All Articles For Romans

Prof. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. The text of the address at the convocation exercises of the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary held at Southwest Protestant Reformed Church of Grandville, MI on September 7, 1999. Introduction In the year of our Lord 1999 the seminary begins a critical two semesters of studies. This is not simply because the new year will span the end of the second millennium of the new dispensation and the beginning of the third; but the passing of this second millennium reminds us forcibly that time is running...

A Psalm of David, Maschil.  “Blesses is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit there is no guile.” Psalm 32:1, 2

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: let him that is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. Matthew 24:15-18 Jesus spoke of various signs of His second coming, such as false Christs and false prophets; wars and rumors of war, with nation arising against nation; wickedness, hatred, and betrayals, even...

PART TWO EXPOSITION OF THE CANONS  THIRD AND FOURTH HEADS OF DOCTRINE  OF THE CORRUPTION OF MAN, HIS CONVERSION TO GOD, AND THE MANNER THEREOF  In the second place, our fathers carefully define and delineate the limits of this natural light. For we are told that through these glimmerings of natural light, man “retains some knowledge of God, of natural things, and of the difference between things good and evil (honorable and base), and show a kind of regard for virtue and external order.” 

For a long time, I have wanted to write on the assurance of salvation. God willing, this editorial is the beginning of a series of articles on Scripture’s precious doctrine of assurance and, based on this doctrine, the Christian’s precious experience of assurance. Assurance is a prominent teaching in Holy Scripture. The apostle teaches the assurance of the elect believer in Hebrews 10:19ff. We have “boldness” to enter the holiest. We are called to draw near to God “in full assurance of faith.” There is an urgent warning against “wavering,” casting away our confidence, and drawing back. Assurance is precious. Certainty...

Redeeming Pop Culture: A Kingdom Approach, by T.M. Moore. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R, 2003. Pp. vii + 167. $11.99 (paper). [Reviewed by the editor.] A pop treatment of the weighty subject of the Christian and culture. “Once, after a morning service in which guitars had been used to lead the congregation in praise songs, I was making my way back to the pulpit to retrieve my Bible and sermon notes. One of the young men of our congregation was standing with his back to me, playing something on one of the guitars. As I approached, I discerned the familiar opening...

“And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.” I Chronicles 12:31 [B]uild your “Climate Crime Case File” and report back to your family to make sure they don’t commit those crimes again (or else!). You may need to keep a watchful eye over them by revisiting the case every week or two to make sure they don’t slip back into their old habits.  You can spread your search even wider by...

Previous article in this series: February 15, 2012, p. 220. We continue our treatment of a couple of papers written by Dr. William Young on Abraham Kuyper’s extensive influence on Reformed thought, and in par-ticular Kuyper’s doctrine of God’s covenant. These are papers that were written for theological journals some 30 years ago but have now been published in book form (Reformed Thought) along with other of Young’s selected writings. As stated previously Dr. Young is severely critical, not only of Kuyper’s inflated view of common grace, but also, and especially, of Kuyper’s covenant view and, in particular, his doctrine...

Previous article in this series: December 15, 2011, p. 132. It cannot be overemphasized that our covenant children must be raised in a way that is antithetic to the philosophy of the world. This is as true for our daughters as it is for our sons. We need to warn our daughters continually about the ungodly philosophy, lifestyle, behavior, and even dress of the world. The truth and reality of the covenant is maintained in our home and our churches when our daughters are raised to be spiritually separate from the ungodly world in which we live, and radically different...

Previous article in this series: November 15, 2011, p. 86. For Adam to attain a life that he could not lose, he would have to be able to get to the point where it was no longer possible for him to sin. Some think that Adam eventually would have arrived at this point, if he had only remained obedient long enough. But such an idea originates in the mind of man. It is nowhere spoken of in Scripture. Jesus Christ is the one and only man that was and is unable to sin. So for the first Adam to get...