Reformed Christian Studies

Posted at The Reformed Reader: Sometimes – by God’s grace and his Spirit at work in us – the Christian doesn’t give in to Satan’s crafty temptations. One tactic the devil often resorts to in this situation is accusation. That is, if he can’t get the Christian to sin, he tries to get the Christian to wallow in guilt. William Gurnall explained it well: “The devil is the blasphemer, but the poor Christian, because he will not join with him in the fact, shall have the name and bear the blame of it. As the Jews compelled Simon of Cyrene to carry Christ’s cross, so Satan would compel the tempted Christian to carry the guilt of his sin for him. And many time Satan doth so craftily, and with such sleight of hand, shift it [guilt] from himself to the Christian’s back, that he, poor creature, doesn’t realize the juggler’s art of conveying the guilt unto him, but goes complaining only of the baseness of his own heart.” Read more... 

Posted at The Reformed Reader : https://www.logos.com/product/4204/the-works-of-thomas-goodwin In one section of Thomas Goodwin’s book called “A Child of Light Walking in Darkness,” he explains how Satan tricks and deceives a true Christian so that he doubts his salvation. Sometimes Satan will remind us that if a person is a hypocrite, if sin reigns in a person, and if a person is full of self-love, that person is not a Christian. Then Satan says to us: “ You played the hypocrite last week and last month. You constantly give in to the sin of anger. You love yourself more than your family and more than God. Therefore you are not a true Christian.” Notice how this works. Satan uses half-truths to get us to doubt our salvation. It is true that hypocrites, lovers of self, and those who are ruled by sin will not inherit the kingdom of God. However, there’s more to the discussion. A true Christian can stumble into hypocrisy, can give in to sin for a time, and can disobey

Posted at The Reformed Reader: Although some critics and skeptics say that Christians made up a figure like Satan to scare people into morality, the truth of the matter is that Satan is real. Even some non-Christian religions talk of evil beings and spirits, and a leader of these evil beings. So what does the Bible teach about Satan? Sydney Page has a nice summary in chapter nine of Fallen: A Theology of Sin (edited by C. W. Morgan and R. A. Peterson) . Here’s an edited outline of his excellent essay: 1) Satan is a created being. Evil has not always existed, nor has the Evil One. Scripture clearly represents Satan as being on the creature side of the Creator/creature distinction (Col. 1:15-20, etc.). 2) Satan is a fallen being. Not only does Scripture present Satan as a created being, but also it presents him as a fallen being. The first chapter of Genesis makes clear that God’s original creation was good, but Satan is undeniably evil. See 1 Tim. 3:1-7 (esp. v 6), John 8