“I will take the cup of salvation…” Psalm 116:13a In ancient times, a king customarily held a feast following a great victory. At the feast, he would lift up and drink deeply from a cup of wine as a symbol of deliverance and thanksgiving. In the Lord’s Supper, God’s people lift up and drink deeply […]

A staple in international, orthodox Calvinism from the opening days of the Protestant Reformation has been the theological distinction between the “Law” and the “Gospel.” What does this distinction mean, and how important is it? Simply put, it contrasts two divinely ordained ways to the obtainment of life eternal, one by meritorious works (i.e., by […]

Creation has been a hot-button issue in the church for the last 150 years. Thankfully, though, our Confession of Faith brings us back to what is important about creation and what we actually confess about creation as confessionally Reformed churches. Here we ponder anew the glory of God in His work of creation. In Article […]

Jesus ordained the Holy Supper with the short declaration, “This is my body.” He followed this statement with the equally succinct affirmation, “This is my blood” (Matthew 26:26, 28). The very simplicity of these statements along with the profundity of the realities proclaimed by the sacrament itself— accompanied by our human weakness and lack of […]

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” II Corinthians 13:14  Did you know that every major branch of the Christian Church, whether it is Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Protestant, or Reformed, all teach the doctrine of the […]

The Meaning of “Justification” Our consideration of Paul’s use of the language of the “righteousness of God” in the book of Romans forms an obvious basis for understanding the meaning of the language of “justification” in this and other Pauline epistles. For the justification of the ungodly is the great benefit and fruit of the […]

It is a matter of fact that everyone has a worldview, even if they have no idea of what a worldview is and from where theirs came. Everybody has a view of life and how it ought to be lived. Everybody lives their lives according to their worldview—conscious or sub-conscious. The tragedy for the Christian […]

In previous articles we laid out the structure of the Book of Revelation, following closely upon that proposed by William Hendriksen in his classic commentary More Than Conquerors. The Book of Revelation is divided into seven progressive parallel sections, each of them spanning the same time period but with ever-increasing intensity. The time period covered […]

We read these words nearly every Lord’s Day in our churches as part of the commandments by which we express gratitude to our covenant God: “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is … (Exodus 20:11). All Scripture is inspired by God, but this verse […]

All mankind, with rare exception, believes in a life hereafter. There are many cults, pagan beliefs, and false teachers, all of which have their own versions of a life hereafter. All these have their origin in some manmade philosophy. Included among them are the Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, New Age, Islam, Buddhism, and others. The Apostle […]