Always In Christ Alone: Baxter On Sanctification / December 26, 2018 by Shane D. Anderson

I am continuing slowly through Richard Baxter’s monumental Directory and am sharing various ideas and quotations I have found particularly encouraging. Immediately preceding this quotation, he has been challenging the person who wants to please God to rid himself of any thought of self-merit or deserved acceptance before God in anything but Jesus Christ. Conversion and the beginnings of new life are only in and by Christ, but so it the way of sanctification and ultimate victory:

Alas! without Christ,

we know not how to live an hour;

nor can have hope or peace in any thing we have or do;

nor look with comfort either upward or downward, to God, or the creature;

nor think without terrors of our sins, of God, or of the life to come.

Resolve, therefore, that as true converts,

you are wholly to live upon Jesus Christ,

and to do all that you do by his Spirit and strength;

and to expect all your acceptance with God upon his account.

Zealous For Good Works: What Are Good Works (part 3)? / November 16, 2017 by Shane D. Anderson

You have been recreated by the grace of the Spirit in Jesus Christ to live for God in the doing of good deeds—living in a way that pleases him. All objections and excuses must fade away in light of this truth, and we must be convinced that as Christ came to do the Father’s will, so he leads us forward in life as his new creation to do the same. Good works manifest the love of God to him and our neighbors. Good works are the imitation of Christ by the Spirit.

Zealous For Good Works: What Are Good Works (part 2)? / November 2, 2017 by Shane D. Anderson

In light of some recent online controversy surrounding the place of good works in the lives of Christians, I am engaged in this series of posts with the aim of encouraging zealousness (rather than mere theological debate) for good works. In the previous post, I began to discuss what we mean by “good works” by attempting to clear out some misconceptions. This post turns in a more positive direction, seeking to answer the question more directly—soon enough we will be on to examining excerpts from historic Reformed preaching and writing.

But first, what are good works?

When The Truth Sounds Like Heresy: Piper and A. W. Pink On The Need For Repentance / October 24, 2017 by Shane D. Anderson

I was struck then by A. W. Pink’s old explanation of the necessity of repentance. In the passage below he shows his concern over similar problems that Piper and representatives of the historic Reformed tradition are addressing: the necessity of sanctification, repentance, and good works is a pressing need for our lawless day, but some in our own circles not only sound an uncertain sound, they actually often actively fight against these biblical and necessary emphases.

Bavinck: God’s Threats Against Believers Are Means Of Them Persevering / October 15, 2017 by Shane D. Anderson

Herman Bavinck outlines the passages where Christians are warned and threatened against falling away, and are called to persevere in Christ, his word, and his love. Bavinck argues that these threats are used by God to motivate the willing perseverence, a perseverence that he has guaranteed in our regeneration and is not undermined by these threats.

Zealous For Good Works: What Are Good Works (part 1)? / October 15, 2017 by Shane D. Anderson

Before we go further in the study of good works, it is important that we define exactly what we are talking about when we are talking about good works. First, let’s be clear what we don’t mean...

Zealous For Good Works / October 14, 2017 by Shane D. Anderson

This post is the first in a series designed to encourage good works by providing excerpts from Reformed preaching and writing. But, before we get started, I think it is important to ask why this even matters... This post seeks to provide some biblical reasons we as Christians should we make a study of good works.