Reformed Baptist Congregation Exaltation | Edification | Evangelism
Luther’s famous dictum (probably not his exact words-but certainly his conviction) is still true for us today:
“Justification is the article by which the church stands and falls” (justificatio est articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae).
Don’t let anything stand in the way of this great point. Don’t add anything to it either. God imputes the righteousness of Christ to us through the instrument of faith only. this is how we are right with God.
Happy Reformation Day!
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 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…]
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.
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.