Semper Blog

Ah yes, the lynchpin for the credo-Jer 31! In regard to when the NC began; JPH says, "At the Cross". HH says, "The benefits of the New Covenant were mediated to the elect before Christ's coming, but Jeremiah and the Hebrews author gave qualifying statements that...

Baptismal regeneration? Ch 28 I. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church, but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting...

The Old testament saint understood covenant much differently that we do; their religion was intrinsically attached to their culture. Their relationship with God was not ever secondary. When God spoke to Abraham, it was not received with doubt. When God said to Abraham...

I attended Calvary Chapel, Fort Lauderdale for about 5 years. The altar call always concerned me. Here, let me at least innumerate that for you: When I attended, there were 3 Lord's day meetings, 2 on Wednesday night, 2 on Saturday. Thats a total of 7 meetings a week....

Can numbers, in and of themselves, be sinful? If not, how is it that a musical note can? I would imagine, based on superstition, that the numbers 666 can be seen as evil erroneously in the regenerates life; in the same way, sampling a string of beats used in an idol...

"a Deo docetur, deum docet, as deum ducit" Theology comes from God, teaches about God and leads us to God

Apparently, O. Winslow was dispensationally thinking in regard to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He writes: "Speaking of the legal dispensation, with which the temple prepared by David and built by Solomon was designed to harmonise, the apostle argues that it...

Is the church called to judge it's people? Think Matt 18; How would the church be a church if it didn't practice judgement? It would cease being a church. One of the three marks that make a church a church is discipline; discipline is a form of judgement. Is the...

  The bottom line is that since we have Reformation day on October 31st, there is absolutely no logical reason to celebrate Halloween. We should all be having major blowouts on October 31st. We celebrate the 4th of July like there's no tomorrow for our...

" Our doctrine has not been well taught in seminaries, in pulpits, or in books, whether written for ministers or laymen. Consequently, many ministers and congregations have only a vague notion of the theological substructure of the practice of paedobaptism, of the...

"this is the Lords chosen way to perpetuate and extend His church. It is the growth from within, like the mustard seed.....The regular normal mode of increase is through the multiplication of Christian families, the blessings descending from generation to generation...

The Westminster Standards use "Covenant of Grace" and "New Covenant" interchangeably Compare WLC 162 with WSC 92. Q. 162. What is a sacrament? A. A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ in his church, to signify, seal, and exhibit unto those that are...

John Owen on the tithe:"There is great inquiry usually made on this place, whether tithesbe due by the light of nature, or at least by such a moral-positivecommand of God as should be perpetually obligatory unto all worshippersunto the end of the world. This many...

I do not know that I need say more concerning believing. I have often tried to explain it, I am afraid that I have not always made it as plain as I have intended. Only let me warn you not to say, “I understand the plan of salvation very well. Dear Sir, I am sure I do;...

Wrong Practice in Evangelism TodayIndependent evangelists, some of whom set up their own evangelistic organizations, are popular today. Some churches which are far from dynamic and which have poor preaching; little, if any, discipline; badly attended prayer meetings...

    The Book of Psalms was penned by David, Asaph, Moses and others, and in several ages and states of the church, and were appointed to be sung then, for the present state of the church in those days. It may therefore be demanded: Why then do we sing them...

To glorify God is to set God highest in our thoughts, and to have a venerable esteem of him. Psa xcii 8. 'Thou, Lord, art most high for evermore.' Psa xcvii 8. 'Thou art exalted far above all gods.' There is in God all that may draw forth both wonder and delight;...

    Joshua 1:8 7“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on...

  Cyprian (200-258), to Demetrianus: "It is little, in your account, that your life is stained with a variety of gross vices, with the iniquity of deadly crimes, with the summary of all bloody rapines; that true religion is overturned by false superstitions; that...

3 Corinthians 12: 1 Paul, an ambassador of Christ; When your child loses his tooth, tell them to place it under their pillow for the pagan tooth fairy to retrieve and leave your child 2 denaris. Tell them that the tooth fairy came. In the same way, when you celebrate...

"there are always two ditches of error, one on either side of the road of truth."

"I don't attend church any longer-I don't really need to go to church." Why do you not desire to be at church, with Gods people, under the oversight of a called man of God to watch over your soul, to sit under the means of grace, to Worship Him rightly, to partake in...

Our goal as a believer should be to become more like the image of Christ, daily. How are we to know Christ? Through His word. He is truth as is His word is truth. To be conformed to His image is to be conformed to His word, the bible. To be conformed to the bible is...

In regards to being dogmatic: The sabbath discussion will never go away this side of Heaven. The issue arises out of one's definition of essentials. The edges get a bit blurry for some folk, based on their personal views of said doctrine or the splattering of...

If a group of believers meet at a local Starbucks over coffee and biblical discussion. Is it the invisible church meeting? We know that the above is not the local expression gathering, but what of the invisible? Isn't the invisible all believers over time? Yes it is;...

~Not all Calvinists are elect. ~Calvinism is not the gospel. ~The Gospel is truth-it is perfect. ~Calvinism is a biblical theory that can be flawed as men are flawed-it cannot be considered absolute truth. ~Upon entering glory, all the elect will know truth. C....

  God Must Work Conversion in Man The scripture…sets out man to be blind, hard, dead, obstinate, and averse from God. Certainly man contributes little to his own conversion…If scripture had only said that man had accustomed himself to sin, and was not born in...

    "Arminianism “A religion of conditions, contingencies, and uncertainties is not Christianity—its technical name is Arminianism, and Arminianism is a daughter of Rome. It is that God dishonoring, Scripture-repudiating, soul-destroying system of...

Tertullian _On Idolatry_...pagans days vs. the Lord's Day: "To live with heathens is lawful, to die with them is not. Let us live with all; let us be glad with them, out of community of nature, not of superstition. We are peers in soul, not in discipline;...

"If a Presbyterian is able to leave a Presbyterian setting and sit under credo preaching and polity comfortably, he was never Presbyterian to begin with."

There is a balance between grace and law that the believer must have hold of to deter error. Possession of one side or the other and you fall into either legalism or antinominaism. Gods grace and our liberty are not at odds with His law; they comfortably bookend each...

If you are under the idea that God will judge you upon your death bed by the good you have done in this life in contrast to the bad you have done, you are poorly mistaken and have been sold a bag of goods that are full of mens lies. If you are counting on God's favor...

God has no beginning and no end! "The best proof that He will never cease to love us lies in that He never began." - Geerhardus Vos Think about that for a minute: The Earth is but 6k years old. Could you place a number on Gods age? A million years? A billion, a...

I've thought about opening up a storefront business: *Psalm reader* We're open-c'mon in!!! Have your Psalm read! See the future and the past!!! ~An unregenerate comes in: Hi, can you read my Psalm? Sure. Do you believe in Christ? Uh, no....why? You want me to read...

Even if you were able to live a perfect life, i.e. you kept God's law perfectly, you still would perish due to the sin of Adam which has infected you prior to your living perfectly. Only Jesus was able to do this as He led a sinless life. The Covenant of Works was...

    In regards to the Regulative principle and the official call to worship Firstly: The Fourth Commandment requires that the whole day be spent in exercises of public, private and family worship; see WCF 21. Second, public worship is to be preferred over...

There is not one instance in scripture where the term 'preach' is used in regards to the layperson.

    No believer may belong to a false, or apostate, church for any reason whatsoever. No Christian may worship in or with a false church, whether as a member or as a mere "attender." To do so is to make oneself responsible for the extreme wickedness of the...