pdf - Protestant Reformed Churches in America

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Setting in Order the Things That Are Wantingwith God what is right and wrong. Their consciences are searedwith a hot iron and, therefore, polluted with sin. To them nothingis pure.These vain talkers, according to verse 16, profess to knowGod. They talk as ifthey~ more than all others in the church, knowGod. With their rules and regulations; with their forbidding tomarry and their abstaining from meats; with their interpretationsofthe law, they profess to know God. But their profession, theirtalk, is vain. It's futile and empty.It is that because by their works they deny God. Their socalledobservance ofthe law is really a denial ofGod and His Wordand law. By so doing, and now the apostle uses very sharp, stronglanguage, these vain talkers are abominable. i.e., detestable. Goddetests them. They are disobedient in the sense of it beingimpossible to convince them of their error and, thus, persuadethem ofthe truth.This is underscored by the last clause of the text, '~andregarding or pertaining to every good work reprobate." A goodwork is: 211. Performed out of faith, it is a fruit of faith. These vaintalkers are unbelieving, they have no faith.2. Performed according to the law of God. The vaintalkers, to borrow Jesus' language in describing the Pharisees,teach for doctrine the commandments of men (Matt. 15:9). Thevain talkers give heed to Jewish myths.3. Performed to the glory ofGod. The vain talkers subvertwhole houses and deceive God's people for shameful gain.Indeed, they are reprobate regarding every good work. Theyare totally depraved, unable to do any good at all. Titus must,therefore, rebuke them sharply. We too, as bishops in God'schurch, must preach, teach sound doctrine. We must do thisantithetically. Sharply we must warn the people ofGod against thevain talking deceivers. We must do this in order to edify God'speople.•21. See the Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 91.November, 2001 13
Thomas Bradwardine:Forgotten MedievalAugustinian (3)Russell J. DykstraSalvation by GraceIn harmony with the doctrines ofthe sovereignty ofGod andsovereign predestination, Bradwardine insists that salvation is ofgrace. By that he means both that salvation is a gracious, that is,unmerited gift, and that salvation is worked by the powerofGod'sgrace. In the preface to The Cause ofGod he complains, "Howmany, today, 0 Lord, with Pelagius, oppose Thy freely givengrace... and believe that only by their free will can they gain theirsalvation.'"A key issue that he faces in this connection is the matter ofmerit. The doctrine ofmerit was deeply ingrained in the church inBradwardine's day. It was a significant part ofPelagius' theologyin the fourth century. Pelagius insisted that natural, fallen man isable to do good. He maintained that there are three aspects to agood work of man - the ability, the will, and the act itself. Hetaught that God graciously made man with the ability to do good(part of God's grace given at creation), and that man - also afterthe fall - has the will and the power to do good works. The onlyadditional grace needed is an external grace given through thegood influence ofthe exampleofChrist and by the preachingofthelaw. Thus man can do good and in fact merited saving grace by sodoing.Even though Augustine had effectively rejected Pelagianism,the Semi-Pelagianism that arose after Augustine still maintainedl. Bradwardine, Cause, Preface, p. 1, quoted in Oberman, ArchbishopBradwardine, p. 28.14 PRTJ
Page 1 and 2: ProtestantReformedTheologicalJourna
Page 3 and 4: EDITOR'S NOTESProf. Russell J. Dyks
Page 5 and 6: For there are many, even l unruly,
Page 7 and 8: happen to hold unwittingly to some
Page 9 and 10: tion oftheir false teachings. II Pe
Page 11 and 12: est, they are very weak, at worst,
Page 13: truth~' (see I Tim. 4: 1 - 4). Ever
Page 17 and 18: ated grace and uncreated grace. Unc
Page 19 and 20: Bradwardine faces the question ofth
Page 21 and 22: the age, namely, that having set fo
Page 23 and 24: did not identify Thomas Bradwardine
Page 25 and 26: The first is that Bradwardine was a
Page 27 and 28: to Bradwardine as oneof"two pre-emi
Page 29 and 30: Gospels, Acts, and Revelation. Sir
Page 31 and 32: power of the papacy in Bradwardine'
Page 33 and 34: The Serious Callof the Gospel -Is t
Page 35 and 36: elieve th~s proclamation with uprig
Page 37 and 38: to bring good news with their "fig
Page 39 and 40: nation, we read of Melchisedek, the
Page 41 and 42: official activity ofa monarch's her
Page 43 and 44: 8): "Calling is ofthose elect and r
Page 45 and 46: ut all his posterity unable to obey
Page 47 and 48: alone, and He saves whom He will. E
Page 49 and 50: have moved away from the notion oft
Page 51 and 52: every member ofthe visible, institu
Page 53 and 54: fulfilling this calling is their pa
Page 55 and 56: contingent. Further, Calvin did not
Page 57 and 58: ofacceptance in terms of merit, ins
Page 59 and 60: covenant ofgrace and works, or it i
Page 61 and 62: Spiritual, Suffers Them to DefileTh
Page 63 and 64: the gospel is preached" (p. 212).In
Page 65 and 66:
"They do not hold that JesusChrist
Page 67 and 68:
II Corinthians 3:6 that "the letter
Page 69 and 70:
is to oppose and to repulsethat sec
Page 71 and 72:
Rightly Divided: Readings inBiblica
Page 73 and 74:
is necessary speaks volumesabout th
Page 75 and 76:
Guilt, Grace and Gratitude,Lectures
Page 77 and 78:
76ted under the new? If it wererigh
Page 79 and 80:
er to keep himself holy; forthe Sab
Page 81 and 82:
there is room for both positionsin
Page 83 and 84:
Dr. Gannett's eschatologyalso effec
Page 85 and 86:
that, but man has a corrupt nature(
Page 87 and 88:
the love of God is "universal"(p. 5
Page 89 and 90:
ever, throughout the book thereis n
show all

pdf - Protestant Reformed Churches in America

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?