RFPA Blog News

Book Review - Life in the Covenant: In Family, Church, and World

July 2020 Standard Bearer preview article

This article is written by Rev. James Laning and will be published in the July 2020 issue of the Standard Bearer.  Click to read pdf as printed in the July 2020 issue. ________________ God’s sure promise The previous article spoke of God promising deliverance to His covenant people. In this article we consider that the promise of our God is sure. It does not depend upon us for its fulfillment. Our salvation is entirely a gift of God’s grace. The promise of God It...

The Antithesis in Paradise

Scripture teaches no dualism, but an antithesis. There are no two primal causes and eternal principles, constantly warring with each other, but God is one. He alone is eternal and the primal cause and there is no other eternal principle or primal cause next to him. Neither is he both good and evil, nor are the principles of good and evil to be traced to his being, for he is a light and there is no darkness in him. But this good and glorious God according to his eternal and sovereign good pleasure wills to reveal his praises, his eternally adorable virtue antithetically, that is, in opposition to darkness. Darkness, evil, sin are not primal principles, eternally coordinate with light, goodness, righteousness, but the former are subservient to the latter, darkness must serve to bring out the glory of the light, the devil serves to enhance the unsearchable riches of God's being and virtues and works.

In the light of this idea of an antithesis we can under­stand the placing of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” in paradise. By means of it, God carries the antithesis into the life and before the consciousness of man, made after his image.

September 15, 2019 Standard Bearer preview article

The covenant and Dordt: Election, the foundation

The doctrine of election is the foundation of the Reformed truth of salvation by grace alone. The first head of the Canons of Dordt establishes the doctrine of double predestination in answer to the first point of the Remonstrants. The Arminians placed this doctrine first in their five objections (remonstrances), knowing that if they could successfully change the Reformed teaching of election to a conditional election, the rest of their teaching (errors) would follow logically. If election (and therefore, salvation) depended on man’s choosing it, then Christ died for all to make that choice a possibility, and fallen man is not dead, and grace is resistible, and perseverance unto eternal life depends on man.

A Covenant Home: What Is It Like?

God's Everlasting Covenant of Grace in Spanish

Two years ago Editorial Doulos, an evangelical Spanish publisher, requested permission from the RFPA to translate Prof. Hanko’s book God’s Everlasting Covenant of Grace into Spanish. In their request Editorial Doulos noted that Hanko’s book is “an enduring work that treats the Protestant Reformed conception of the covenant in detail, linking it to the Reformed doctrines of God’s sovereignty both in salvation and in the world. This perspective on the covenant is not currently accessible to Spanish language readers.” The RFPA has...

The Question of the Necessity of Good Works (10): In the Way of Repentance

The question of the necessity of good works and the proper and clear explanation of that necessity of good works can be seen in the saving work of repentance. Repentance is frequently described as the work in the way of which we enjoy covenantal fellowship with God. The language that in the way of repentance we enjoy God and the fellowship of God in the covenant is contrasted with repentance being a prerequisite, or a condition, of the covenant and the...

The Question of the Necessity of Good Works (9): Clear Explanations

Because the proper answer to the question of the necessity of good works is so closely connected with the church’s confession of the truth of the believers’ gracious salvation, and because wrong answers to this question end up denying this truth, there is no room for ambiguous language in answering this question. Especially is this ambiguous language to be deplored in a misguided and ill-informed attempt to impress upon the people of God the necessity of doing good works. This necessity,...

The Question of the Necessity of Good Works (8): Uniquely Reformed Heresy

The Reformed faith teaches that the sinner is saved and delivered from his misery merely of grace, through Christ, without any merit of the sinner. The Reformed faith also insists that the same sinner who is delivered from his misery without his works—so that his salvation is not by works—must do good works. Two things must be noted here. First, the believing sinner is saved, saved unto eternal life, without ever performing a single good work. His salvation consists in his...

Election GOVERNS Sanctification and...the Covenant?

Christopher Gordon believes that the “sanctification debate” within Reformed circles may have become Arminian (for his article click here). He explains that this move towards an Arminian view of sanctification is a response to what some in Reformed circles believe is “an over emphasis on justification and a narrow definition of the gospel” that leads to “antinomianism.” Gordon writes, “Many explicitly fear that the word gospel is being defined too narrowly. So when people communicate that all they need is the...

My Boring Christian Testimony

My Boring Christian Testimony: How I know It’s Real  In this article Megan Hill explains that she was reared in a Christian home and “practically born with “Jesus Loves Me” on my lips and in my heart.” Hill’s Presbyterian parents gave her godly instruction in their home, brought her to church, and sent her to a Christian school. As a child Hill professes that she had true faith in Jesus Christ, and she cannot remember a time when she did not...

Covenant, Antithesis and the Secession: A Response to Rev. Nathan Langerak

We thought this response to a recent Standard Bearer article written by Rev. Nathan Langerak, "The Juggernaut of Apostasy" (December 1, 2013 SB issue) would be of interest to our readers. Click on the link below to read the response written by Wes Bredenhof: http://yinkahdinay.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/covenant-antithesis-and-the-secession-a-response-to-rev-nathan-langerak/

Battle for Sovereign Grace...

Next month marks the 60th anniversary of the schism of 1953 within the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC), the culmination of the hard fought battle for sovereign grace in the covenant. Delve into this history with David J. Engelsma's new book, slated for release next month! The Battle for Sovereign Grace in the Covenant recounts much of the gripping history of the schism, including new, important details that have not been previously published. The book also provides the history of the controversial...