All Articles For John

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of Southeast Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope purifies himself, even as he is pure.” I John 3:2-3 It is an amazing fact of church history that when the Reformers battled hard against salvation by the works of the law, they did not throw away the baby with the...

Rev. Key is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Randolph, Wisconsin. Having considered the fact of the ascension and what actually took place in that event — insofar as we are able to understand it by what Scripture reveals — we now focus our attention on the benefits of that ascension for us. Christ’s ascension was profitable in three ways, each of which is set forth by our Heidelberg Catechism in Question and Answer 49. Our Advocate The first benefit of Christ’s ascension is that Jesus is now “our advocate in the presence of his father in heaven.” The...

Rev. Laning is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Michigan. Previous article in this series: November 1, 2008, p. 61. Central to dispensationalism is the dispensationalists’ view of unfulfilled prophecy. They insist that many of God’s covenant promises made to Israel in the old dispensation have yet to be fulfilled. These promises, the dispensationalists argue, will not be fulfilled unless Christ returns to earth, sits on David’s throne, and reigns in Palestine over Israel for many years prior to the final judgment. In their view, if God’s covenant promises are literally true—and dispensationalists insist that they are—then such a carnal...

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction Moïse Amyraut held to a position in France that was a serious and significant modification of Calvin’s teachings and a rejection of the strong pronouncements of the Synod of Dordt. His views were never consistently condemned by the French Reformed Churches, and Amyraut himself was never censured. The result was the demise of the Reformed Church in France as a truly Calvinistic church. Amyraut’s teachings had wide influence. We briefly turn to this matter in this article. John Cameron and Developments in Scotland...

Rev. VanBaren is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Thanksgiving to Whom? Thanksgiving Day has come and gone. According to custom and in harmony with the requirements of our Church Order, we assembled together as congregations to express thanks to God for all of His benefits bestowed on us for Jesus’ sake. Our thanksgiving was not just for things, but for all that God gave (including even sickness and poverty). Whatever He provides for Jesus’ sake and for our spiritual profit is good and deserving of our thanks. Apart from Christ there would be no blessing—only condemnation. Whether...

“Religion” Attacked Your teenage sons and daughters may have seen it. It is a poem/rap by Jefferson Bethke entitled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.” It has been viewed over 13 million times on YouTube. Its lyrics are recorded on this website: http://rapgenius.com/Jefferson-bethke-why-i-hate-religion-but-love-jesus-spoken-word-lyrics. “Jesus came to abolish religion,” the first line of the poem says. Religion is bad, and the people who are religious are bad, perhaps the most wicked people on earth, the poem proclaims. What is religion, and who are these terrible religious people? The poem is ambiguous. Nevertheless, it is certainly an attack on traditional churches and...

“But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine.” Titus 2:1 Paul left Titus among the new Christians on the island of Crete with the responsibility to “set in order the things that are wanting” (Titus 1:5a). Titus was to complete matters not yet finished. His primary duty was to organize churches by ordaining officebearers (Titus 1:5b). Meanwhile, Titus was to continue his main task of preaching and teaching in the interest of the faith of God’s elect and their acknowledging of the truth that accords with godliness (Titus 1:1). Such preaching and teaching included the duty of rebuking sharply...

Rev. VanOverloop is pastor of Bethel Protestant Reformed Church in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. A “Calvinist” is one who maintains the truths of the Reformed faith as summarized in the creeds of the Reformation. These truths have been summarized in the Canons of Dordrecht: total depravity, unconditional election, limited or definite atonement, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints. It could be said that all of these truths are summarized in the truth of the sovereignty of God. A “Calvinist” maintains these truths, not because they were taught by a man or by men who were instruments of God...

Rev. Key is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Randolph, Wisconsin. When we consider God’s wonder work at Pentecost in connection with all His other wonder works — the incarnation, the resurrection, and so on — then we might say that Pentecost is the crowning event of all the other events. Without God’s wonder work at Pentecost, a work which continues for our sakes, all those other works — the incarnation, the death, the resurrection of our Lord — mean nothing. Have you ever thought about what our religion would be like if Christ had come in the flesh...

Rev. Stewart is pastor of the Covenant Protestant Reformed Church in Northern Ireland. Previous article in this series: May 1, 2009, p. 352. Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (1965) Given the Roman Church’s false ecumenism with the Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Protestants, it is no surprise that it is engaged in syncretism with pagan religions.1 After all, Jehoshaphat’s false ecumenism with the apostate Northern Kingdom (II Chron. 18; 20:31-37) led him into syncretism with pagan Edom (II Kings 3). Rome has always been syncretistic to some degree. Witness its compromises in the conversion of the...