This post is the first in a series designed to encourage good works by providing excerpts from Reformed preaching and writing. But, before we get started, I think it is important to ask why this even matters... This post seeks to provide some biblical reasons we as Christians should we make a study of good works.
Read MoreUnion With Christ In the Westminster Shorter Catechism /
There is much debate over whether we are to view union with Christ or justification as having a logical (even if not strictly chronological) priority in salvation.
While this post certainly will not settle that debate, I thought that it might at least prove helpful to briefly examine what the Westminster Shorter Catechism has to say about the subject. It is my contention that the Shorter Catechism is abundantly clear when it comes to spelling out for us which comes first (i.e. logical priority), union with Christ or justification.
Read MoreThe Lamb's High Feast: Good Reasons For Weekly Communion /
One of the most frequently asked questions I receive from visitors is, “Why does your church celebrate the Lord’s Supper every Sunday?” There are several reasons for our practice and I organize them under three categories: Biblical/Exegetical, Theological/Practical, and Historical.
Since I serve in a Reformed congregation, visitors sometimes assume that we celebrate the Lord’s Supper 3, 4, 6, or 12 times a year. Some are genuinely puzzled that we would embrace a practice that is at odds with the practice of other local Reformed churches. I remind them that John Calvin advocated the “at least once a week” position.
Read MoreGenevan Catechism Giveaway /
Win A Free Copy of Calvin's Geneva Catechism Paperback
Read MoreCovenant Succession: Parenting In Faith /
The doctrine of covenant succession (whether or not I knew it by these terms exactly) drew me to the reformed faith. The language of sonship, of heirs, of family, of promise, of generations, of covenant, stood in stark contrast to casting a lot and hoping it just happens to land in the lap. Nurturing our little ones in the faith rather than herding them towards it.
Read MoreIntroducing ReformedDeacon.com /
Those who have served in diaconal ministry know well the prescience of the apostles in requiring deacons to be "full of the Spirit and of wisdom." Serving others in mercy ministry requires wisdom at every turn: to provide money or not, to offer counsel or hold your tongue, to consult with elders for help or handle a matter within a diaconate. Growing in wisdom should be a daily pursuit of the Christian deacon; as with all Christians, a deacon is to be transformed by the renewing of his mind and ask God "who gives generously to all without reproach" (James 1:5) to give him wisdom in a time of need.
Read MoreJust Passing Through? When People Leave The Reformed Churches /
Over the past 15 years, I have seen various men and women leave Reformed churches. Sometimes they move to Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy. Other times they head for a more vanilla, antinomian, evangelical church. And sometimes they have left the faith altogether. Of course, this is anecdotal, but several things have stuck out about these conversions
Read MoreSanctified by Grace /
Sanctification is our 'working out' what God Himself has 'worked in,' which includes not just the doing or working for His good pleasure, but even our willingness or desire to do so in the first place!
Read MorePsalm 3, You Are My Shield: Phone Wallpaper /
Free phone backgrounds featuring lyrics from a setting of Psalm 3 by My Soul Among Lions. Available at http://clearnotesongbook.com/song/psalm-3-you-are-my-shield-msal
Read MoreThe Unio Mystica is our Great Salvation /
This is a reminder that everything needed for salvation is literally in Christ alone. To all those living and walking by faith, the Triune God has proven his faithfulness to you. So let us sing with our hearts, all glory be to Christ!
Read MoreGodliness With Contentment: Your Best Life Now /
You don't like where you live? What you have? How you look? Wishing you could have your best life now? God's surprising prescription is godliness with contentment.
Read MoreOnly One Covenant of Grace: The Earliest Commentary On The WCF /
The New Testament and Old Testament do not differ in substance but only in accident (its manner or shape fitting to its time and use). The essential unity of the Old and New Covenants is seen clearly in that both contain the same spiritual blessings: the promise of grace, forgiveness, and eternal life and blessing for believers in Jesus Christ. In addition, both covenants contain the requirement of the same faith and obedience.
Read MoreCovenant Children and the Church Triumphant /
"A child of the covenant has died. The hearts of the parents are bleeding and bid fair to break. Their pastor seeks to console them. What shall he say?" - Kuiper
Read MoreJohn Calvin On The Sacraments As Offers Of Mercy & Pledges of Grace /
In this passage from the Institutes IV.14.7, Calvin argues that the rejection of Christ in the sacraments does not imply that the sacraments are not efficacious. Instead, to those who receive them in faith, the sacraments are evidences of God's grace to us, "seals of the good-will which he entertains toward us." They "nourish, confirm, and increase our faith."
Read MoreBerkhof on Christian Education /
If Abraham diligently teaches his children the way of the Lord, then the Lord will bring upon Abraham and his descendants the things which he has promised them.
Read MoreJohn Calvin on Obedience to the Law /
"It is our wisdom by which we are formed and instructed to complete uprightness. It is our discipline which does not permit us to abandon ourselves in more wicked license." - John Calvin
Read MoreReformed Tradition(s) on the Eucharist /
It is true that the Reformed disposition to covenant theology makes the depiction of the sacrament less neat and tidy. However, it would be a mistake to presume a Zwinglian position that has historically become more and more popular.
Read MoreAll Must Be Well /
Precious is the blood that healed us;
Perfect is the grace that sealed us;
Strong the hand stretched out to shield us;
All must be well.
--Mary Bowley Peters
Read MoreMemorials /
It’s not enough for the peoples of the earth to simply know the hand of the Lord is mighty. Each generation of the Church should ask “What do you mean by this service?” (Ex 12:26), and each member of the Church should live so that unbelievers will ask it as well. Through the memorials of our worship services, we pray all peoples will come to know that the hand of the Lord is mighty to save.
Read MoreVos: The Well Founded Presumption of Election /
"Vos... explained that the dualistic belief that placed covenant and election next to each other without any inner connection was prevalent among many Reformed believers in America. The covenant becomes a strengthened gospel offer. Election comes last, and functions like a second Amyraldian conclusion."
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