The Far Green Country

My first term at Greenville Seminary ended this week.  Now that I have caught up on sleep and have some room to breathe, I thought I’d post a few reflections on the term.  I don’t have an outline planned for this post, so the order of the following reflections should not be taken as a [...]

“Wherefore, we must have recourse to this remedy; we must hold that the only hope which believers have of the heavenly inheritance is, that being engrafted into the body of Christ, they are justified freely. For, in regard to justification, faith is merely passive, bringing nothing of our own to procure the favor of God, [...]

“Not to dwell longer here, let us lay down this short but sure and general rule, That he is prepared to reap the fruits of the divine mercy who has thoroughly emptied himself, I say not of righteousness (he has none), but of a vain and blustering show of righteousness; for to whatever extent any [...]

“In vain do they lay hold of the frivolous subtlety, that the faith alone, by which we are justified, “worketh by love,” and that love, therefore, is the foundation of justification. We, indeed, acknowledge with Paul, that the only faith which justifies is that which works by love (Gal. 5:6); but love does not give [...]

“For did faith justify of itself, or (as it is expressed) by its own intrinsic virtue, as it is always weak and imperfect, its efficacy would be partial, and thus our righteousness being maimed would give us only a portion of salvation.  We indeed imagine nothing of the kind, but say, that, properly speaking, God [...]