What if God placed a large diamond in your hand and told you to inscribe a sentence on it that would be read at the last day? On that diamond would be the index of your thoughts and an expression of all your feelings. What you carved into that gem would basically sum up who […]
In our day, God’s seventh commandment speaks powerfully to our culture. The command is simple and brief: “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). But encapsulated in this statement on human sexuality is the idea that “all unchastity is accursed of God; and that we must, therefore, detest it from our heart, and live a […]
“We believe . . . outside of [this holy congregation] there is no salvation; that no person of whatsoever state or condition he may be, ought to withdraw from it, content to be by himself; but that all men are in duty bound to join and unite themselves with it; maintaining the unity of the […]
The Church Order of the United Reformed Churches in North America opens its article on what is to be sung in its churches (art. 39) with this assertion: “The 150 Psalms shall have the principal place in the singing of the churches.” Member congregations of this federation of churches are committed to the principle that […]
Romans 8 is a mighty hymn of exaltation to God in which Paul explains the security He has given to all who are saved by Jesus Christ. The chapter ends with an exclamation of unshakable confidence that nothing is able to separate believers from the love of God that is theirs in Christ our Lord. […]
Paul opens this chapter carefully, explaining that God is faithful to His promises, using the offspring of the patriarchs as examples. Isaac and Jacob illustrate the blessings God has given to those He has chosen as His own; Ishmael and Esau show that God did not include all of Abraham’s seed in the covenant promises. […]
Paul begins this chapter as he did the last, expressing his longing for the salvation of his fellow Israelites. His desire is “that they may be saved” (10:1). Oh, that they would call upon the Lord to deliver them from the consequences of their sin and be received into God’s eternal fellowship. He yearns for […]
The entire Scriptures consist of two parts, of the law and the Gospel.” Martin Luther relentlessly taught this unambiguous distinction between the law and the gospel in Scripture from about 1517 until his death in 1548. Phillip Melanchthon (1497–1560), Luther’s colleague, also taught the difference between the law and the gospel. He said, “All men […]
“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” —Titus 1:2 Some biblical truths are not revealed explicitly in any single passage of Scripture. While we learn some doctrines by discerning what lies virtually on the surface of the text of the Bible, we learn others by looking at the […]
Classis Eastern US convened for its thirty-second session under the able chairmanship of Rev. Aaron Verhoef on Friday, April 26, 2013. The delegates enjoyed the ready hospitality of the Covenant Reformed Church of Carbondale, Pennsylvania, for the first time as the setting for their deliberation. Throughout the day, the brothers evaluated a variety of reports […]