CANONS OF DORT Jesus Christ “was made sin, and became a curse for us and in our stead, that He might make satisfaction to divine justice on our behalf” (II, 2). “It was the will of God that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby He confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of […]
No one likes to be called a stock or a block. Our Reformed fathers who wrote the Canons of Dort did not fancy the name either. That is why they took the trouble to mention this matter in Chapters III–IV. Article 16. God’s grace of regeneration “does not treat men as senseless stocks and blocks, nor […]
Throughout this series of articles on the Canons of Dort, I have been emphasizing that they affirm two closely related and fundamental themes of the gospel. These are: God’s sovereign and gracious work. in the redemption of His elect people, and the comfort this work affords the Christian believer. Only the gospel of God’s free […]
In several previous articles on the Canons of Dort. I have referred to the implications of its confession of God’s sovereign grace in the salvation of His people for the preaching of the gospel today. However, these references were largely incidental to my purpose which was to summarize the teaching of the confession and to […]
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Rom. 6:1–2) As these well-known words of the apostle Paul imply, it is possible to conclude wrongly from the teaching that we are saved by grace […]
In a previous article addressing the subject of “total depravity,” I quoted from a statement of J.I. Packer in which he argues that the whole point of the Canons of Dort is that God saves sinners. The Triune God alone authors and accomplishes the salvation of His people; He does not simply make salvation possible and […]
Tucked away in this year’s Agenda for Synod 1996 of the Christian Reformed Church lies a “Report of the CRC Worship Committee Regarding Gender-Sensitive Language in the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dort” (pp. 90–123). For those who desire to see the CRC return to its historic commitment to the Word of God in Scripture […]
There is no one, least of all the Christian, who does not share the concern of recent years regarding the environment—the pollution of the air, streams and lakes. When the children of God sit down with the Bible and quietly contemplate creation as it came forth from the hand of the Creator, they see it […]