God’s people have always needed discernment to distinguish the voices that edify from those that merely impress (Jer. 23:16; 2 Cor. 11:5, 13). Throughout history, the Lord has raised up prophets who proclaimed his word with courage and tears. Jeremiah, John the . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In the modern period, particularly in the twentieth century, many Reformed folk became uneasy with the traditional Reformed language concerning natural law. As one who began to enter the Reformed world circa 1980, I mostly found Reformed people to be hostile to . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode of the Unprofessional Parenting Podcast, Matt and Laney sit down with Biblical counselor, Josh Waulk of Baylight Counseling, to unpack the powerful connection between attachment and the theology of adoption. Together, we explore how understanding attachment styles can help . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
MAGA social-media personality Benny Johnson blamed transgenderism; Westman started identifying as female in 2020, when he was 17. (Robin Westman used to be Robert Westman.) “The trans movement is radicalizing the mentally ill into becoming violent terrorists who target children for murder,” Johnson posted . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
It is not that simple. You cannot just throw a pill at it and expect it to go away. Pills can help, but depression is not that straightforward. It is a complex mental challenge that has various layers: biological, social, physical, psychological, . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
The Scriptures give us a robust revelation about all that Jesus accomplished on the cross. As we go about seeking to categorize all of the various dimensions of the cross, we discover that there are both vertical and horizontal dimensions to Jesus’ work. The verticaldimensions are foundational; . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In considering the bona fide hope that a Christian has in the face of death, we have been thinking lately about how the resurrection of Jesus Christ grounds that confidence. In particular, we have been considering how the resurrection of Christ gives . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Few doctrines touch both the heart and the mind like sanctification, for it shapes not only what we believe but how we live. As Calvinists grow in their understanding of the doctrines of grace, one question often arises: Is sanctification monergistic or . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Rescheduling marijuana would open the door for Big Weed to go mainstream. Businesses now operating in a legal grey area could licitly deduct business expenses, access capital, and advertise openly. National brands could arise, running spots during football games, offering intro deals via . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
These were the top five posts for the week of September 22–28. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Since salvation belongs to God, it is he who grants us new life and true faith. As a consequence of the fall, all of Adam's children (Rom 5:12–21) are, as Paul says, "dead in sins and trespasses" (Eph 2:1). The good news can be expressed in two words: "But God . . ." Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Since publishing my article in 2024, several responses have argued that the difference between the two versions of WCF 23:3 is only a matter of emphasis and not an actual contradiction. Other ministerial colleagues in the PCA have argued that although the . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
We are excited to announce that the United Reformed Churches in North America are planting a church in the heart of Central Oregon. Our Story Over the past three years the Lord has providentially brought together several families and individuals all from . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues the current series, "Nourish and Sustain" Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
First up is Sheila Larson. She’s the founder and sole adherent of “Sheilaism.” Yet her views are quite representative of many Baby Boomers (b. 1946-1964) and even some Gen-Xer’s (who came after them). Ms. Larson and those like her do visit our . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
It's a Superfriends Saturday on the Heidelcast! Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Psalm 31 laid bare in all its ugliness the suffering of the psalmist, and yet amid this soul-wrecking agony, he confessed his trust in the Lord. And his good profession was not shallow, like some cheap Hallmark card, but it was rich . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
I have explained at great length here why those who deny our covenant theology, our hermeneutics, and our doctrine of the sacraments are not Reformed. All the Reformed confessions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries teach paedobaptism and denounce the rejection of . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
You know Dr Harrison Perkins as one of the co-hosts of the Heidelcast Superfriends podcast on Saturdays. He is the author of a recent and important book on Reformed Covenant Theology and a widely published authority on the history of Reformed theology. . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Query 1. Are believers freed from obedience to the Moral Law; or from the Moral Law as a Rule of obedience? There are some who positively or peremptorily affirm that we are freed from the Law as a Rule, and we are . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
I recently received a letter from a couple in our congregation who have been laboring for the sake of the gospel in the Congo for the better part of their lives. As I read, one line in particular stood out to me. . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Is the church’s Bible also the academy’s Bible? Although we might even ask what this question means, Michael Legaspi argues that the Bible as Scripture is different than the Bible of the academy. In this respect, he indicates a gap between uses . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Thus, for our acceptation with God, two things are required:— First, That satisfaction be made for our disobedience,—for whatever we had done which might damage the justice and honour of God; and that God be atoned towards us: which could no otherwise . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In our previous installments in this series, we have explored our culture’s discomfort with death, noting it as God’s judgment on sin, yet also observing that Scripture offers a wonderfully tender perspective. We discussed how believers, by God’s grace, escape the second . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
On Sunday, my church’s morning worship service opened with a call to worship by an elder and sung congregational praise. Then the pastor offered a prayer of invocation, making it clear who was being worshiped and why the congregation had assembled. At . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
For justification is withdrawn from works, not that no good works may be done, or that what is done may be denied to be good, but that we may not rely upon them, glory in them, or ascribe salvation to them. John . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
The Reformed confession is a catholic confession—that is, it is rooted in the Scriptures as interpreted by the church and confessed in the ancient, ecumenical creeds, but it is also a Reformation confession. Where the medieval church taught justification and salvation by . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
These were the top five posts for the week of September 15–21. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In the effectual calling of God it happens that we are now present before God and clothed in the righteousness of Christ, yet we are not yet justified or said to be justified before the sentence of God the Judge about us has been carried from His tribunal. And this…| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues the current series, "Nourish and Sustain" Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
It's a Superfriends Saturday on the Heidelcast! Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
And so, the Mediator, the Son of God, took upon His shoulders not only that first defection but also all our other defections and transgressions, and at the same time diverted to Himself the wrath of God the Father justly pursuing our . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
You have most likely noticed a new warning that is out there. On certain movies, video games, and shorts, there is a photosensitivity warning which alerts of flashing lights that might induce an epileptic seizure in some people. Now, Lord willing, this . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Therefore, in this example even of Paul regenerate (for now regenerate he says this about himself) we see that even a regenerate person sometimes is made a slave of sin and is led away captive by it. ‘For what.’ He shows that . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Dr. Clark commences the WSC Fall Faculty Series on the Nicene Creed. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
I do not know what is in your garage, but from time to time mine has become pretty cluttered, and stuff has to be pitched. What we keep and what we pitch says something about us. People have theological garages, too, in . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Christians often mimic the tactics of non-Christians in the social and political realms. For example, the “cancel culture” found in legacy media and social media is also found in evangelical media and Christian social media. American politicians and pundits use scare tactics, . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In verse 27 of chapter 3, after he dwells for a little while on the conclusion of the demonstration and has preached a little more fully about the righteousness of faith, he connects the two parts of the principal syllogism and gathers . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Nearly everyone agrees that modern education finds itself in disarray. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, over eighty percent of public K–12 teachers believe that education has gotten worse in the last five years.1 And while there is no . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
And so, you have in that one verse 18 of chapter 1 these three things: First, man is not justified by works; second, man is condemned by works, which is the reason of the former; third, all the works of all men . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Dr Hywel Jones was ordained in the Presbyterian Church of Wales in 1963 and ministered in several pastorates in Wales and England over 25 years. During those years, he was a member of the executive committee of the British Evangelical Council of . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
For, to speak about this epistle to the Romans, nobody could now think, speak, or even write about it enough. For it contains that mystery and those unsearchable riches of Christ. Robert Rollock | Commentary on Ephesians, trans. Casey Carmichael, Classic Reformed . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Certain phrases tend to get my attention, and one of them is, “Are you even paying attention to me?” It is one line that, at least in home life, signals that I appear to be focused somewhere other than where my attention . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
I tried not to write anything about the murder of Charlie Kirk. I did not want to add to the noise, but in one of his recent press conference appearances, Spencer Cox, the governor of Utah, used the expression “The American Experiment.” . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
For the Lord promises nothing except to perfect keepers of his law, and no one of the kind is to be found. The fact, then, remains that through the law the whole human race is proved subject to God’s curse and wrath, . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
These were the top five posts for the week of September 8–14. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues the current series, "Nourish and Sustain" Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
It's a Superfriends Saturday on the Heidelcast! Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In our pilot episode on Psalm 30, the poetry of its verses disclosed David’s close brush with death. Due to the infection of his affluence, his faith stumbled, and God disciplined him. From this ordeal, the psalmist learns a lesson that he . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
I’ll never forget seeing my first GFE in print. For journalists, few things are more humiliating. A GFE is a mistake—a misspelled name, the wrong number of attendees at a city hall meeting, a misreported batting average. But in journalism, we don’t . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Believers were already judged at the cross (Gal 2: 19-20), so there is no future review of our works—no slideshows of our failures before the heavenly court—to determine whether we truly measure up. Harrison Perkins | Reformed Covenant Theology: A Systematic Introduction, . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In an unsigned editorial, Christianity Today came out in favor of what it calls “tough grace.”1 The presenting issue or symptom is Christianity Today’s concern that Christian institutions are failing to be both “tough” and “gracious” simultaneously. The argument is that the . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Join Pastor Chris Gordon and Pastor Peter Holtvlüwer in a discussion about Peter’s new Book series “Christ’s Psalms, Our Psalms” which shows how each psalm reveals the Saviour Jesus Christ, demonstrating the importance of the Psalter in our worship. They explore the . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Just as Christians are not to “grieve as others do who have no hope,” neither are we to rage as those who do not know the one true God. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is rapidly developing. It’s hard to keep up with some of the new ethical challenges Christians are facing. Especially our young people are being bombarded with all kinds of tempting new possibilities for distraction, entrapment, deceit, and apostasy. . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
We all feel the need to know where we are and where we are going at any given time. That is not just true geographically, either. We also need guides for big subjects and doctrines, especially the ones that have been considered . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
The apostle Paul that we meet in the pages of Scripture did not appear to have many things going for him. Height? Not so much. Public speaking ability? Ask the Corinthians. More importantly, Paul’s missionary life was full of suffering, by which Paul learned and passed on a lesson as he proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ and the beautiful inheritance of the saints in light: “I have learned,” he writes, “in whatever situation I am, to be content” (Phil 4:11). Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
But we define justification as follows: the sinner, received into communion with Christ, is reconciled to God by his grace, while, cleansed by Christ’s blood, he obtains forgiveness of sins, and clothed with Christ’s righteousness as if it were his own, he . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Genesis is a massive book of Scripture that has long captured the Christian imagination. Its opening few chapters alone have sparked more discussion and have motivated more explanation and commentary than even some other Old Testament books. It contains some of the . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In eternal life, which belongs to the New Testament: (a) as to actual aquisition obtained by the blood of Christ (which in the Old Testament was only moral); (b) as to the actual entrance of Christ as man into heaven, as the true sanctuary, into which he entered as a…| The Heidelblog
These were the top five posts for the week of September 1–7. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
The Latin expression semper reformanda is frequently invoked but rarely understood. Baptists and Pentecostals invoke it to say that Reformed Christians should continue their journey to their traditions. That application reflects a misunderstanding of the original and true sense of semper reformanda. . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In sanctification, which is greater in the New Testament as to higher illumination of the intellect (as to mode), which is not external and ceremonial (which even a hypocrite may have), but internal (as to efficacy), which is greater on account of . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues the current series, "Nourish and Sustain" Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In liberty, not only spiritual (which also existed in the Old Testament), but also external, by which we are free from the legal ceremonies (Col. 2:20–22) and besides are become the servants of Christ alone and not of men (Gal. 5:1). Francis . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Time is a funny thing. For one, it is the constant we all live under. Time moves at the same rate. The second hand on the atomic clock does not speed up or slow down. Hours cannot be lost or added. We . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
It's a Superfriends Saturday on the Heidelcast! Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Meet the teacher. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In a recent news article about people attending a political rally, one of the participants was asked whether she identified with the group she was attending. She replied by saying, “I don’t like labels.” Indeed. The move toward political independency has been . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this keynote from the Sola and Credo Trinity Conference, Michael Horton demonstrates how Nicaea 2 defends the biblical teaching that the person of the Holy Spirit, along with the Father and the Son, is to be worshipped and glorified as “the . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In adoption, which in the New Testament not only as to the thing is such as it was in the Old, but also as to mode, condition and effects because: (a) in the New Testament it is proposed as having been acquired through Christ (Jn. 1:12); (b) it is purely…| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
As a Presbyterian minister, I have attended many Presbytery meetings where candidates for licensure or ordination are asked various questions touching on the Bible, theology, church government, and their commitment to the church’s confessional teaching. Inevitably, one question that is almost always . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In the calling of all nations, which is peculiar to the New Testament as to the full knowledge of circumstance and of mode. This was not attended to by the ancients who thought that the Gentiles would be brought into the old . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Dispensationalism has fallen on hard times. What was the dominant eschatological view of twentieth-century Evangelicals, dispensationalism today is overshadowed by the resurgence of postmillennial eschatology and the ever-stalwart amillennial position. This article offers a brief critique of dispensationalism. My remarks about dispensationalism . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
It consists (1) in the advent of the Messiah, his manifestation in the flesh and the fulfillment of the whole law by him (namely, of its ceremonies, prophecies and the entire righteousness prescribed by God in the law). (2) In the abrogation . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues his series on grammar. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Thus far the old dispensation; the new succeeds, the administration of the covenant without the law and ceremonies after the appearance of Christ. It is called “new” not as to the substance of the covenant (which is the same in both) but: . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
In our previous installments in this series, we have explored our culture’s discomfort with death, noting it as God’s judgment on sin, yet also observing that Scripture offers a wonderfully tender perspective. We discussed how believers, by God’s grace, escape the second . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Creeds, confessions, and catechisms are critically important in the evangelical Christian circles in Ethiopia. According to Ethiopian history, evangelical Christianity was introduced about a century ago to the land. It is held that it was first introduced by and as a result . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Thus it comes about that the doctrine of monergistic regeneration—or as it was phrased by the older theologians, of “irresistible grace” or “effectual calling”—is the hinge of the Calvinistic soteriology, and lies much more deeply embedded in the system than the doctrine . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
These were the top five posts for the week of August 25–31. Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Unfortunately, when most people think of Reformed theology, they think of the doctrine of predestination. The reasons for this have more to do with the critics of Reformed theology than with what the Reformed themselves confess. Indeed, one of the great weaknesses of the modern Reformed renaissance is that it…| The Heidelblog
In this episode Dr Clark continues the current series, "Nourish and Sustain" Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
The subject of baptism is the faithful people of God, without any distinction of nation, sex, or age. Indeed, infants of the covenanted must be baptized as equally as the infants of the covenanted were once circumcised because the promise made to Abraham . . . Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
It's a Superfriends Saturday on the Heidelcast! Continue reading →| The Heidelblog
Psalm 17 is about focusing on satisfaction in God even amid our greatest troubles. We find the psalmist here in great distress, calling to God to vindicate him against the wicked. Psalm 17 records his prayer declaring that he was in the right against his enemies. This article addresses how…| The Heidelblog