Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
While I think Zacharias Ursinus’ thinking would be profitable to consider, I am not recording his reflections in order for readers to come to agreement with his position as a whole. Rather, my interest is twofold. First, I think the way the Heidelberg Catechisms is used as a “proof” of…
On this question Hebrews 10 is quite clear and really needs no additional argument. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume…
Not all readers of this essay letter may be aware of it, but a tempest has been brewing in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a tempest created by the liberal party in that denomination. It came about this way. In January 2002, a Pastor’s Conference on covenant theology was…
Once upon a time there was such a thing as Calvinistic thought. It existed when I was younger, but seems to have largely disappeared in recent years. But let me elaborate. When I became a Calvinist, back in 1970, I bought a bunch of books. Over the next few years,…
CHRIST THE PREACHER How Ephesians Shows Us Why Preaching is Essential to Salvation & Sanctification Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a…
Tracking the informal shifts in Protestant opinion regarding Baptism can be a difficult business. For example, in 1849 Anglican clergyman William Goode published his defense of Evangelicalism against the Anglo-Catholics under the title, The Doctrine of the Church of England as to the Effects of Baptism in the Case of…
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Does the Apostle Peter conform to the Westminster Standards as interpreted by the Federal Vision Study Committee? At the beginning of his second epistle, Peter says that “divine power” has granted “everything pertaining to life and godliness” (1:3). God communicates the life and godliness that results from His power “through…
Baptism has a promissory aspect. The Lord promises forgiveness and life in the Word, and calls hearers to faith. Baptism is a ritual form of the same promise, offering this gift to me by name, and baptism calls the baptized to trust the God who has baptized him. Baptism not…
INTRODUCTION John and Jesus both preach repentance and coming judgment; both offer both oppose the Pharisees and Sadducees; both are prophets. Wrath is coming on Israel (Matthew 3:7), and the Lord sends a double witness to warn Israel. THE TEXT “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the…
We are the body of Christ, and His life-history becomes our life-history. Jesus recapitulates the history of Israel, and does it right. And in so doing, He also anticipates the history of the church. The history of the church is marked by periods of oppression. At times, Herod has been…
Matthew 2:23: He came and resided in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazarene. As I mentioned in the sermon, Matthew is not quoting a particular passage here. Instead, he is alluding to various passages that describe…
Israel was to be a place of freedom and justice, a nation where the rights of the weak and oppressed, the fatherless and widow, would be defended. Israel was a nation of redeemed slaves, and Yahweh told her never to forget what it was like to be in bondage. Israel…
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