Rev. Jason L. Kortering: In memoriam

Rev. Jason L. Kortering: In memoriam

This one from his first round of family visitation. One of those visits he recalled clearly, even after 50 years. It was, he says, with a “nice spiritual family—an older couple.” “Are you edified by the word?” he asked. “No!” “No?” “No, you take away all our comfort.” (No wonder that the recollection of that visit remained vivid years later!) “I thought, What? I’m preaching my heart out—and taking away all their comfort?” Not knowing, at the moment, what they were talking about, young Rev. Kortering asked them for an explanation. “Well, they did some explaining. And it went along this line that, ‘when you preach, you call us to do something. And we can’t do anything. So you lead us to complete frustration. We have to do something we can’t do. And we have no comfort.’ I discovered, later on, that that’s very typically antinomian. They saw the Reformed faith to be that Jesus has done it all, and that we have no responsibility. In a certain sense our Split of 1953 had that effect on some people. Rev. Heys told me this. He said, ‘Jay, at the time of the Split, you couldn’t even preach the commands of the Bible without being charged with conditions.’” On reflection, therefore, Rev. Kortering saw the explanation offered by the old couple to be “bad, bad theology. But, as a young preacher, to have someone say that on a first round of family visitation, wow, that set me back. The whole night I couldn’t sleep.”
RFPA Annual Meeting 2021

RFPA Annual Meeting 2021

The Reformed Free Publishing Association would like to invite everyone to our annual meeting. Professor...

Peter (1): Sinfully Deviating From the Guidance of Divine Grace

Peter (1): Sinfully Deviating From the Guidance of Divine Grace

by Rev. Martyn McGeown  In Canons 5:4 the Reformed faith addresses the question of “lamentable...

“Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc?” Non!, or, “Don’t Kill the Rooster!”

“Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc?” Non!, or, “Don’t Kill the Rooster!”

To deny the preceding faith in God’s grand work of justification and to negate the preceding repentance in His gracious work of remission of sins are serious indeed. Such is the necessary relation in these two-fold works of God that without preceding repentance there is no remission, and without preceding faith there is no justification. Remission is by means of (preceding) repentance; justification is by means of (preceding) faith; God’s drawing nigh to us is by means of our (preceding) drawing nigh to Him. Jesus said so. Peter taught so. Paul proclaimed so. James declared so. The Canons of Dordt and the “Declaration of Principles” confess so.
Holding Fast Our Profession, by Herman Hoeksema

Holding Fast Our Profession, by Herman Hoeksema

Looking unto Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our profession.

Without that look of faith, that constant look upon him, you will surely be swallowed up by the waves of temptation and tribulation. But seeing him, you will be safe and steadfast, without fear of wavering.

Serious External Call to All Who Hear

Serious External Call to All Who Hear

The Canons powerfully refute the Arminian charge that the doctrines of predestination, limited atonement, total depravity, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of saints hinder, if they do not altogether nullify, the lively preaching, especially the gospel call. What is so striking is the Canons’ refusal to react to the Arminian heresy by denying the call of the gospel to everyone, or even by becoming timid and hesitant concerning this call. They show that the Reformed faith will not allow Arminianism to drive it into the opposite error of hyper-Calvinism.