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....
May 13, 2026 by John Fonville | Category: Law and Gospel | Tags: law and gospel, Reformation theology, gospel, law, scripture, hermeneutics, martin luther, reformed theology, Anglicanism, Reformation Anglicanism, Christ-Centered Preaching, assurance, Justification by Faith Alone, means of grace, Biblical theology, Confessional Theology, heidelberg catechism, Thirty-Nine Articles, Westminster Confession, gospel-centered, Law Gospel Distinction, theology, christian life, preaching, Bible, Protestant Reformation
Many Christians speak about “getting in the Word,” but what word? Scripture is not a flat, undifferentiated message. In the Reformation tradition, God speaks in Scripture in two fundamentally different ways: law and gospel. The law exposes sin and reveals our need for Christ; the gospel announces what Christ has done for sinners and gives forgiveness, righteousness, pe...
Keep ReadingJuly 8, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Law and Gospel | Tags: gospel, law and gospel, old covenant, covenant theology, mosaic covenant, abrahamic covenant, moses, law, galatians, judaizers, promise, Abraham, R. Scott Clark, Sarah and Hagar, Ishmael and Isaac, Abraham Was Not Moses
In his article “Abraham Was Not Moses,” R. Scott Clark underscores Paul’s clear distinction in Galatians between the temporary, law-based Mosaic covenant and the enduring, grace-based Abrahamic covenant, which serves as the foundation for the gospel. Following Clark’s insight, the following paraphrase of Galatians rephrases key verses to highlight this contrast, re...
Keep ReadingMarch 31, 2023 by John Fonville | Category: A Commination | Tags: Book of Common Prayer, Commination, Lent, Ash Wednesday, judgment, Wrath, repentance, law, confession of sin, Mercy, forgiveness, Reformation Anglicanism
A Commination or denouncing of God’s anger and judgements against sinners with certain prayers to be used on the first day of Lent and at other times as the ordinary shall appoint....
Keep ReadingNovember 4, 2021 by John Fonville | Category: Christian Living | Tags: grace, law and gospel, preaching, moralism, legalism, law, graeme goldsworthy, Christian living, expository preaching, indicative, imperative, Biblical theology, Ethics
Graeme Goldsworthy on the relationship of the gospel to Christian living. ...
Keep ReadingAugust 12, 2021 by John Fonville | Category: Covenant Theology | Tags: new covenant, old covenant, abrahamic covenant, mosaic covenant, mediator, promise, law, moses, nations, Christ, Holy Spirit, covenant curses, covenant blessings
In their book, Sacred Bond, Michael Brown and Zach Keele answer the question what is "new" about the new covenant?...
Keep ReadingJune 15, 2020 by John Fonville | Tags: works, grace, law and gospel, faith, old covenant, new covenant, mosaic covenant, abrahamic covenant, law, justification, galatians, promise, Inheritance
Understanding the Contrast of “Law” and “Promise” in Galatians 3....
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 ReadingJuly 26, 2017 by John Fonville | Tags: gospel, sanctification, faith, good works, preaching, assurance, law, Holy Spirit, Total Depravity, Prayer, Union with Christ, Regeneration, new nature, curse of the Law, disposition
Theodore Beza on how the Gospel changes the effect of the preaching of the Law in believers....
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....
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