Predestination Must Be Preached (Augustine)

Scripture teaches predestination.  For two examples, consider Ephesians 1 and Romans 9.  In these chapters, Paul says that before the foundation of the world, God chose a certain number of people to salvation in Christ.  He did this not based on man's merits or choice, but his own mercy and sovereign will.  Election is therefore…

Law and Gospel in the Canons of Dort

I really like how the Canons of Dort talks about the law and the gospel.  It's found in the 3rd and 4th points of doctrine: ARTICLE 5 Neither can the decalogue delivered by God to His peculiar people, the Jews, by the hands of Moses, save men. For though it reveals the greatness of sin,…

New Creeds/Confessions Booklet

 Last year, a few friends and I edited a booklet of the Reformed Creeds and Confessions called Christian Truths Summarized.  It contains the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort. This booklet is around 100 pages long.  Along with the above documents, it contains an introduction to…

Preaching, TULIP, and the Canons of Dort

 One crisis in many Reformed/Presbyterian churches today is that the doctrines of grace (aka TULIP) are ignored, avoided, or thought to be irrelevant.  To be sure, a church that doesn't clearly preach, teach, believe, and defend the doctrines of grace cannot really be called Reformed or Presbyterian.  But the crisis is there.  The crisis is not…

I Would Have Fallen Away…

  One of my favorite phrases in the Canons of Dort is found in the last section which deals with the perseverance/preservation of the saints.  I'll quote the entire article here (V.8).  Notice the bold phrase. ...It is not in consequence of their [the saints'] own merits or strength, but of God's free mercy, that they neither totally fall from faith…