Why Should Any Soul Despair? (Newton)

One of my favorite things about reading anything by John Newton is his constant amazement at Christ's love for him, a sinner. I also appreciate how Newton always told people something like this: If Christ loves and has saved a terrible sinner like myself, he will surely save you if you go to him in …

The Law Demands, the Gospel Gives: Patrick’s Places

Patrick Hamilton was a young Scottish Reformer who was burned at the stake in 1528 for spreading the "heresy" of the Reformers like Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon. He was only twenty-three years old when he was put to death. Before he died, he wrote a short pamphlet about faith, works, the law, the gospel, …

The Richness of Christ’s Person and Work (Bavinck)

If you stop and think about it, the wonderful benefits we have in Christ are beyond our limited understanding. Scripture gives all sorts of benefits Christ's people enjoy now and into the future. For example, believers are justified, reconciled to God, have peace with God, hope of his glory, and the promise of eternal life …

The Gospel As a Means to Increase True Piety (Bucer)

Many of us know the Apostle's words in Romans 5:6 & 8 (For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ...But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [NET]) Those words certainly are worth committing to memory. We …

The Chief and Proper Office of the Law (Bullinger)

Heinrich Bullinger (d. 1575) was a Swiss Reformer who started his life in the Roman Catholic church. However, after hearing news about Martin Luther and reading some of Luther's writings along with those of the church fathers, Bullinger left Rome to join the protestant church. At one point, he befriended Ulrich Zwingli and spent the last many …