salvation Are Through Faith Alone
“Faith therefore justifies because it is an instrument to apprehend and apply that which justifies, namely, Christ and His obedience. As the Israelites stung of fiery serpents were cured, so are we saved (John 3:14). The Israelites did nothing at all, but . . . Continue reading →
Eating Christ: What, Why, And How (John 6:53–56)
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him (John 6:53–56; ESV). Continue reading →
Heidelcast 174: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (18): Applying The Analogy To Preaching, Sacraments, Baptism, And Salvation
The argument of the series is that this is Peter’s over-arching picture or paradigm for the way New Covenant believers are to think about their place in the world and about the return of Christ. There will be no literal 1,000 year . . . Continue reading →
It Is All Sola Gratia, Sola Fide
From first to last, the Christian life is a life of faith. At no point can fleshly works do anything to move the soul one inch closer to God. Do you believe this? I am not sure that all of us do. . . . Continue reading →
A Good Friday Meditation: The Three Marys
…but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene (John 19:25). Beginning in the late patristic and early medieval period, the eyes of the church were gradually drawn away from Christ . . . Continue reading →
Silent Saturday
During this season, which many Christians call “Holy Week,” I am perversely drawn to Saturday.
There Is Only One Way—But Thank God That There Is A Way
The Illusion Of Choices One of the first Bible verses I learned as a young Christian remains near the forefront of my mind because it captures an essential truth. It is John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. . . . Continue reading →