“I will take note of you as you pass under My rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.” (Ezekiel 20:37) One of the distinctives of the Reformed Faith is its emphasis on the covenant of grace. We believe that God has graciously initiated an agreement between Himself and believers and […]
In its most basic sense, baptism has to do with washing by water. The washing by water signifies an internal washing by the blood and the Spirit of Christ. There is in baptism a double washing: an external washing with water, and an internal washing with the blood and Spirit of Christ. Jesus added His […]
How do you view the Church? Do you see her primarily as powerful and mighty? Do you see her role as one of conquering and conquest? Do you see her role as one of seizing control of the political and social realms in order to make our nation a Christian nation? Do you see her […]
Read Genesis 25:19–26 The account of Isaac: an introduction The book of Genesis is put together in a very deliberate way to show to the readers, members of the community of the Christian faith, how God’s redemption moves along. We travel from the grand story of the creation down to the point where the family […]
Read Genesis 25:27–34 Introduction Already at birth it becomes apparent that these twin boys are quite different. The slightly older boy (Esau) emerged from the womb covered with hair (a physical thing that makes him clearly a fraternal twin to his slightly younger brother Jacob). Identical twins they are not! Furthermore, the Lord had revealed […]
The historical context in which de Brès and his colleagues of the Reformed churches in the Lowlands ministered was one where the Roman Catholic authorities continually reproached them as revolutionaries. Because of the Anabaptists and their rejection of the civil government as legitimate authorities over them, Reformed Christians were associated with these revolutionaries as a […]
Synod 2006 of the Christian Reformed Church finished its work but the implementation of its decisions will impact the CRC for generations to come. For over ten years I have written nothing about the CRC. I have followed its activities over the years but have not been engaged in evaluating its decisions. This year I […]
During the course of our examination of the Old Testament evidence for the practice of admitting children to the Lord’s Table, we had occasion to observe that the ultimate norm for the practice of the new covenant community of faith must be the teaching of the New Testament. Though it is common among advocates of […]