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....
May 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 ReadingApril 30, 2026 by John Fonville | Category: Reformed Confessions | Tags: sanctification, law and gospel, good works, belgic confession, heidelberg catechism, justification, sola fide, sola gratia, Salvation, confessions, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, Reformed, reformed theology, Canons of Dort, Thirty Nine Articles, Anglican Theology, Westminster Confession, Final Salvation, Second Helvetic Confession
No Reformed confession teaches that salvation is by or through good works. The confessions unanimously affirm that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Good works are necessary—not as the ground, cause, or instrument of salvation—but as its fruit and evidence, the Spirit-wrought outworking of those who are justified and made alive in Chris...
Keep ReadingNovember 13, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Covenant Theology | Tags: gospel, Biblical theology, sanctification, law and gospel, new covenant, assurance, covenant theology, covenant of grace, covenant of works, mosaic covenant, justification, sola fide, republication, reformed theology, scripture, Reformation Anglicanism, theology, Anglican Theology, MacArthur Study Bible, 1 Peter, exegesis, pastoral theology
This article exposes a serious theological error in the MacArthur Study Bible’s commentary on 1 Peter 1:2, which mistakenly imports the works-principle of the Mosaic Covenant into the New Covenant. By requiring a believer’s “promise of obedience” for covenant entrance, the note confuses law and gospel, collapses justification into sanctification, and undermines the...
Keep ReadingNovember 6, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Reformation Theology | Tags: gospel, sanctification, law and gospel, assurance, belgic confession, heidelberg catechism, justification, lordship salvation, sola fide, Salvation, Dispensationalism, Reformation, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, reformed theology, Reformation Anglicanism, theology, Westminster Confession, R Scott Clark, John MacArthur, Heidelblog, michael horton
This article offers a pastoral response to a chart circulating on social media titled “Keeping Doctrine in Its Place,” which misclassifies Lordship Salvation as a secondary issue and, in doing so, risks confusing believers about the very heart of the gospel. Drawing on R. Scott Clark’s 25-part critique of John MacArthur’s The Gospel According to Jesus, it argues th...
Keep ReadingNovember 4, 2025 by John Fonville | Category: Reformation Theology | Tags: sanctification, assurance, belgic confession, heidelberg catechism, justification, sola fide, Union with Christ, Reformation, duplex beneficium, George Hunsinger, Jonathan Edwards, dispositional soteriology, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, Protestant Reformation, reformed theology, imputed righteousness, Anglican, Thirty Nine Articles, Reformation Day, Reformation theology, Calvin, Justification by Faith, fides caritate formata, Westminster Confession, forensic justification, Reformation Anglicanism, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
This article contrasts John Calvin’s Reformation doctrine of justification by faith alone with Jonathan Edwards’s later “dispositional soteriology.” Drawing from Calvin’s Institutes (3.11) and the Reformed confessions, it shows that saving faith is receptive—accepting, receiving, and resting on Christ’s righteousness alone—while Edwards’s model redefines ...
Keep ReadingApril 5, 2022 by John Fonville | Category: Gospel-driven | Tags: third use of the law, Normative, guide, grace-driven obedience, evangelical obedience, justification, sanctification, christian life, holiness, obedience, promise, guilt offering, thank offering,
How do believers respond to the moral law?...
Keep ReadingApril 5, 2022 by John Fonville | Category: Law of God | Tags: sanctification, law and gospel, good works, obedience, justification, ten commandments, moral law, law of God, fruit of the Spirit, three uses of the law
The basic function of the law never changes. What is this function? Read on to find out....
Keep ReadingMarch 22, 2022 by John Fonville | Category: Lordship Salvation | Tags: sanctification, repentance, faith, obedience, holiness, assurance, moralism, michael horton, righteousness, justification, lordship salvation, sola fide, solus christus, sola gratia, soli deo gloria, Love, Regeneration, Knowledge, Trust, King, prophet, priest, assent, affections, Protestant Reformation, duplex beneficium
Ten propositions in response to Lordship Salvation from the book, Christ the Lord: The Reformation and Lordship Salvation....
Keep ReadingFebruary 4, 2022 by John Fonville | Category: Christian Living | Tags: sanctification, obedience, holiness, justification, lordship salvation, guilt, Bondage, Corruption, Holy, christian life, condemnation, righteous, duplex beneificium, sanctified, reconciled
Holiness is not an option for a Christian. ...
Keep ReadingNovember 3, 2021 by John Fonville | Category: Justification | Tags: grace, sanctification, merit, inherent righteousness, righteousness, justification, sola fide, material cause, duplex beneficium, imputed righteousness, marvelous exchange, forensic
Justification and a Divided Church- Michael Horton discusses the two distinct positions on justification that continue to divide Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church....
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 ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, ben peays, paramount church
Detailed outline of the Appendix in The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: Means of Gratitude, means of grace, walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church
Detailed outline of Chapter 14 in The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church, Means of Gratitude, means of grace
Detailed outline of Chapter 12 in The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church, Means of Gratitude, means of grace
Detailed outline of Chapter 10 in The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church, Means of Gratitude, means of grace
Detailed chapter outlines of Walter Marshall's book, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification....
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church, Means of Gratitude, means of grace
Detailed outline of Chapter 2 in The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church, Means of Gratitude, means of grace
Detailed outline of Chapter 3 in The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church, Means of Gratitude, means of grace
Detailed outline of Chapter 4 in The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church, Means of Gratitude, means of grace
Detailed outline of Chapter 5 in The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church, Means of Gratitude, means of grace
Detailed outline of Chapter 6 in The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church, Means of Gratitude, means of grace
Notes...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church, Means of Gratitude, means of grace
Notes...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church, Means of Gratitude, means of grace
Detailed outline of Chapter 8 in The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church, Means of Gratitude, means of grace
Detailed outline of Chapter 9 in The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sanctification | Tags: walter marshall, the gospel mystery of sanctification, sanctification, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, john fonville, paramount church, means of grace, Means of Gratitude
Detailed outline of Chapter 11 in The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2020 by John Fonville | Category: Sacraments | Tags: baptism, gospel-driven, gospel-centered, sanctification, sacrament, sacraments, ordinance, ordinances, spiritual growth, Visible Gospel, promise, treaty ratification, means of grace, justification, righteousness, assurance, justified
To their detriment, it never occurs to a great deal of believers that their baptism has application to their current daily walk. This paper is written to help believers view their baptism as more than an event that happened in their past and to consider how the Scriptures set forth the benefits of baptism for the believer’s daily life....
Keep ReadingJune 12, 2020 by John Fonville | Tags: sanctification, holiness, justification, walter marshall, antecedent conditions, consequent conditions, duplex beneficium, progressive sanctification
Walter Marshall on how true saving faith embraces Christ for both justification and sanctification. He shows that God's grace is twofold (i.e., the duplex [twofold] beneficium [benefit]). Justification is the first benefit (beneficium) and sanctification is the second benefit (beneficium). ...
Keep ReadingFebruary 25, 2020 by John Fonville | Tags: sanctification, law and gospel, michael horton, justification, Holy Spirit, third use of the law, Jeremiah 31, new covenant obedience
Michael Horton on what the third use of the law can and cannot do....
Keep ReadingOctober 9, 2018 by John Fonville | Tags: sanctification, hebrews, perseverance, obedience, holiness, adam, judgment, jews, jewish, old covenant, new covenant, jesus, mediator, assurance, covenant theology
In Hebrews 12:18-24, the author of Hebrews expresses deep concern about where his readers stand in relation to the God who asks, “Adam, where are you?” To prevent his readers from a calamitous reversion to Jewish beliefs and practices, the author of Hebrews sets forth two contrasting relationships with God, determined by two antithetical covenants. By contrasting the...
Keep ReadingMay 14, 2018 by John Fonville | Tags: sanctification, covenant of grace, covenant of works, legalism, justification, imputation, blessing, gospel-centered, Jerry Bridges, good-day-bad-day scenario, obedience, gospel-driven
Why is the covenant of grace important for the Christian life? We will consider two radically different days in a Christian's life to understand....
Keep ReadingOctober 13, 2017 by John Fonville | Tags: sanctification, good works, assurance, moralism, inherent righteousness, covenant of grace, antinomianism, justification, Holy Spirit, Union with Christ, antecedent conditions, consequent conditions, duplex beneficium, substance of the covenant, imputed righteousness
Does placing primary emphasis upon justification for assurance understate the importance and necessity of good works (i.e., sanctification)? Does this emphasis dishonor the Holy Spirit’s indwelling work?...
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 ReadingNovember 19, 2015 by John Fonville | Category: Discipleship | Tags: david platt, radical, missional, francis chan, missions, evangelism, cross-bearing, sanctification, law and gospel, repentance, faith, good works
A review of David Platt's book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream....
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