Not For Works Which We Have Done (Toplady)

I always like reading the original words of the solid hymns we know and love.  As I was looking through Augustus Toplady's hymns in volume 6 of his Works I recently came across "How Vast the Benefits Divine."  Here are the original words, which are based on 2 Timothy 1:9 - He has saved us …

The Puritans on the Law/Gospel Distinction

One thing I always appreciate about the Puritans is the fact that they make the proper distinction between the law and the gospel.  From Thomas Watson to John Bunyan to William Perkins, the Puritans did not mix the law with the gospel or the gospel with the law.  I got to thinking about this again …

Before You Sought Him (Bernard)

It's not for nothing that in his Institutes John Calvin cited Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153) more than a few times.  The doctrines of grace were not absent in the Medieval era!  One very bright spot of Bernard's writings is "Sermon 84" on the Song of Songs.  This sermon is on Songs 3:1: "On my …

If He Would Just Show Me A Miracle… (Pascal)

Some people say that if God showed them a miracle, they would believe in him.  Blaise Pascal (d.1662) gave an excellent critique of this faulty approach to belief in God.  The following quote is a great apologetic: "'If I had seen a miracle,' they say, 'I should be converted.'  How can they be positive that …