Tom Hervey There is a common idea in the contemporary Presbyterian Church in America that our people should be winsome, particularly in their polemics and intra-denominational disagreements. Thus we find, for example, two Covenant College professors lauding a controversial figure in the denomination as winsome in the course of aContinue Reading
By Lee Irons As my readers know, I hold to republication – the view that the works principle in the pre-fall covenant with Adam was republished at the typological level in the Mosaic economy. Because of this, many ask, “Can you affirm that the Mosaic covenant is an administration ofContinue Reading
Anthony C. Phelps “I will … be God to you and to your offspring.” (Gen. 17:7)“The promise is for you and for your children.” (Acts 2:39) As a father of a prodigal adult child, I often need to remind myself of the gospel I believe and the faith I confess.Continue Reading
Daniel P. Clifford “For want of a nail, a shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, a horse was lost …” Most of us have never shoed horses, but we understand this proverb. Neglected details can turn out to be important, especially in making repairs. We protect things weContinue Reading
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church’s Special Committee on Marriage and Sexuality offers the material below as resources for reflection. The Special Committee recommends these works as worthy of consideration but does not intend to endorse the authors of these works generally. The views expressed in the material are not necessarily thoseContinue Reading
“The Holy Scriptures are sufficient. We don’t need any addition revelation. If somebody says, ‘The Holy Spirit told me’, I’m going to test it against the Scriptures. If it agrees with the Scriptures, then I don’t really need that additional revelation. If somebody says, ‘The Holy Spirit told me’, andContinue Reading
Like the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), Romans is in three parts: guilt, grace and gratitude. We may consider Romans 1:1–17 the prologue to the epistle. The guilt section runs from 1:18–3:20. Here Paul is preaching the law in its first use: to convict the world of sin and its need for a Saviour. Failure toContinue Reading
For many evangelicals and for some ostensibly Reformed folk, it has been fashionable for the past several years to teach that we are justified now by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), on the basis of Christ’s righteousness imputed but that because salvation includes sanctification and sanctificationContinue Reading
[The] gospels do not speak at length or even frequently about Jesus “hanging out” (as people say) with prostitutes or even with sinners. When we account for the repetition of the same narratives in the synoptic gospels (i.e., Matthew, Mark and Luke), we can focus on three passages: Matthew 9:10, 32-32; and LukeContinue Reading
As Reformed Christians, we confess that infants of believing parents (or of at least one believing parent) should be baptised. Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 74 asks, “Should infants, too, be baptised?” Answer: Yes. Infants as well as adults belong to God’s covenant and congregation.[1] Through Christ’s blood, the redemption fromContinue Reading