Mike Abendroth In part 1 of this series, we considered the definition of Lordship Salvation (LS) and the Reformation distinction between Law and Gospel. If you read the “rich young ruler” passage in Matthew 19:16-30, as the LS folks frequently do, you will see Jesus calling people to surrender, submission and discipleship.Continue Reading
Our good works do not justify us. They do not sanctify us. They do not save us, but they are the “fruit and evidence” of a true and lively faith. Christ saved us by his obedience, death and resurrection. The Spirit sanctifies by his grace. Our good works are theContinue Reading
In Reformed theology, the noun salvation is typically used in two ways. Sometimes it is used as a synonym for justification. When used this way, it does not include sanctification, since, according to the Reformed confession, justification is a declarative act of God whereby he credits (imputes) to sinners theContinue Reading
As I noted in Covenant, Justification, and Pastoral Ministry (2007) and have noted in this space since that time, almost as soon as the Reformation achieved clarity on salvation it came under attack from two sides: the antinomians, who would not tolerate the abiding validity of the moral law asContinue Reading
Making salvation by grace and works or by grace and faithfulness necessarily turns our eyes back upon our own performance and the quality of our faith and the quality of our sanctification. That is a spiritual dead-end. Suspending our future salvation upon our present performance has never and can never beContinue Reading
Our obedience is either the ground (the basis), the instrument (the means), or the evidence (the fruit) of our salvation. The Reformed doctrine is the latter. It is the case that believers will be progressively sanctified by the work of the Holy Spirit, through the due use of ordinary means,Continue Reading