[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 →
william perkins
Perkins: Justification Is The Greatest Question In The World
Two things are generally to be considered, the occasion of this [Galatians] epistle and the scope. The occasion that moved Paul to write this epistle was because certain false apostles slandered him both in respect of his calling as also in respect . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Justification Is The Foundation Of The House
A man breaks down the windows of his house. The house stands. He breaks down the roof or the walls. The house yet stands, though deformed. He pulls up the foundation— the house itself falls and ceases to be a house. Now . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Rome Confuses Law And Gospel
The Church of Rome in a manner confounds the law and the gospel, saying that the gospel, which is the new law, reveals Christ more clearly than Moses’ law did, which they call the old law. But this is a wicked opinion, . . . Continue reading →
William Perkins On Infant Baptism
Infants of believing parents are likewise to be baptized. The grounds of their baptism are these. First, the commandment of God, “Baptize all nations” (Matt. 28:19), in which words the baptism of infants is prescribed. For the apostles by virtue of this . . . 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 →
William Perkins On Nicodemism
“First, among the Gentiles at Antioch, he uses Christian liberty in eating things forbidden by the ceremonial law. Yet after the coming of certain Jews from Jerusalem, he separates himself from the Gentiles and plays the Jew among the Jews. Like to . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Your Good Works Are All Imperfect And Mixed With Corruption
The child of God is like a lame man that goes the right way, but yet halts at every step. Abraham and Sarah desire issue, that is from the Spirit; but they desire issue by Hagar their handmaid, that is from the . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: We Are Not Justified By Our Works Either Before Or After Our Justification
"Cooperation Is Not In The Act Of Justification, Nor In The Work Of Our Salvation"
“[I] answer, that not only works done before faith are excluded, but also works that follow faith and are done in the estate of grace. For Paul here reasons thus: If no flesh be justified by works, then not we believers; but . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Want Heaven? Go To Church
We must in this world come as near heaven and the happiness of life everlasting as may be (Phil. 3:14). And for this cause we must join ourselves to the assemblies where the word is preached, prayer is made, and sacraments administered. . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Eternal Life Is By Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone
If the inheritance of life eternal be by the law, it is no more by the promise. But it is by the promise because God gave it unto Abraham freely by promise. Therefore it comes not by the law. The opposition between . . . Continue reading →
Perkins On The Pedagogical Use Of The Law
If life and justice come not by the law, the law then is in vain. And this objection is expressed by way of interrogation, ‘Wherefore then serves the law?’ The answer is in the next words, ‘It is added for transgressions,’ that . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: The Remedy For Our Need Is To Be Clothed With Christ
For the King of heaven has long invited us to the marriage of His Son. We have yielded ourselves to be His guests. And there is a time when the King will take a survey of all His guests, whether they have . . . Continue reading →
Perkins On The Order In Which To Read The New Testament
“[P]roceed to the reading of the Scriptures in this order:…read first the epistle of Paul to the Romans [and], after that, the Gospel of John (as being indeed the keys of the New Testament).” William Perkins (1558–1602) | The Art of Prophesying| . . . Continue reading →
William Perkins On Justification
Perkins objected to Rome’s sacrifice of the Mass. For Perkins, this doctrine was attached to erroneous views of Christology, Christ’s propitiatory suffering unto death, and in turn the doctrine of justification. One of Perkins’s clearest Christological statements is found in his treatise, A Warning Against the Idolatry of the Last Times (1601), where he wrote, “For He in one person is perfect God and perfect man, our only Redeemer all-sufficient in Himself, and therefore perfect king, priest, prophet; without either partner or fellow in the work of man’s salvation.” Continue reading →
William Perkins On Justification (2)
In connection with Trent and Bellarmine’s stance on purgatory and the sacrifice of the Mass was Rome’s doctrine of a second justification. Bellarmine’s Scriptural basis for a second justification was Romans 3—which he saw as the first justification, and James 2—which he saw as the second justification. For Perkins, James 2 was for the justified because of Christ, “outward testimonies of the truth of our faith and profession, proving that the grace of our hearts is not in hypocrisy, but in truth and sincerity.” In other words, James 2 spoke not of justification in the same sense as Paul in Romans, but in a completely different sense, scope, and design, James 2:21 is in the demonstrative for Abraham’s “works did testify that his faith was true and sincere. Continue reading →
Perkins: The Sum Of Covenant Of Grace Was Given In Paradise
[G]od gave the covenant of grace in the beginning to our first parents in paradise, the sum whereof was this: ‘The seed of the woman shall break the serpent’s head.’
Perkins: As Soon As One Believes
For so soon as a man believes, he is presently justified. For every believer has… Continue reading →
Perkins: The Doctrine Of A Two-Stage Justification Is A “Popish Device”
That popish device of a second justification is a satanical delusion for the Word of God does acknowledge no more but one justification at all, and that absolute and complete of itself. There is but one justice, but one satisfaction of God . . . Continue reading →
Catholicity, Confusion, And A Correction
In the mid-1970s, the original cast of Saturday Night Live featured a regular character as part of the Update sketch. The character’s name was Emily Litella. She was played by the late Gilda Radner. It used to be that local newscasts would . . . Continue reading →