How Joseph Saved Christmas
Christmas is the time of year we remember and celebrate the birth of the long-awaited Son of the David, who would (and has) saved us from our sins. But…
Patrick Ramsey
Faith, Feelings, and Facts
God is slandered daily. Satan, who is a liar and the father of lies, makes sure of it. One of his favorite lies to spread about God is that he…
The Law, the Gospel, and the Spirit
Editor’s Note: Find previous entries in this series at the end of this article. The law/gospel hermeneutic wrongly separates the Bible’s indicatives from its imperatives. That’s the first problem that…
Law, Gospel, and Gataker
Editor’s Note: Find previous entries in this series at the end of this article. In this article, we will look at one key reason the law/gospel hermeneutic is problematic, and…
Law and Gospel (and Hermeneutics)
Editor’s note: This is part 2 in this series. Read part 1 here. The law/gospel distinction is sometimes used to distinguish between the commands and promises in the Scriptures. Anthony…
Law and Gospel
The law/gospel distinction is a well-known and an important theological distinction in Protestant and Reformed circles. Unfortunately, a lot of confusion exists surrounding it, in part because further distinctions are…
Error in the Church
Richard Vines was a member of the Westminster Assembly and was considered one of the Assembly’s finest preachers. He preached a sermon on Ephesians 4:14-15 before the Mayor and court…
In Defense of a Faithful Minister
One of the reasons the Puritans wrote a number of polemical works pertaining to sanctification, particularly with respect to law, good works and salvation, was to defend faithful ministers and…
The Reward of Eternal Life
When I began to study the doctrine of good works in the Reformed tradition many years ago, I was astounded by a view that many Puritans, following in the footsteps…
Karma
Karma is a word that has been adopted from Hinduism and Buddhism to capture the saying, “what goes around, comes around.” What you do to others—good or ill—will eventually in…
Ministry of Condemnation?
The Westminster Standards teach that the post-fall covenants in Scripture are gracious. Although the covenants are distinct and different in some respects, they are the same in substance. This is…
Not Under the Law
The Westminster Standards teach that Christians are obligated to obey the Ten Commandments. The fact that the Larger and Shorter Catechisms include a detailed exposition of the Ten Commandments indicates…