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....
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. ...
July 14, 2023 by John Fonville
J.V. Fesko on the sacraments as visible words- a visible proclamation of the gospel....
July 13, 2023 by John Fonville
J.V. Fesko on the Word of God as the chief means of grace. ...
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....
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? ...
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)....
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....
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....
July 28, 2022 by John Fonville
Martin Luther on the worthy reception of the Lord's Supper....
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....
June 27, 2021 by John Fonville
Richard Sibbes discussing the Christ-centered focus of all the Scriptures....
February 28, 2020 by John Fonville
Richard Sibbes: The Glory of God is Greatest in the Gospel...
February 25, 2020 by John Fonville
Michael Horton on what the third use of the law can and cannot do....
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. ...
February 24, 2020 by John Fonville
The late 16th century Anglican pastor/theologian, William Perkins, on seven differences between the law and gospel....
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."...
February 20, 2020 by John Fonville
Philip Schaff: The 39 Articles are found in every collection of Reformed confessions....
November 19, 2015 by John Fonville
A review of David Platt's book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream....
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....
July 6, 2026 by John Fonville | Category: Church | Tags: preaching, john calvin, means of grace, Holy Spirit, Ecclesiology, Ascension, Christ, Reformation, Word of God, Protestant Reformation, church, reformed theology, body of Christ, church leadership, pastoral ministry, Ephesians 4, Calvin, Institutes, Pastors, Ministry of the Word, Ascended Christ, Shepherding, Faithful Ministry, Church Unity, Saints
John Calvin teaches that after His ascension, Christ did not leave His church alone. He continues to shepherd, build, and preserve His people through the Spirit-empowered ministry of pastors and teachers who faithfully proclaim His Word....
Keep ReadingMay 1, 2026 by John Fonville | Category: Good Works & Rewards | Tags: grace, gospel, sanctification, law and gospel, good works, election, assurance, merit, justification, john calvin, Salvation, Union with Christ, Final Judgment, reformed theology, imputed righteousness, rewards, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Augustine of Hippo, crowns
John Calvin, drawing on Augustine of Hippo, explains that good works are gifts of God’s grace, not the basis of our salvation or assurance. Even our best works are mixed with sin and cannot stand on their own before God. Yet God graciously “crowns” these works—not as earned merit, but as His own work in us—so that all confidence rests in Christ alone while the fr...
Keep ReadingAugust 25, 2022 by John Fonville | Category: German Pietism | Tags: evangelicalism, john calvin, martin luther, Anglican church, Protestant Reformation, German pietism, Douglas Shantz, pietist studies, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, Reformation paradigm, Renewal paradigm, Evangelical paradigm, English Methodism, justification, sola fide, sacraments, Conversion, Liturgy, Self-examination, church, new birth, head knowledge, heart knowledge
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 o...
Keep ReadingApril 4, 2022 by John Fonville | Category: Three Uses of the Law | Tags: grace, righteousness, john calvin, Holy Spirit, Mercy, conviction, normative use, pedagogical use, three uses of the law, civil use, mirror, restrain, guide
John Calvin discusses the three uses of the moral law....
Keep ReadingOctober 27, 2021 by John Fonville | Category: Protestant Reformation | Tags: justification, john calvin, martin luther, sola fide, sola gratia, sola scriptura, soli deo gloria, Thomas Cranmer, collect, Protestant Reformation, Reformation Sunday, solo Christo, Oxford Martyrs, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley
A collect for Reformation Sunday....
Keep ReadingJune 23, 2021 by John Fonville | Tags: john calvin, justification, sanctification, double grace, substance of the covenant, duplex beneficium, Justification and sanctification are conjoined and coherent but distinct
In partaking of Christ by grace alone through faith alone, we receive a double grace, namely justification and sanctification. ...
Keep ReadingOctober 29, 2019 by John Fonville | Tags: obedience, redemption, john calvin, Salvation, active obedience, passive obedience, Institutes of the Christian Religion
John Calvin: Christ has Redeemed us through His Obedience, which He practiced throughout His Life (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2.16.5)...
Keep ReadingOctober 13, 2017 by John Fonville | Tags: moralism, merit, treasury of merit, roman catholic, infused righteousness, inherent righteousness, rc sproul, faith, belgic confession, heidelberg catechism, covenant theology, covenant of grace, covenant of works, covenant of redemption, law and gospel, mosaic covenant, abrahamic covenant, adamic covenant, davidic covenant, new covenant, moses, jesus christ, john murray, michael horton, andrew mcgowan, norman shepherd, robert traill, scott clark, benjamin franklin, glenn beck, legalism, antinomianism, creed, immortal, grace, law, righteousness, justification, redemption, propitiation, lordship salvation, imputation, active obedience of christ, passive obedience of christ, atonement, assurance, eternal security, evangelicalism, evangelical, thomas boston, scottish covenant theology, wwjd, zacharias ursinus, graeme goldsworthy, ebenezer erskine, ralph erskine, self justification, theodore beza, john calvin, martin luther, galatians, judaizers, john colquhoun, adamic administration, federal theology, messianic administration, headship theology, royal grant, suzerainty treaty, self-maledictory oath, cut a covenant, typology, hittite treaty, preamble, historical prologue, stipulations, sanctions, invocation, deposit of the treaty, monocovenantal, anathema, geerhardus vos, delbert hillers, covenant of promise, covenant of law, unconditional covenant, conditional covenant, meredith kline, obedience, blessing, curse, israel, mount hagar, mount sinai, mount calvary, mount zion, jesus, son of god, son of man, ten commandments, 10 commandments, resurrection, incarnation, nt wright, john piper, new perspective on paul, ep sanders, covenantal nomism, ge mendenhall, timothy george, t david gordon, bryan estelle, david van drunen, modern reformation, white horse inn, the gospel coalition, sola fide, solus christus, sola gratia, sola scriptura, soli deo gloria
Collapsing the covenants into one overarching theme of grace confuses law and gospel and effectively eliminates an explicit law-gospel distinction in Scripture....
Keep ReadingOctober 9, 2017 by John Fonville | Tags: john calvin, sola gratia, sola scriptura, soli deo gloria, Mercy, Salvation, Glory of God, formal cause, material cause, faith alone, Reformation 500, sola Fidea, efficient cause, Christ's obedience, Christ's death, instrumental cause, final cause, 5 Solas, soulus Christus
John Calvin discusses the four "causes" of salvation (i.e, the efficient cause- God the Father's mercy; the material cause- Christ's obedience/death; the formal/instrumental cause- faith alone; the final cause- the glory of God)....
Keep ReadingJuly 24, 2017 by John Fonville | Tags: Geneva, Reformed, fulfillment, Reformation, promise, john calvin, theodore beza, Old Testament, gospel
Theodore Beza on the manner in which the Gospel includes, in substance, the books of the Old Testament....
Keep ReadingJuly 24, 2017 by John Fonville | Tags: john calvin, Geneva, Reformed, Reformation, theodore beza, law, law and gospel, gospel
Theodore Beza on the Gospel and its authority, why, how and for what end (purpose) it was written....
Keep ReadingJuly 24, 2017 by John Fonville | Tags: john calvin, Geneva, Reformed, Reformation, means of grace, theodore beza, preaching, law and gospel
Theodore Beza on what end (purpose) the Holy Spirit uses the preaching of the Law....
Keep ReadingJuly 24, 2017 by John Fonville | Tags: Geneva, Reformed, john calvin, theodore beza, law and gospel
Theodore Beza on the similarities and the differences between the Law and the Gospel....
Keep ReadingJuly 24, 2017 by John Fonville | Tags: Geneva, Reformed, john calvin, theodore beza, law and gospel
Theodore Beza on the two parts of the Word of God....
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