W. Robert Godfrey: The year 2017 was the Martin Luther year. We remembered the Reformation and we celebrated it. But we must also continue the Reformation. The Reformation is not a museum to be visited occasionally on a tour bus. It was and is a vital movement for truth and life in the church of Jesus. How should we maintain and advance the cause of reform? Some believe that the answer to that question can be found in the slogan reformed and always reforming. We continue the Reformation by always reforming. That slogan is indeed useful if we understand it correctly. The problem is that sometimes the slogan is used to justify the opposite of what it originally intended. Those who misuse the slogan end up saying something like this: The Reformation had to change things that were wrong in the church, and we have to continue changing things that are wrong with the church. We have to make Christianity more understandable and
Reformed
The Heart of Reformed Theology
John Hendryx: The heart of Reformed Theology or Calvinism is the cross of Jesus Christ … that all redemptive blessings flow from Him alone (Eph 1:3). That His Person and work is sufficient. That salvation is all of grace because it is all of Christ. It is a sign of a corrupted doctrine which teaches anything in addition to Christ …i.e. that man must (at least partly) either attain or maintain his own just standing before God. Now you either believe one or the other.. If you believe that Jesus is not sufficient to save you to the uttermost, then you embrace a theology to a greater or lesser degree like Roman Catholicism (Gal 3:3). One of the main purposes of the five points of Calvinism is to demonstrate that the Scripture would always turn our trust entirely back to Christ: if you reject say, irresistible grace, then you then you reject or downplay the sufficiency of Christ, who provides
An Interview on the Joy of Calvinism
Justin Taylor: It was a joy to talk about Calvinism and the new book The Joy of Calvinism with Dr. Greg Forster, a public intellectual who converted to Christianity as an adult. You can watch our conversation below.
The Essence of Reformed Theology
. (HT: Reformation Theology)
Why John Piper (and me!) Loves Reformed Theology
I am a lover of the Reformed faith — the legacy of the protestant Reformation expressed broadly in the writings of John Calvin and John Owen and Charles Spurgeon and Jonathan Edwards, and contemporaries like R. C. Sproul and J. I. Packer and John Frame. I speak of love for this legacy the way I speak of loving a cherished photo of my wife. I say, “I love that picture.” You won’t surprise me if you point out, “But that’s not your wife, that’s a picture.” Yes. Yes. I know it’s only a picture. I don’t love the picture instead of her, I love the picture because of her. She is precious in herself. The picture is precious not in itself, but because it reveals her. That’s the way theology is precious. God is valuable in himself. The theology is not valuable in itself. It is valuable as a picture. That’s what I mean when I say, “I love reformed theology.” It’s the best composite, Bible-distilled picture
Lord, Do It [revive us] Again!
Colin Hansen writes: Why isn’t there as much interest in revival among Christians today compared to former years? I posed that question to Tim Keller and Nancy Leigh DeMoss, each of whom has been inspired by reading about past revivals to aspire for such an awakening in our day. We all agree there isn’t a lot of talk about the revival stories, a problem I’ve experienced and tried to address with John Woodbridge in A God-Sized Vision. Keller notes with appreciation the recent interest in evangelism but notes that revival leads to an ingathering of new believers. “The best way to reach people is to show them something gorgeous here,” he says. Reformed Christians rightly emphasize the need for doctrinal reformation. Indeed, revival does not come to apostate churches. But it’s possible to focus so much on our efforts to reform church doctrine that we don’t bother to ask God to work in extraordinary ways. We neglect this privilege of prayerful,
Seeing ourselves in the big picture of God’s activity in redemptive history
Union with Christ in his death and resurrection … is the foundation of sanctification in Reformed theology. It is rooted, not in humanity and their achievement of holiness or sanctification, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in union with him. Rather than view Christians first and foremost in the microcosmic context of their own progress, the Reformed doctrine first of all sets them in the macrocosm of God’s activity in redemptive history. It is seeing oneself in this context that enables the individual Christian to grow in true holiness. – Sinclair Ferguson
Terry Virgo – being a Reformed Charismatic apostle
From Adrian Warnock:
A word of caution
From Reformation Theology: Most Christians do not think enough, or study enough in order to pursue God with their minds as well as their hearts, but as Dr. John Piper reminds us, there is a ditch on the other side of the road – an intellectualism that pursues the study of God without relationship with God. In the short video below, he encourages Christians to value theology as a means for knowing God, without making theology God.
Seeing our sanctification in the macrocosm of God’s activity in redemptive history
Union with Christ in his death and resurrection … is the foundation of sanctification in Reformed theology. It is rooted, not in humanity and their achievement of holiness or sanctification, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in union with him. Rather than view Christians first and foremost in the microcosmic context of their own progress, the Reformed doctrine first of all sets them in the macrocosm of God’s activity in redemptive history. It is seeing oneself in this context that enables the individual Christian to grow in true holiness. – Sinclair Ferguson (HT: Monergism)
Union with Christ… is the foundation of sanctification
“Union with Christ in his death and resurrection … is the foundation of sanctification in Reformed theology. It is rooted, not in humanity and their achievement of holiness or sanctification, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in union with him. Rather than view Christians first and foremost in the microcosmic context of their own progress, the Reformed doctrine first of all sets them in the macrocosm of God’s activity in redemptive history. It is seeing oneself in this context that enables the individual Christian to grow in true holiness.” – Sinclair Ferguson
Matt Chandler on being a reformed charismatic
(HT: Adrian Warnock)
Why are you called a Christian?
Why are you called a Christian? (Question 32) “Because I am a member of Christ by faith and thus share in His anointing, so that I may as prophet confess His Name, as priest present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to Him, and as king fight with a free and good conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and hereafter reign with Him eternally over all creatures.” – The Heidelberg Catechism (HT: Of First Importance)
The Quickening Word of God
I have many in this city who are my people. – Acts 18:10 “This should be a great encouragement in proclaiming the Gospel, since among the people in our communities—the disinterested, the rebellious, the careless—God has an elect people who must be saved. When you take the Word to them, you do so because God has ordained you to be the messenger of life to their souls, and they must receive it, for so the decree of predestination runs. They are as much redeemed by blood as the saints before the eternal throne. They are Christ’s property, and yet perhaps they are lovers of selfish pleasures and haters of holiness; but if Jesus Christ purchased them, He will have them. God is not unfaithful to forget the price that His Son has paid. He will not suffer His substitution to be in any case an ineffectual, dead thing. Tens of thousands of redeemed ones are not regenerated yet, but regenerated they
The Nature of Conversion by Joseph Alleine
Conversion then, in short, lies in the thorough change both of the heart and life, in which: 1. The AUTHOR of conversion is the Spirit of God. Conversion is a work above man’s power. We are ‘born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man—but of God’ (John 1:13). Never think you can convert yourself. If ever you would be savingly converted, you must despair of doing it in your own strength. It is a resurrection from the dead (Eph 2:1), a new creation (Gal 6:15; Eph 2:10), a work of absolute omnipotence (Eph 1:19). 2. The efficient CAUSE of conversion is both free grace, which is internal, and the merit and intercession of the blessed Jesus, which is external. 3. The INSTRUMENT of conversion is the Word and those who minister it. 4. The final END of conversion is man’s salvation, and God’s glory. 5. The SUBJECT of conversion is the
What is a “reformed” understanding of the gospel?
(HT: Allsufficientgrace)
Vos on the Reformed Formulation of Union with Christ
By faith [the Christian] is a member of the covenant [of grace], and that faith has a wide outlook, a comprehensive character, which not only points to justification but also to all the benefits which are in Christ. Whereas the Lutheran tends to view faith one-sidedly–only it its connection with justification–for the Reformed Christian it is saving faith in all the magnitude of the word. According to the Lutheran, the Holy Spirit first generates faith in the sinner who temporarily still remains outside of union with Christ; then justification follows faith and only then, in turn, does the mystical union with the Mediator take place . . . The covenantal (or Reformed) outlook is the reverse. One is first united to Christ, the Mediator of the covenant, by a mystical union, which finds its conscious recognition by faith. By this union with Christ all that is in Christ is simultaneously given. Faith embraces all this too; it not only grasps
read more Vos on the Reformed Formulation of Union with Christ
Finally Alive – a review by Tim Challies
Tim Challies, host of the Discerning Reader, reviews Finally Alive, by John Piper. Like many others, I believe this is one of the most important books Piper has written. As I read the final page of Finally Alive I realized that I had found a new favorite book by John Piper. Those who have read my reviews of some of his previous titles know that while I greatly enjoy Piper’s ministry and am indebted to him in many ways, I have not always found his books easy to read. Yet I read Finally Alive with relish, enjoying it from the first page to the last. It is an incisive examination of a topic of profound importance. I think it represents Piper at his very best as an author. This is a book about the new birth, about regeneration, about what it means to be born again. Born again is a term we hear often these days, both within the walls
Reformed Theology and Reformed Culture
I like this from Ray Ortlund: I like Reformed theology. I believe it’s what the Bible teaches. But I don’t like Reformed culture. I don’t believe it’s what the Bible teaches. Reformed theology is all about grace deciding to treat people better than they deserve, for the sheer glory of it all. Sometimes Reformed culture doesn’t look like that, feel like that, taste like that. It gives people exactly what they deserve, as judged by the Reformed person. But who exalted him as judge in the first place? Our true Judge stepped down to become our Friend. That theology of grace must translate into the sociology of grace as we treat one another better than anyone deserves, for the sheer glory of it all. “If our theology does not quicken the conscience and soften the heart, it actually hardens both; if it does not encourage the commitment of faith, it reinforces the detachment of unbelief; if it fails to promote
Mark Dever at Desiring God Pastors Conference
Abraham Piper blogs these helpful summaries of Mark Dever’s messages on evangelism at the DG Pastors’ Conference. 3 Reasons to Share the Gospel 1. A Desire to Be Obedient to God’s Commands Jesus commanded his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. That is exactly what the early disciples did. Paul spoke of a compulsion to share the gospel. To evangelize is to obey. In Acts 8:4, we see that those who had been scattered preached the gospel wherever they went. One of the clearest examples of evangelism being commanded is in 1 Peter 3, where Peter commands believers to “always be…prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” Our silence is not a matter of neutrality. You need to tell yourself that. Our silence is a matter of guilt and sin. Obedience is definitely a biblical reason to evangelize. 2. A Love for the Lost
Already Not Yet 