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Writing

Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

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Federal Vision

Justification by Union with Christ Only Through Living Faith

A Brief Comparison of Calvin’s Institutes with the Westminster Confession and Catechisms regarding the shape of imputation This essay is a brief argument that the soteriology of John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion regarding union with Christ and the imputation of his righteousness is the same as…

by Mark HorneJune 5, 2003
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Baptism

Some Thoughts on the Means of Grace: A Few Proposals

The thoughts in this paper were largely prompted by a study of Walter E. Krebs, “The Word and the Sacraments,” Mercersburg Review (July, 1867), 366-383. The discussion in this paper presupposes my earlier studies of baptism, “Baptismal Efficacy and the Reformed Tradition: Past, Present, and Future” and “Calvin on Baptism,…

by Rich LuskJune 3, 2003
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Baptism

Faith, Baptism, & Justification

Sometimes our systematic theology creates an illusion of precision. For example, we distinguish the ground and instrument of justification. Justification is grounded in Christ’s work alone, and is instrumentally received by faith alone. That makes good sense and guards us from thinking that faith itself is somehow meritorious. All the…

by Rich LuskJune 1, 2003
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Covenant

DO THIS AS MY MEMORIAL: Understanding How the Lord’s Supper Reminds God to Keep Covenant

Whenever we participate in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, we remember Christ and His Work for us. We remember. And in remembering, we imitate God, as His creatures made after His image. God remembers. This is mysterious to us because we usually think of remembering in the context of our…

by Mark HorneMay 30, 2003
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Baptism

Calvin & the Efficacy of Infant Baptism

It is standard in paedobaptist circles to argue for the baptism of infants out of the Old Covenant system. Because there is no explicit command in the New Testament, we are left to the broader principles and patterns of Scripture. In the Old Covenant, we continually find that the children…

by Rich LuskMay 30, 2003
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Biblical Theology

Why the Law/Gospel Paradigm is Flawed

Luther popularized the law/gospel hermeneutic. Luther argued that any demands God made upon us fell into the category of “law” and could only condemn. By contrast, anything God gave us was “gospel” and came with no strings attached. Calvin paid lip service to this law/gospel antithesis, even though it was…

by Rich LuskMay 29, 2003

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Eucharistic exhortation

1 Corinthians 10:16: Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? As Pastor Smith has explained to us this morning, in prayer we seek communion with the Triune…

October 21, 2007

Baptismal meditation

Matthew 28: Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all things, whatever I have commanded you. We heard in the sermon this morning about the Name that we invoke…

October 21, 2007
Theology

Exhortation

There are no tricks to prayer. The crucial thing is not the method we use or the pattern we follow. The crucial thing is confidence in the God to whom we pray. Who is that God? He is the eternal God. For us, what’s done is done and what’s done…

October 21, 2007
Literature

Don’t make em like that anymore

At 16, Hugo Grotius published a well-regarded edition of the notoriously difficult Marriage of Philology and Mercury by Martianus Capella.

October 20, 2007
Literature

Don’t make em like that anymore

At 16, Hugo Grotius published a well-regarded edition of the notoriously difficult Marriage of Philology and Mercury by Martianus Capella.

October 20, 2007

Wisdom to scholars

Also from John of Salisbury: He attacks teachers who “sift and scrutinize every syllable,” as well as those bloaty-footnoted types who “compile the opinions of all, even the most miserable.”

October 20, 2007

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