James Ussher on the Law and Gospel
In his work, A Body of Divinity, James Ussher sets forth the difference between the law (i.e., covenant of works) and the gospel (i.e., covenant of grace)....
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Carl Trueman on the Meaning of Sola Scriptura
June 12, 2024 by John Fonville
Carl Trueman clarifies a common misconception that is popular among Evangelicals concerning the Protestant Reformation doctrine of sola scriptura....
Prayer Book Statements About Regeneration
July 26, 2023 by John Fonville
J.C. Ryle answers the common arguments in favor of “Baptismal Regeneration,” which are based on the Baptismal Service of the Prayer-book. ...
The Sacraments as Visible Words
July 14, 2023 by John Fonville
J.V. Fesko on the sacraments as visible words- a visible proclamation of the gospel....
The Word of God: The Chief Means of Grace
July 13, 2023 by John Fonville
J.V. Fesko on the Word of God as the chief means of grace. ...
The Death of Christ: The Only True Purgatory
July 7, 2023 by John Fonville
Martin Davie explains from the homily, ‘Of Prayer’ in the Second Book of Homilies, how the English Reformers taught that the only true purgatory is the death of Christ and no other purgation is either necessary or possible....
Why Use Written Prayers?
May 15, 2023 by John Fonville
Why Use Written Prayers?- Why does your church use prewritten prayers in your service? Isn't this a dry, rote, unthinking, way for the church to pray and worship? Don't pre-written prayers stifle the Spirit and hinder freedom and promote mechanical, vain repetition? Aren't spontaneous prayers more genuine and heartfelt than prewritten prayers? ...
Martin Luther on How to Read the Gospels (Scripture)
May 5, 2023 by John Fonville
This writing of Martin Luther is from the introduction to his “Postils” (a group of model sermons which he wrote while at the Wartburg Castle). This brief foreword is full of comfort and good news. In it, Luther sets forth insightful instruction on how to read the Gospels (and the entirety of Scripture- the OT and NT)....
Martin Luther and how Evangelicalism Departed from its Reformation Roots
August 25, 2022 by John Fonville
My argument is this: By the year 1700, Protestant Christianity had begun developing significantly new practices and understandings of the Christian faith that focused upon Christian renewal, conversion, new birth and the coming millennial kingdom. These new practices and understandings were a dramatic departure not only from Roman Catholic Christianity, but also from the original Reformation convictions of Martin Luther and John Calvin some one hundred and fifty years earlier. Evangelical Christianity, of the free church variety especially, is the contemporary expression of this third form of Christianity. Probably most Evangelicals are unaware that their Christian experience and piety are far removed from Reformation Protestant beginnings. Evangelicals would do well to recover their lost heritage....
Martin Luther's Primary Concern in Liturgical Reformation
August 20, 2022 by John Fonville
Martin Luther's primary concern when constructing the German mass and order of the liturgy in 1526 was that the gospel be proclaimed for the people in their context....
Worthy Reception of the Lord's Supper
July 28, 2022 by John Fonville
Martin Luther on the worthy reception of the Lord's Supper....
Infant Baptism and Discipleship
July 27, 2022 by John Fonville
Infant baptism sets Christian discipleship from birth within a covenant context, which means means to understand discipleship as something connected to the ordinary means of God’s grace and the routine work of the church....
Richard Sibbes: The Scope of the Whole Scriptures is Christ
June 27, 2021 by John Fonville
Richard Sibbes discussing the Christ-centered focus of all the Scriptures....
Richard Sibbes: The Glory of God is Greatest in the Gospel
February 28, 2020 by John Fonville
Richard Sibbes: The Glory of God is Greatest in the Gospel...
Michael Horton: What the Third Use of the Law Can and Cannot Do
February 25, 2020 by John Fonville
Michael Horton on what the third use of the law can and cannot do....
Gerald Bray: WWJD is Impossible to Answer
February 25, 2020 by John Fonville
Gerald Bray: "'What would Jesus do?’ seems like an innocent question to ask, but it is impossible to answer literally and does not reflect the teaching of the New Testament. ...
William Perkins on Seven Differences between the Law and Gospel
February 24, 2020 by John Fonville
The late 16th century Anglican pastor/theologian, William Perkins, on seven differences between the law and gospel....
No Creed But The Bible?
February 21, 2020 by John Fonville
No Creed But The Bible?- Carl Trueman on the unbiblical creedal statement, "The bible is our only creed and our only confession."...
Philip Schaff: The 39 Articles Are Reformed
February 20, 2020 by John Fonville
Philip Schaff: The 39 Articles are found in every collection of Reformed confessions....
Confusing Law and Gospel: A Review of David Platt's book, Radical.
November 19, 2015 by John Fonville
A review of David Platt's book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream....
Dispositional Soteriology: Jonathan Edwards on Justification by Faith Alone
November 10, 2015 by John Fonville
George Hunsinger shows how Jonathan Edwards crosses the fine line laid down by the Reformation concerning justification sola fide. Edwards taught that works are not simply external evidence that faith exists. Rather, works are necessary to the efficacy of faith. Works, as the external expression of faith, play a role in justification....
We Never Move On From The Gospel
May 7, 2021 by John Fonville | Tags: Catechizing, Catechism, Discipleship, gospel-centrality, Catechist, spiritual growth
In their book, Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way, J.I. Packer and Gary Parrett make the vital observation that in discipleship believers never move on from the gospel but deeper into it....
Keep ReadingScott Swain on the Errors of Eternal Functional Subordinationism (EFS)
May 6, 2021 by John Fonville | Tags: Submission, Trinity, Eternal Functional Subordinationism, ERAS, ESS, Subordinationism, Authority, Scott Swain, Wayne Grudem, eternal subordination of the Son, EFS, Bruce Ware, Trinitarian Errors, Eternal Relations of Authority and Submission, aspiration, filiation, paternity, Trinitarian Heresies, Modalism, Owen Strachan, personal properties, divine simplicity, divine will
In his book, The Trinity: An Introduction, Scott Swain argues that Eternal Functional Subordinationism (EFS) is a serious error that Christians should roundly reject because it inaccurately represents biblical teaching on the Trinity and therefore fails to provide a solid foundation for faith in the Trinity....
Keep ReadingWilliam Perkins: The Most Significant English Theologian of the Elizabethan Period
May 6, 2021 by John Fonville | Tags: Piety, Predestination, Book of Common Prayer, William Perkins, English theologian, scholastic theology, practical theology, Church of England, Reformed conformity, conformist, non-separatist, scholastic piety, A Golden Chaine, A Reformed Catholicke, Exposition of the Symbole or Creed of the Apostles
William Perkins defined theology as “the science of living blessedly forever.” The phrase captures the intellectual rigor and heartfelt piety that come together in the writings of this eminent English theologian, preacher, and spiritual director. Often overlooked or underestimated by modern scholars, Perkins was a very significant and influential scholastic theologian ...
Keep ReadingZacharias Ursinus on the Differences Between the Law and Gospel
May 6, 2021 by John Fonville | Tags: law and gospel, heidelberg catechism, zacharias ursinus, Reformed confession, Holy Spirit
In his commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, Zacharias Ursinus discusses four differences between the law and gospel....
Keep ReadingZacharias Ursinus: What is the Gospel?
May 5, 2021 by John Fonville | Tags: gospel, heidelberg catechism, zacharias ursinus
Zacharias Ursinus answering the question, What is the Gospel?...
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