Salvation

O ne issue that is periodically debated in Reformed circles concerns the relationship repentance has with justification, and more particularly with forgiveness. The Bible clearly states that repentance is necessary for forgiveness (Isa. 55:7; Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 11:18; 17:30; 20:21;...

How Then Shall We Feel? In the house today is Dr. Keith Plummer. He’s a professor of a variety of topics related to pastoral ministry, apologetics, and spiritual formation at Cairn University. The topic of our conversation is the place that feelings or emotions have in the life of a Christian. How...

A few weeks ago the session on which I serve was interviewing some young teenage girls for communicant membership in the church. When a child in the congregation I serve approaches me about making their profession of faith before the session I ask them two questions. First, I ask to hear their...

Grace Worth Fighting For To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Canons of Dort, Daniel Hyde has written Grace Worth Fighting For: Recapturing the Vision of God’s Grace in the Canons of Dort. Hyde’s work is a reminder for us to protect and proclaim the Gospel of grace. Danny is the pastor of...

Dear Theophilus, I find that the greatest danger facing the church today is Christ-less Christianity. I realize that this expression will raise your eyebrows and well it should for what is Christianity if not Christ? But if I leave it undefined you will ask what it means in your next letter! So,...

T he doctrine of salvation (Soteriology) is necessarily intertwined with the doctrine of God (Theology Proper). Your understanding of what God does and how he saves will affect your understanding of who God is, and vice versa . The puritans faced this issue in their debates with the so-called...

The day of Christ’s return will be the day he will ‘judge the living and the dead’. Christians have confessed this in the words of the Apostles’ Creed for centuries; but, as so often is the case, we can rehearse these words without feeling their weight. More than that, it can be all too easy for...

Dear Theophilus, You’ve just come to place your faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Your heart is, no doubt, enraptured with the glorious grace which God has shown you; the beauty of Christ, your Savior. Your heart is on fire for the Lord. As well it should be, brother - keep that flame burning hot. I...

Monica of Tagaste – A Persistent Mother Augustine was a difficult teenager, the kind that keeps parents up at night. The restlessness he would later describe in his Confessions was already evident at a young age, especially to his mother Monica. But she never gave up. She upheld him constantly in...

Dear Theophilus, Greetings in Jesus’ name! May his grace abound to you through his Spirit to the glory of the Father. As requested, I write to warn of a grave danger facing the church, namely, ungodly pride that leads to an arrogance dishonoring to Christ, detrimental to the unity of his body, and...