Thomas Boston (1676 – 1732) says: “When Christ apprehends a man by His Spirit, he is so drawn that he comes away to Christ with his whole heart: for true believing is believing with all the heart.”
(Human Nature in its Fourfold State, p. 283)
The Hope of Glory
The Christian life and experience cannot be lived vicariously. This means that you cannot live the Christian life by clinging to the coat-tails of another Christian, nor can you live your spiritual life through someone else. Nobody lives your life, but you. Reading your Bible with your spouse or children is no substitute for reading the Bible on your own. Praying with others is no substitute for praying alone before God. These activities are important, but they do not replace your personal responsibility towards God. There are many, however, who think like this and live like this. [Read more…]
An Orthodox Catechism (2)
Here are the next 2 questions in An Orthodox Catechism. These begin the first part of the Catechism focusing on Man’s Misery.
Q.3. From what source do you know your misery?
A. From the Law of God
Q.4. What does the Law of God require of us?
A. That which Christ summarily teaches us, Matthew 22:37–40. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first and great commandment; and the second is like it, You shall live your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.
Inward Persuasion
According to Calvin in his Institutes (1.8.13), Scripture will ultimately suffice for a saving knowledge of God only when it’s certainty is founded upon the inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit…those who wish to prove to unbelievers that Scripture is the Word of God are acting foolishly, for only by faith can this be known.
An Orthodox Catechism (1)
Here are the first two questions of the Orthodox Catechism. These two questions form the introduction to the catechism.
Q.1. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That both in soul and body, whether I live or die, I am not my own, but belong wholly unto my most faithful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. By his most precious blood fully satisfying for all my sins, He has delivered me from all the power of the devil, and so preserves me, that without the will of my heavenly Father not so much as a hair may fall from my head. Yes, all things must serve for my safety and by His Spirit, also He assures me of everlasting life, and makes me ready and prepared, that from now on I may live to him.
Q.2. How many things are necessary for you to know that, enjoying this comfort, you may live and die happily?
A. Three. The first, what is the greatness of my sin and misery. The second, how I am delivered from all sin and misery. The third, what thanks I owe to God for this delivery.