“Since the creation of contract law within the English common law there have been the bookends of “conditions precedent” and “conditions subsequent.” Practically speaking, all contracts include conditions precedent, i.e., those conditions without whose satisfaction the contract is never consummated and its benefits are never realized. Likewise, virtually all contracts, once agreed to, include conditions […]
Goodwin: Works of Obedience Are Necessary to Salvation
“Works of new obedience are required as necessary to the possession of salvation [i.e. how we maintain it], but faith is that alone which puts us into a condition of having the title and right to it, by the blood and righteousness of Christ [i.e. how we gain it].” —Thomas Goodwin, The Works of Thomas […]
Apostasy and Loss of Justification
“The reality of apostasy for real Christians (Heb 6:4-6, 10:26-30), means a justification that can be lost by real Christians (Gal 5:4).” (RSJ)
Marriage Covenant Theology – Baptism, The New Birth And The Holy Spirit
Before the New Covenant circumcision was the mandatory physical sign established by God to confirm one’s justification, entrance into the marriage covenant and later the marriage covenant community[1]. However, because of the superior form of justification and marriage gift offered under the New Covenant, both the sign and its requirement have changed[2]. Baptism is now […]
Marriage Covenant Theology – Justification
Justification which refers to a person possessing a righteous state before God is the necessary pre-requisite to entering into the marriage covenant relationship w/God. In the redemptive history of the Bible, we experience two forms: one which is now obsolete, the other which is presently in force. They may be referred to as Passover Justification […]
Galatians: Gospel Bombs
Christ Covenant Church is in the midst of a study of the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul’s first epistle. Galatians is a polemic on New Covenant Justification and the gospel bombs series deals with Galatians chapter 1 through chapter 2, verse 10 answering questions such as: How does the Bible define “grace” and “peace”? […]
Galatians 1: More Backstory
Christ Covenant Church is in the midst of a study of the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul’s first epistle. This sermon is an in-depth look at the historical circumstances which caused the book to be written. This is a history of Paul from conversion to the writing of Galatians and this message deals with […]
“In Christ” = In the visible Church
From The Baptized Body by Peter J. Leithart: 1 Corinthians 12:12 is particularly striking the way Paul identifies the Head-and- members body of Christ as “Christ.” “‘Christ” is not just the title of the Anointed Head. The anointing flows like the dew of Hermon down from our priestly Head, down the beard, down to […]
23 Bible passages which teach the loss of . . . something . . .
The vast majority of Evangelical and Reformed theologians accept the doctrine which teaches that no man who has been sovereignly elected to salvation will be lost (John 6:39, 10:25-29, 17:12-15) as this doctrine is well-supported in Scripture. However, if not understood with biblical precision, this idea creates apparent inconsistencies with a large number of […]
Justification Rediscovered: History
One of the key factors in understanding the Bible’s teaching on Justification is history or historical context. In other words, words have meaning which are directly tied to and determined by the historical context in which they are communicated. This means, if we are going to understand what any of the given biblical authors are […]
6 MORE Arguments for the Imputation of the Active Obedience of Christ Examined and Refuted
In the last article on this topic, we dealt with six textual arguments that are meant to be in favor of the doctrine of the imputation of the active obedience of Christ (IAO). The source of these arguments was an article written by Phil Johnson and posted at Pyromaniacs a couple of years ago. Today, […]
6 Arguments for the Imputation of the Active Obedience of Christ Examined and Refuted
On a couple of occasions, we have stated that the doctrine of the Imputation of the Active Obedience of Christ (IAO) has no textual support. Obviously, proponents of IAO disagree with that assessment and to be fair, we have spent little or no space on this blog dealing with the textual support that is […]
Justification Rediscovered: An Evaluation of the Evangelical-Reformed Definition of Justification
The following is an excerpt from the teaching entitled: Justification Rediscovered. Previously published excerpts include Difficulties in studying the doctrine of justification and Justification Rediscovered affirmations. You can also download a PDF of the entire study or listen to audio of the teaching here. One of the biggest myths within Evangelical Christianity today, is […]
10 Truths Taught by the Clothing Metaphor in Scripture
A metaphor is used to illustrate unfamiliar ideas through the means of familiar objects and Scripture often uses the common object of clothing as a picture of man’s standing before God. There are scores of instances where Scripture uses the metaphor of clothing in order to picture one’s standing before God. We find instances of […]
Lord before Savior
Christ Covenant Church has recently completed the first major point in our Sound Gospel series: The good news of abundant life in Jesus Christ. A.W. Pink once said, “Many are deceived into supposing that they have accepted Christ as their personal Savior who have not first received Him as Lord.” Thus we come to the second element of the […]
Justification Rediscovered
Earlier this spring as a part of Christ Covenant Church’s Wednesday Night Seminary, we undertook an intensive study of the doctrine of justification in light of the biblical evidence, historical record and contemporary thought.
The Purpose of the Clothing Metaphor in Scripture
A metaphor is a figure of speech which expresses the unfamiliar in terms of the familiar. In most instances, a common, usually physical object is used to illustrate a more abstract or less familiar idea or concept. There is an implied comparison between the two, but this comparison does not always use the words like […]
A Short Biblical Definition of Justification
Nearly every Christian and student of theology will readily accept that the doctrine of justification is one of the most important doctrines in Scripture. Yet nearly 2,000 years after the death and resurrection of Christ, the doctrine of justification continues to be controversial and unsettled. This is despite the fact that a proper understanding […]
Jude: A Passionate Appeal to “Every Member Warfare”
Backstory: Author: Jude, the half-brother of Jesus. He was a later convert to Christianity. Audience: All who are truly saved. Date: Probably late AD 68, after the writing of 2 Peter and Revelation, making it the last book written in the New Testament. Theme: True spiritual warfare is contending for the truths found in […]
Justification Rediscovered: Application
In Protestant Christianity, the application of justification to the life of the believer has primarily been discussed under the doctrine of imputation. However, due to the rampant error bound up in the evangelical church’s definition of justification as well as her serious misunderstanding of Second Temple Judaism, the religious context of the word justification and […]