I was up first this AM. The people were kind, they showed up! After last night I wondered if anyone would return or if they would all stay home and meditate on what Mike and R. C. said. My first session was . . . Continue reading →
Sanctification
A Catechism on Legalism
At AH
Audio: Faith Apart From Works is Dead
Kim Riddlebarger explains.
True Assurance v "American" Assurance
Wes White has a great meditation for the Lord’s Day.
Available Now: Caspar Olevian and the Substance of the Covenant
Thanks to Jay Collier at Joel Beeke and RHB for putting Caspar Olevian back into print. “This volume is the most comprehensive treatment of Olevian’s theology published to date. Reflecting an impressive breadth of research and depth of analysis, it delivers . . . Continue reading →
Does "Law" = OT and "Gospel" = NT?
Eliza writes to ask, You say the Bible in the OT says “do” and the NT says “done”. True, but some Puritan said that the false gospel is “do this and live” and the true gospel is “live and do this”. Once we . . . Continue reading →
Girardeau on Justification
Few have said it more clearly. Thanks to Wes for posting this. Please don’t fail to read to the last paragraph: In discharging this instrumental office faith is entirely alone. It is followed, and in accordance with the provisions of the covenant . . . Continue reading →
Flavel on the Distinction Between Justification and Sanctification
The latter is progressive and the former is punctiliar, definitive, and once-for-all. Todd explains.
Laws Hard and Soft
They’re both brutalizing.
Witsius on Faith and Love
“The natural consequence of this assent, is the LOVE of the truth thus known and acknowledged. This is the third act of faith, and of this the Apostle speaks when he says; “They received not the love of the truth that they . . . Continue reading →
Iain Campbell on "The Means of Grace"
…the Reformed tradition recognised, alongside its great emphasis on grace, that while we experience that grace personally and individually, we recognise it through particular channels, or ‘means’. There is a distinction to be made between means and ends – the end that . . . Continue reading →
The Solution to a Great Lot of Problems
Antinomianism and legalism will always be with us. They have plagued the church since the apostolic age (read Galatians and 1 Corinthians). In the seventeenth century, however, appeared a marvelous remedy for both: The Marrow of Modern Divinity. The adjective “modern” is . . . Continue reading →
Brenden is Reading Covenant, Justification, and Pastoral Ministry
At True Blue. He’s reading Dennis Johnson’s chapter, “Simul iustus et Peccator: The Role of Justification in Pastoral Counseling.” You can order your copy from the Bookstore at WSC for $17.36 (+$5.00 shipping). Remember, it helps the HB when you go to . . . Continue reading →
The Comfort of Prayer
Jon Moersch has an excellent post on the necessity and benefits of prayer.
Mr Murray on Justification
Darryl has it at OLTS.
Study While You Pray and Pray While You Study
As an ex-Pietist one of the most vicious laws under which I was placed early on in my Christian life was the “quiet time.” I was taught to carry a “verse pack” and to keep a “quiet time” journal. The younger Christians . . . Continue reading →
The Three Uses of the Law
One of the problems with the notion that Reformed theology is utterly divorced from the rest of Protestantism (i.e., Lutheranism) and the concomitant ignorance of the broader Protestant history and tradition is that we Reformed folk often end up losing our theology. . . . Continue reading →
Who Says the Gospel is No Motive to Holiness?
One of the more disturbing things I’ve heard during the recent decade of controversy concerning the various attempts to revise the Reformed doctrine of justification is the claim made by some well-regarded, quite influential, Reformed folks that “guilt, grace, gratitude” structure of . . . Continue reading →
Breaking the Law of Niceness
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother (Matthew 18:15). We’ve been discussing Christian rhetoric and theological discourse on the HB. This . . . Continue reading →
What is the Power of the Christian Life?
For Christians who believe God’s Word, the Holy Scriptures and who confess the Reformed faith there can be no question whether we ought to live the Christian life. The question is, however, how do we live the Christian life? From where do . . . Continue reading →