“This covenant of grace does not float above human history in some kind of ethereal way. The history of the covenant is intertwined with the rest of human history, including kings, battles, dates, and of course promises and sacraments.”
Book of the Month/October 2024
John Buchan was one of those characters, larger than life. He was an author and a statesman, and profoundly Scottish. He was the son of a Scots Presbyterian minister, and is probably best known today for his book The Thirty-Nine Steps, published in 1915 That book was the first of six Richard Hannay novels—spy thrillers. …
American Color
Somewhere in C.S. Lewis, he was writing about how colorful the Elizabethans were, and he said that this was a gift that the English had apparently bequeathed to their American cousins. I think there is something to this, and perhaps it will help us to understand shoot cussing, slang, and other related . . . …
Octobletters
Letter to the Editor: A WBS request:Hello Pastor Doug,I realize by the time you read this letter Reformed X will have moved on to something else to grumble about, but I still haven't ...
This, Plus Nothing
“We cannot make a distinction between the saints of the Old Testament and the saints of the New in this respect. They may and do differ with regard to gifts and graces, but individual justification is the sine qua non of being a genuine saint of God. In all this we are discussing, and reaffirming, the traditional Protestant doctrine of the righteousness of Christ imputed to those individuals who are elect. This, plus nothing, constitutes the ground of their final acceptance before God.”
Other Saving Graces
“The kind of faith that God gives as a gift is always alive . . . when God has done this wonderful work, the faithful instrument does not shrivel up and die. It continues to love God and obey Him . . . Faith without works is a dead faith, and a dead faith never justified anybody. Saving faith is every accompanied by all other saving graces.”
But By What Standard?
Ground and Instrument
“Nor does God justify us because of our faith—rather He justifies us because of Christ’s obedience and work, and this is appropriated by us through faith.”
And Where Would You Advertise It?
“Modern evangelicals write books on How to be Born Again, which betrays the fact that they are not grasping the Lord’s teaching in the third chapter of John. Does anyone write books on how to be born the first time? Who would buy it?”
It Followeth No Way
“This corporate regeneration of the people of God in no way lessens the need for individuals to be born of the Spirit of God. How could a call for omelets be taken as opposition to eggs?”