Doctrinally Reformed, Liturgical, Covenantal, and Anti-Pelagian

This is an awesome article on abortion.

Article 9: The Scriptural Witness on the Trinity

• All these things we know from the testimonies of Holy Scripture as well as from the effects of the persons, especially from those we feel within ourselves.The testimonies of the Holy Scriptures, which teach us to believe in this Holy Trinity, are written in many places of the Old Testament, which need not be enumerated but only chosen with discretion.

  In the book of Genesis God says, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.” So “God created man in his own image”– indeed, “male and female he created them.”^6 “Behold, man has become like one of us.”^7

  It appears from this that there is a plurality of persons within the Deity, when he says, “Let us make man in our image”– and afterwards he indicates the unity when he says, “God created.”

  It is true that he does not say here how many persons there are– but what is somewhat obscure to us in the Old Testament is very clear in the New.

  For when our Lord was baptized in the Jordan, the voice of the Father was heard saying, “This is my dear Son”;^8 the Son was seen in the water; and the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove.

  So, in the baptism of all believers this form was prescribed by Christ: “Baptize all people in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”^9

  In the Gospel according to Luke the angel Gabriel says to Mary, the mother of our Lord: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and therefore that holy one to be born of you shall be called the Son of God.”^10

  And in another place it says: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.”^11

  “There are three who bear witness in heaven– the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit– and these three are one.”^12

  In all these passages we are fully taught that there are three persons in the one and only divine essence. And although this doctrine surpasses human understanding, we nevertheless believe it now, through the Word, waiting to know and enjoy it fully in heaven.

  Furthermore, we must note the particular works and activities of these three persons in relation to us. The Father is called our Creator, by reason of his power. The Son is our Savior and Redeemer, by his blood. The Holy Spirit is our Sanctifier, by his living in our hearts.

  This doctrine of the holy Trinity has always been maintained in the true church, from the time of the apostles until the present, against Jews, Muslims, and certain false Christians and heretics, such as Marcion, Mani, Praxeas, Sabellius, Paul of Samosata, Arius, and others like them, who were rightly condemned by the holy fathers.

  And so, in this matter we willingly accept the three ecumenical creeds– the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian– as well as what the ancient fathers decided in agreement with them.

  ^6 Gen. 1:26-27 ^7 Gen. 3:22 ^8 Matt. 3:17 ^9 Matt. 28:19 ^10 Luke 1:35 ^11 2 Cor. 13:14 ^12 1 John 5:7 (KJV)

Article 15: The Doctrine of Original Sin

• We believe that by the disobedience of Adam original sin has been spread through the whole human race.It is a corruption of all nature– an inherited depravity which even infects small infants in their mother’s womb, and the root which produces in man every sort of sin. It is therefore so vile and enormous in God’s sight that it is enough to condemn the human race, and it is not abolished or wholly uprooted even by baptism, seeing that sin constantly boils forth as though from a contaminated spring.

  Nevertheless, it is not imputed to God’s children for their condemnation but is forgiven by his grace and mercy– not to put them to sleep but so that the awareness of this corruption might often make believers groan as they long to be set free from the “body of this death.”^30

  Therefore we reject the error of the Pelagians who say that this sin is nothing else than a matter of imitation.

  ^30 Rom. 7:24

Pro 6:23  For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
Pro 6:24  to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
Pro 6:25  Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
Pro 6:26  for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life.
Pro 6:27  Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?
Pro 6:28  Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?
Pro 6:29  So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; none who touches her will go unpunished.
Pro 6:30  People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
Pro 6:31  but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house.
Pro 6:32  He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself.
Pro 6:33  He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
Pro 6:34  For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
Pro 6:35  He will accept no compensation; he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath. It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
Psa 92:2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,
Psa 92:3 to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.
Psa 92:4 For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
Psa 92:5 How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!
Psa 92:6 The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this:
Psa 92:7 that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;
Psa 92:8 but you, O LORD, are on high forever.
Psa 92:9 For behold, your enemies, O LORD, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered.
Psa 92:10 But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil.
Psa 92:11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.
Psa 92:12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Psa 92:13 They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.
Psa 92:14 They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,
Psa 92:15 to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Psa 90:2  Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Psa 90:3  You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!”
Psa 90:4  For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.
Psa 90:5  You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning:
Psa 90:6  in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.
Psa 90:7  For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed.
Psa 90:8  You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
Psa 90:9  For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
Psa 90:10  The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Psa 90:11  Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?
Psa 90:12  So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Psa 90:13  Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!
Psa 90:14  Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Psa 90:15  Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Psa 90:16  Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.
Psa 90:17  Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

I truly hope that this blog is a blessing to those who read it.  By looking at some of your comments it has been and I am grateful for that.  Obviously I am of the Reformed persuasion and believe it to be the best expression of biblical doctrine otherwise I wouldn’t be Reformed :).  This blog is truly here to glorify God and for the edification of the saints everywhere.  This is my heart.  I also want to publish the source of hope to those looking for true answers in a world where anything goes.  God bless you all!

The Study of Theology

By: Me

1. The Knowledge of God

A. The Origin of True Theology

The knowledge of God, according to true theology, emphasizes the centrality of knowledge itself, Who is God, That Omniscience One. Theology is that sound knowledge that can only come from God, the One and only true theologian. Without God revealing Himself to us, we would have no sound knowledge of Him. We would continue in our blindness because the glory of God has been hid from the eyes of man due to original sin. 1 John 2:20 teaches that every believer in Jesus Christ has this knowledge because they have been anointed by the Holy Spirit. He is the One that was given to the church 40 days after the ascension of Christ on the day of Pentecost. This is part of the New Covenant that is made to the Israel of God. God has stated in the prophets that He was going to remove the heart of stone in us and replace it with a heart of flesh. God was going to write His commandments on our hearts and give to us eternal life, which we had never before received in the age of the Old Testament church. It would remove the dead, lifeless, hard heart of stone that was powerless to please God and powerless to live out His commandments, and replace it with a heart of flesh that is now regenerated by the power of the Spirit God, enabling us to obey His commandments and to properly worship God through the last and ultimate sacrifice , the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. This new life is from the indwelling Holy Spirit, which is the anointing of God. Scripture teaches us in 1 John 2:20 that when the Holy Spirit is given to someone they are endowed with knowledge. This does not mean that we now know everything, but that the omniscience God dwells with us, making us one with Jesus Christ the head of His body the church. It is by the virtue of the Omniscient God living within us that we possess all knowledge because the possessor of all knowledge lives within us. In verse 27 of 1 John 2 this same anointing, the Holy Spirit, will teach us all things. This anointing abides in believers and we have no need for any other teacher. This does not mean that we do not need pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc., because they are the external ministers by which the internal minister, the Holy Spirit, ministers to the church. He gives the officers of the church authority, wisdom, and power to preach the Word of God, to distribute the sacraments, and to exercise church discipline. Ultimately it is still the Holy Spirit feeding us His Word through these men. He teaches us to abide in Christ our Lord through the gift of faith, as we draw strength and life from the Lord through the Holy Spirit. So it is the redeemed people of God who are the recipients of true theology. Were it not for the fact that God has redeemed the church through the Lamb of God, slain before the foundations of the world, our understanding of true theology would be, at best, tainted with the sin of idolatry making it virtually non-existent. It is man’s nature to take what they have known about the glory, majesty, and holiness of God through the innate sense that resides in us all, coupled with the testimony of nature itself, and corrupt it by exchanging it for the foolish invention and worship of the gods of their imagination. They invent the idols that they prefer to worship, while at the same time trying to please and appease God. Unlike the reprobate, the redeemed are given the one true Theologian, Who will guide us into all truth, or theology. He is the One the Lord has promised to us. It is he who causes us to grow in not only the grace of God, but in the knowledge of God which is true theology. True theology, when it embraces the heart of a believer, changes who they are. Man is incapable of obtaining this knowledge by any means, even a believer. It is not ours to take nor to give away. It is not ours to take because it belongs to God. It is the Spirit of God who searches, knows, and feeds us the deep things of God. And again, what man knows of God he distorts that knowledge and declares the distortion to be true of God.

Romans 1:18-32 (English Standard Version)

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

18For^(A) the wrath of God^(B) is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be^(C) known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,^(D) have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they^(E) became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22^(F) Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23and^(G) exchanged the glory of^(H) the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24Therefore^(I) God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to^(J) the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for^(K) a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,^(L) who is blessed forever! Amen.

26For this reason^(M) God gave them up to^(N) dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another,^(O) men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God,^(P) God gave them up to^(Q) a debased mind to do^(R) what ought not to be done. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know^(S) God’s decree that those who practice such things^(T) deserve to die, they not only do them but^(U) give approval to those who practice them.

Proverbs 14:34

34Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a reproach to any people.

John 15:12-27 (New American Standard Bible)

Disciples’ Relation to Each Other

12“This is ^(A)My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13“^(B)Greater love has no one than this, that one ^(C)lay down his life for his friends.

14“You are My ^(D)friends if ^(E)you do what I command you.

15“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for ^(F)all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

16“^(G)You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and ^(H)bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that ^(I)whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.

17“This ^(J)I command you, that you love one another.

Disciples’ Relation to the World

18“^(K)If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but ^(L)I chose you out of the world, ^(M)because of this the world hates you.

20“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘^(N)A slave is not greater than his master ‘ If they persecuted Me, ^(O)they will also persecute you; if they ^(P)kept My word, they will keep yours also.

21“But all these things they will do to you ^(Q)for My name’s sake, ^(R)because they do not know the One who sent Me.

22“^(S)If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

23“He who hates Me hates My Father also.

24“^(T)If I had not done among them ^(U)the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.

25“But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their ^(V)Law, ‘^(W)THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’

26“When the ^(X)Helper comes, ^(Y)whom I will send to you from the Father, that is ^(Z)the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, ^(AA)He will testify about Me,

27and ^(AB)you will testify also, because you have been with Me ^(AC)from the beginning.