The Calvinist International
Justification at its most basic is straightforward. A man recognizes that he is a sinner. He judges himself to be guilty for his sin before God. He looks for a source whence he can obtain the righteousness he does not possess. He finds it offered to him in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He trusts […]
Plato, in the Phaedo, had Socrates claim that philosophy was “practice for dying and death.” It was a sentiment that was to exercise great influence down through the centuries, all the way to Heidegger’s “Being-toward-death” and beyond. (That last part works better if you say it in the voice of Buzz Lightyear.) John Calvin agreed […]
In Institutes 3.3.19, John Calvin gives a “summary of the gospel” (cf. 3.3.1), in which he makes the important point that “the gospel,” the good news that Scripture and the church proclaim, includes not only the forgiveness or remission of sins (justification), but also renewal (sanctification), which derives from the general category of repentance. Both […]
“But this alone we say, There is grace administered by the promises of the gospel, enabling us to perform the obedience of it in that way and manner which God will accept.” – John Owen The Wrong Question When arguing for the necessity of good works for final salvation, not as the meritorious ground […]
While I was doing my PhD dissertation on Thomas Goodwin I kept a blog to throw out ideas and thoughts about my research. I remember once writing about Goodwin’s doctrine of “judgment according to works” and not long after a URC minister– a friend of mine –emailed me to tell me that he had been […]
As we’ve seen in the two previous posts, Francis Turretin argues that the works of believers are truly good, first, because they are done “by a special motion and impulse of the Holy Spirit,” and thus he is their primary cause; and, second, because they are said to please God, indicating that they cannot properly […]
In the previous post, we saw that, for Francis Turretin, the good works of believers are truly, though not perfectly, good. That post contained the first argument for why we not only can but must say that they are truly good. In the next section, he gives they second reason why we must say that […]
All Reformed Protestants deny that sanctification will be perfect or complete in this life. Thus even “good works” are performed by those who still must combat abiding sin. Believers, then, cannot be perfectly good. Nor can their works be perfectly good. But does this mean that they cannot be truly good? In other words, are they […]
Many Bible passages speak of God rewarding his people while many others call such redeemed individuals sinners. When you consider who we are by nature (sinners), and who God is in his nature (holy, righteous, just), it seems a little presumptuous – perhaps even delusional? – to speak of God “rewarding” us. Jesus came to […]
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace in me was not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:10). The famous English theologian, John Davenant claims that the Reformers affirm infused grace, that is, grace inhering within the souls of believers after being “poured in” (or inspired – “inbreathed”) to the soul […]