The terms church militant, triumphant, and latent are used to describe a threefold distinction in the church of Christ. The one church of Christ can be described as she exists throughout history in three different states. A threefold distinction in the church was often used by the medieval church theologians. However, they spoke of the […]
The Character of the Belgic Confession Rev. Nathan Langerak The Belgic Confession is the earliest of the Reformed creeds known collectively as the Three Forms of Unity. The Three Forms of Unity are the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dordt. The name of the creed, Belgic Confession, derives from the […]
The Flood is history. The same kind of carnal unbelief that said in Noah’s day, “there will be no Flood,” says today, “there was no Flood.” Both are rooted in the love of the world and hatred of the God of Jesus Christ, truth, and judgment. The church must proclaim the history of the Flood. […]
As a creed the Belgic Confession is doctrinal. It is a book of doctrine. The doctrine of the Belgic Confession is the doctrine of the word of God. Scripture is a doctrinal book. It is the revelation of the truth of God in Jesus Christ and contains all that is necessary for the believer’s faith […]
Union with Christ is the profound and mysterious description of the reality of the elect believer’s gracious salvation. All men by nature are in connection with Adam. In Adam, all are conceived and born dead in sin. In Adam, all perish. In Christ, all his people are made alive. He is the last Adam, the […]
The synod of Dordt met during 1618–19 to settle the controversy about the doctrines of grace that had erupted around the person and teaching of the pestilential James Arminius. As a minister he underhandedly spread his lies from 1590 until his death in 1609. He made predestination the particular object of his attacks. The hope […]
In his fine essay on the providence of God, Princeton theologian B. B. Warfield mentions the frequent saying of a certain woman familiar to him. That housewife was fond of saying, “We will not be robbed of God’s providence.” That quotation and its source are instructive for the consideration of the doctrine of providence, especially […]
The Reformed confession of providence includes the confession that God is sovereign over evil. This is a particular emphasis of the Reformed confession of providence. The Belgic Confession in article 13 gives a general statement of the doctrine of providence and quickly moves to an extended treatment of the doctrine of providence and evil. The […]
When we speak of God’s providence as his personal government of the world, we mean that he governs all things. The scope of providence extends to all things. It includes the entire universe, every creature in the universe, and every event that happens in that universe from the explosion of a star, to the oscillations […]
The doctrine of providence is the confession of the church. In the Old Testament Enoch preached it when he preached that all things culminate in the Lord’s coming. Noah lived by faith in it and built an ark to the saving of his house. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob believed that God suffered no man to […]