Vol 99 Issue 08

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7 Many of us who live in northern climes have what we might call a ‘love-hate’ relationship with snow. What beauty there is on a cold, sunny morning after a newfallen snow! Snow means fun for the children—making a snowman or sledding on a nice hill. Many enjoy winter recreation in the snow—skiing or snowmobiling. The ‘hate’ part of it usually comes with the hazardous driving conditions on slippery roads or in blowing snow. Heavy snowfall often entails work in clearing...

Christ the Head The peace of the church is found in her Head Jesus Christ. When brethren dwell in sweet accord in the church, the good and pleasant unity that they enjoy does not find its basis and expression in all kinds of external, earthly realities that might otherwise give men a sense of close affinity. Rather, the peace and unity of the church, like any other elements of the church’s nature and life, are to be found in Christ who is “…the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that all...

Previous article in this series: December 15, 2022, p. 130. In Habakkuk 1:12-2:1 Habakkuk had questioned God’s sovereign use of wicked Babylon to punish Judah. God’s answer to Habakkuk has two parts. God would tell Habakkuk in chapter 2:5-20 that Babylon would also be punished for its wickedness, especially its wickedness against Judah; but first, out of concern for His people, God tells Habakkuk that the just will live by faith. They, justified by faith, would experience God’s use of Babylon as chastisement, not as condemnation. Living by that same justifying faith through the difficult times ahead, they would continue...

Previous article in this series: December 1, 2022, p. 106 The last article noted the meeting of the Fifth Ecumenical Council, and its main decisions. This article concludes our examination of that council. Was the council sympathetic to the Monophysites? I find the Fifth Ecumenical Council the most difficult to evaluate. Yes, it opposed the teachings of some who said that Christ has two natures and, therefore, two persons. And yes, it defended the decisions of Chalcedon. But was it sympathetic to the Monophysitists who taught that Christ has only one nature? Philip Schaff suggests that the council’s renunciation of...

Previous article in this series: December 1, 2022, p. 109. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:12 Introduction We are at present demonstrating that the theology of the Reformed Protestant Churches (RPC) is antinomian. This is not merely the tendency of their teaching, but is the position that they openly embrace. Antinomianism has bedeviled the Reformed faith since the time of the Reformers and, before them, was a threat to the apostolic gospel of justification by faith alone. The...

Previous article in this series: October 1, 2022, p. 19. In our last article we saw that the church must have a culture of compassionate care. Saints minister to fellow saints in the service of Christ. Thus we want the church to be a place where we faithfully and lovingly care for the needs of one another. If we will understand rightly the spiritual relationships we are to have in the church, we must begin with God. This is true because our understanding of reality must always begin with God. This is what John Calvin wrote long ago, “It is...

Belgic Confession, Article 2 teaches that the creation is an elegant book that leads us to contemplate the wondrous works of God. This is a reflection of the truth taught in Job 12:7-9: “But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?” Since God is pleased to reveal Himself in the creation, and...

What is true faith? True faith is not only a certain knowledge, whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in His Word, but also an assured confidence, which the Holy Ghost works by the gospel in my heart; that not only to others, but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting righteousness, and salvation are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ’s merits. (Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 7, Q&A 21)   We believe that, to attain the true knowledge of this great mystery, the Holy Ghost kindleth in our...

Mr. Charles Terpstra, member of Faith PRC in Jenison, Michigan and full-time librarian/registrar/archivist at the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary The following book is reviewed by Prof. Douglas Kuiper, professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary and member of Trinity PRC in Hudsonville, Michigan. The Bible Convictions of John Wycliffe, by Steven J. Lawson. Sanford, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2021. 212 pages. Hardcover, Pp xvi + 208. Hardcover. $17.00. This book is the thirteenth, and latest, in Ligonier’s “A Long Line of Godly Men Profile” series. Each man who is featured played a pivotal role in...