Paramount Church

". . . there lies always upon God’s Minister, Wo be unto me, if I preach not the Gospel, if I apply not the comfortable promises of the Gospel, to all that grone under the burden of their sins." ~John Donne (1572-1631), Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral London @TWRjack

"I do want to make the point here that Christians are not divided between those who have creeds and confessions and those who do not; rather, they are divided between those who have public creeds and confessions that are written down and exist as public documents, subject to public scrutiny, evaluation, and critique, and those who have private creeds and confessions that are often improvised, unwritten, and thus not open to public scrutiny, not susceptible to evaluation and, crucially and ironically, not, therefore, subject to testing by Scripture to see whether they are true." ~Carl Trueman, The Creedal Imperative

Faith and repentance are not "two sides of the same coin." That language unintentionally collapses and conflates distinct biblical categories. Faith is faith. Repentance is repentance. Obedience is obedience. We would never normally say that obedience and faith are two sides of the same coin. Rather, we distinguish them without separating them. Faith alone receives and rests in Christ alone for justification. Repentance and obedience are inseparable from true faith, but they are not components of faith itself. They are necessary fruits of union with Christ and the inevitable activity of the new nature produced by the Holy Spirit. This is why Article XII of the Thirty-Nine Articles says that good works "spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith." And this is why the Westminster Confession of Faith 11.1 carefully says that believers are justified: "not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness." Likewise, WCF 11.2 defines faith as: "receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, [which] is the alone instrument of justification." The danger of the "same coin" language is that faith itself quietly gets redefined as submission, surrender, repentance, or obedience rather than "receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness." In the attempt to avoid antinomianism, many Lordship Salvation advocates end up blurring the Reformation distinction between faith and its fruits. The Reformation position is better stated this way: distinct yet inseparable. Faith alone justifies, yet the faith that justifies is never alone.

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One of the most beautiful and pastorally freeing statements of the Protestant Reformation is found in Article 9 of The Genevan Confession (1536). Against perfectionism, victory theology, introspective spirituality, and every form of “look within yourself for assurance” Christianity, Calvin reminds believers that even the regenerate continue to battle sin in this life and therefore must always look outside themselves to Christ alone for righteousness and assurance. “Finally, we acknowledge that this regeneration is so effected in us that, until we slough off this mortal body, there remains always in us much imperfection and infirmity, so that we always remain poor and wretched sinners in the presence of God. And, however much we ought day by day to increase and grow in God's righteousness, there will never be plenitude or perfection while we live here. Thus we always have need of the mercy of God to obtain the remission of our faults and offences. And so we ought always to look for our righteousness in Jesus Christ and not at all in ourselves, and in him be confident and assured, putting no faith in our works.” — John Calvin, “IX. Remission of Sins Always Necessary for the Faithful,” The Genevan Confession (1536), Creeds of Christendom: The Genevan Confession (1536)

From Psalm 119, courtesy of @ParishPrayer: parishprayer.org/f/May26-mp.html

ICYMI: Why The Reformation Distinguished Law And Gospel | The Heidelblog @RScottClark @heidelcast @heidelbergrefo1 @ParamountChurch buff.ly/5o0XKvh

And the dominant clause in this statement is “of the Christian life.” The unbeliever doesn’t know or have God as “a reconciled Father.” We preach/counsel elements of the law in mercy that they might come to know the Father in Christ by the Spirit according to the gospel.

True spiritual power and wisdom resides in Jesus Christ and is applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit as we depend on Him.

I have it on good authority that we have an advocate with the Father

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You should listen to this episode.

"Faith is an empty hand grasping the free treasure of Christ.” ~Rod Rosenbladt

ICYMI: Baptism of the Holy Spirit | The Heidelblog @Heidelcast @HeidelbergRefo1 @RScottClark buff.ly/wHz4o1C

Salvation is a unit. It includes both justification and sanctification. Sanctification does not stand outside salvation as a cooperative addition we contribute to complete what Christ began. Repentance and obedience are fruits flowing from salvation itself. They are the inevitable effects of union with Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. And because salvation is grounded in union with Christ rather than in spiritual performance, maturity, or attainment, the Christian life is not divided into separate classes of believers. There are not two kinds of Christians. There are only Christians at different stages of growth and maturity. Every true believer is: truly united to Christ, truly under grace, truly indwelt by the Holy Spirit, truly justified, and truly sanctified in Him, even though believers differ greatly in spiritual maturity and progress.

“Come to Christ; only he can be your abundance.” HT:@MichaelHorton_

Repentance is not faith. Obedience is not faith. Yet neither can ever be absent where true faith exists. Repentance and obedience are not component parts of saving faith. They are the fruits and effects of saving faith flowing from the new nature created by the Holy Spirit. In the Reformation tradition, repentance does not unite us to Christ, nor does repentance justify us. Christ alone saves through faith alone. And, strictly speaking, it is not even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith.

I just picked up my copy. The textual work looks outstanding, especially the double column Latin/English, and the production values set a new standard in the field. Harrison is doing more than anyone else to establish critical paradigms in Ussher studies - so very well done!

One must refuse to solve antinomianism by making discipleship function as part of the gospel itself.

“To confuse law and gospel is the most disastrous theological error one can make.” ~Rick Ritchie

The dominant posture of the Christian life is not terror before a judge, but grateful obedience before a reconciled Father.