Reformed Christian Studies

 By Pastor Benjamin Glaser - Posted at Thoughts From Parson Farms: Good Morning, We are taking only one question today because as we get into the meat of the fifth commandment we need to define terms primarily because things sound different to us than they may have to the writers of the Larger Catechism. That’s an us problem rather than a they problem. As I noted last week we live in a day-and-age where egalitarianism is the water in which we swim. Even for so-called complementarian churches we often speak of roles and responsibilities in a way that is almost always with a tone of apologizing for the way the Bible makes distinctions in regards to who is in charge and who is not. This often comes up when we talk about whether or not men alone are to be ordained and installed in the offices of minister, elder, and deacon or if we are to allow Galatians 3:28 be the controlling verse for all of Scripture when it comes to this subject. Without getting into the problems for how that idea dam

 By David Smith - Posted at Place for Truth: According to The Beatles, love is all you need. Of course, you won’t actually learn anything about love from their vapid lyrics, yet we need to learn about love, if we are to know God, and live glorifying him and blessing others. Unquestionably, 1Corinthians 13 is the text that readily comes to mind when we think of love. There, Paul speaks of the preeminence of love as the greatest human character trait or virtue; greater than faith or hope. It should go without saying that for Paul faith, hope and love are understood in accordance with all of God’s written revelation. It is faith and hope in God, and the love of him of which Paul speaks. Along the way, he delineates what love is. It is patient and kind, does not envy or boast, is not arrogant or rude, does not insist on its own, is not irritable or resentful, does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth, as well as bears, believes, hopes and endures all things. These affirmati

The LORD will be with you — 2 Chronicles 20:17 This was a great mercy for Jehoshaphat, for a great multitude had come out against him; and it will be a great mercy for me, for I have great need, and I have no might or wisdom. If the LORD be with me, it matters little who may desert me. If the LORD be with me, I shall conquer in the battle of life, and the greater my trials the more glorious will be my victory. How can I be sure that the LORD is with me? For certain He is with me if I am with Him. If I trust in His faithfulness, believe His words, and obey His commands, He is assuredly with me. If I am on Satan's side, God is against me and cannot be otherwise; but if I live to honor God, I may be sure that He will honor me. I am quite sure that God is with me if Jesus is my sole and only Savior. If I have placed my soul in the hands of God's only-begotten Son, then I may be sure that the Father will put forth all His power to preserve me, that His Son may not be dishonored. Oh,

Presented by Ligonier Ministries (YouTube) Description: The book of Romans says that we are altogether unrighteous, therefore the grave awaits us. So what can we do? Is there a way to righteousness? How can someone be declared righteous by God? In this message, Dr. Sproul teaches us the most glorious and Christ honoring way, as he affirms that salvation is by “Faith Alone.” Direct Link:  Faith Alone (Part 2): What is Reformed Theology? with R.C. Sproul - YouTube

 By Al Baker - Posted at Forget None Of His Benefits: Preach the word. . . do the work of an evangelist. -2 Timothy 4:2,5 Do you ever fall asleep at church as you listen to your pastor preach? If you watched the movie Saving Private Ryan , did you fall asleep at the opening scene as U.S. troops stormed the beach at Normandy? You probably answered “yes” to the first question and “no” to the second one. Why? Perhaps the preaching puts you to sleep because it does not grab your heart while the tension of the opening of Saving Private Ryan grips your heart with a deep impression of fear and amazement at their heroism. Wouldn’t you love to see your own congregation caught up in glorious worship of Christ as they hear your preacher proclaim His excellencies? We all know how the charismatic churches are able to evoke great emotion from their congregations through music. I am not saying that is all bad, but certainly it can easily lead to manipulation. How much more glorious if a genuine resp

 By Pastor Benjamin Glaser - Posted at Thoughts From Parson Farms: How Superiors, Inferiors, and Equals Must Seek Their Place Good Morning, We are going to do something a little bit different today for our look at the Larger Catechism. In the act of taking questions out of order it may seem as if we are doing violence to the original intent of the writers. If they wanted to keep the scope and the definition of the fifth command together they would of done so. Why should I feel the right to divide them? It’s a good inquiry worthy of an explanation. Simply put the breaking up of a multi-year look of 196 questions is going to mean that some decisions will be necessary in order to better explain the totality of the purpose of the Christian religion for believers and unbelievers alike. When it comes to this part of the law some terms are going to be used that are wildly foreign to the way we talk today, for good or for ill. Any conversation that gets into hierarchy, roles, and place is goi

By William Boekestein - Posted at Place for Truth: Martin Luther said that justification is the doctrine upon which the church stands or falls. And justification is a vital, glorious reality. God declares that because of Christ’s righteousness the claims of the law are satisfied for everyone who believes. Justification is a verdict of “no condemnation” for hell-deserving sinners ( Rom. 8:1 ). But God’s kindness is deeper and richer than we could even imagine. He not only forgives our debts; he also receives us into his family. Those whom God justifies he also adopts as his dear children, both sons and daughters. Scripture commonly speaks of the “sonship” of believers not to exclude females but to emphasize the full right of inheritance to all believers which in the ancient world was the privilege of males. In quoting 2 Samuel 7 Paul explicitly expands God’s promise to be a father to David’s son saying, “and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the