-
Duty Faith and the Protestant Reformed Churches
Dear Brother J., Thank you so much for your detailed analysis of my attempt to illustrate saving faith as opposed to duty-faith. You brought many coals to Newcastle for me and your Athens-bound ships were full of wise old owls, all of which were welcome. It is good to find that though you may disagrees with me on terms, we have so very much agreement on contents, though we are only at the beginning of a debate. It is very obvious that you Presbyterians use many words that I do, yet with different meanings. Thomas Scott used to say that all denominations tend to inject their own particular meaning into words and thus distinguish themselves from others. This is a true observation but it makes…
-
November 7—Morning Devotion
"And yet there is room."—Luke 14:22 Room! where, and for whom? Room in the gospel of salvation, and for poor perishing sinners, in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Room in the heart of God the Father, in the love, grace, mercy, and peace of God the Son, and in the teachings, influences, and fellowship of God the Holy Ghost. Room in the plentiful provisions of grace, the calls of the gospel, the ministration of the word and ordinances in the house of prayer. "Whosoever will," is the gracious invitation; whosever feels his heart made willing in the day of God's power, "let him come and take of the water of life freely." Lord, is there room for me? Thousands, and tens of thousands…
-
The Particularity Of John 3:16
Whenever the Bible doctrine of election is presented to those who reject the Bible’s teaching of God’s sovereignty in salvation you can be sure John chapter three and verse 16 will be trotted out in defence of their position. I have come to the conclusion that there are only two reasons for this. The first reason is genuine ignorance. For many, this verse is one of the few Bible verses they know, and they simply assume that knowing the words they also know its meaning. In their ignorance of many other passages of scripture that help provide a true understanding of John 3:16 they make an attribute of their ignorance and retire content to impugn the glory of God. The second reason is pride, or…
-
Preachers Today
Throughout last year, there was a rather one-sided debate in the internet concerning the alleged difference between preachers in pan-Biblical times and those of today. These were mostly carried out by para-church groups who had words such as ‘spiritual’ in their titles and were obviously against a settled ministry in a local church, some even arguing that the office of a preacher was only used of a peripatetic, itinerant servant of God. On most of these sites one found that the writers denigrated all modern preaching, presenting themselves, of course, as ‘spiritual’ preachers who were the exception to the sad rule. The result of this campaign was that a number of brethren copied quotes from these sites and sent them to various brethren, often without…
-
Arminian In The Pulpit / Calvinist On Their Knees
Perhaps you have heard of those preachers who boast themselves to be Arminian in the pulpit and Calvinist on their knees. They make an attribute out of their ambiguous theology. Yet we fear that many who profess themselves to be free-offer Calvinists play precisely the same role as these double minded misfits without being quite so blunt. Our free-offer brethren employ all the language of free-will teachers. They build their pulpits on reformed confessions but employ them to preach sermons that are indistinguishable from those heard in most Arminian churches any day of the week. The beauty of the distinctive, free-grace message is marred by lobbying for responses. In their eager pursuit of additions to the church they blur the distinction between a Holy Spirit…
-
Substituting Fable For Historical Truth
A marked negative feature of common-grace gospellers is the scorn which they pour on men of God who emphasise that the whole gospel must be preached to the whole man as the Spirit leads. Thus they condemn such Christians of the past as Tobias Crisp, John Ryland Senior, William Romaine, William Huntington, John Gill, Augustus Toplady and Robert Hawker who would not dilute their gospel to suit what the common-grace gospellers call ‘man’s agency’. These men were called to preach Christ’s victorious crucifixion accomplishments, including great Bible truths such as the eternal union of Christ with His Bride; Christ’s faith and righteousness imputed to His people, election, predestination and the justifying, saving decrees of God in and from eternity and a faith which endures. Common-grace…
