Louis Berkhof (62)
2.6K
It is due to common grace that God did not at once fully execute the sentence of death on the sinner, and does not do so now, but maintains and prolongs the natural life of man and gives him time for repentance. He does not at once cut short the life of the sinner, but affords him an opportunity to repent, thereby removing all excuse and justifying the coming manifestation of His wrath upon those who persist in sin unto the end.Systematic Theology, 442
True liberty consists exactly in self-determination in the direction of holiness. Man is never more free than when he moves consciously in the direction of God. And the Christian stands in that liberty through the grace of God.Systematic Theology, 548
In Matt 25:46 the same word describes the duration of both, the bliss of the saints and the penalty of the wicked. If the latter is not, properly speaking, unending, neither is the former; and yet many of those who doubt eternal punishment, do not doubt everlasting bliss.Systematic Theology, 736
The striking thing in the Scriptural representations of the priestly work of Christ, is that Christ appears in them as both priest and sacrifice.Systematic Theology (365)
As Prophet he represents God with man; as Priest He represents man in the presence of God, and as King He exercises dominion and restores the original dominion of man. Rationalism recognizes only His prophetic office; Mysticism, only His priestly office; and Chiliasm places a one-sided emphasis on His future kingly office.Systematic Theology, 357
The Christian accepts the truth of the existence of God by faith. But this faith is not a blind faith, but a faith that is based on evidence, and the evidence is found primarily in Scripture as the inspired Word of God, and secondarily in God's revelation in nature.Systematic Theology (21)
Saving faith may be defined as a certain conviction, wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, as to the truth of the gospel, and a hearty reliance (trust) on the promises of God in Christ.
It is hard to see how a doctrine which assures the believer of a perseverance in holiness can be an incentive for sin. It would seem that the certainty of success in the active striving for sanctification would be the best possible stimulus to ever greater exertion.Systematic Theology, Chapter XI
The Kingdom of God is primarily an eschatological concept. The fundamental idea of the Kingdom in Scripture is not that of a restored theocratic kingdom of God in Christ - which is essentially a kingdom of Israel-, as the Premillenarians claim; neither is it a new social condition - the primary idea of the Kingdom of God in Scripture is that of the rule of God established and acknowledged in the hearts of sinners by the powerful regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit - a rule that is realized in principle on earth, but will not reach its culmination until the visible and glorious return of Jesus Christ.Systematic Theology, 568
Justification is a judicial act of God, in which He declares, on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, that all the claims of the law are satisfied with respect to the sinner.Systematic Theology, 513
When Darwin published his works, it was thought that the key to the process was found at last, but in course of time it was found that the key did not fit the lock. Darwin truly said that his theory depended entirely on the possibility of transmitting acquired characteristics, and it soon became one of the corner-stones of Weismann's biological theory that acquired characteristics are not inherited.Systematic Theology, 185
the charge [that God decrees sin] is not true; the decree merely makes God the author of free moral beings, who are themselves the authors of sin.Systematic Theology, 108
atheism results from the perverted moral state of man and from his desire to escape from God. It is deliberately blind to and suppresses the most fundamental instinct of man, the deepest needs of the soul, the highest aspirations of the human spirit, and the longings of a heart that gropes after some higher Being. This practical or intellectual suppression of the operation of the semen religionis often involves prolonged and painful struggles.Systematic Theology, 22
Regeneration is that act of God by which the principle of the new life is implanted in man, and the governing disposition of the soul is made holySystematic Theology, 469
This union may be defined as that intimate, vital, and spiritual union between Christ and His people, in virtue of which He is the source of their life and strength, of their blessedness and salvation.Systematic Theology, 449
it may be said to be characteristic of the whole of modern liberal theology, with its emphasis on the goodness of man, that it has lost sight of the necessity of the saving grace of God.Systematic Theology, 431
the Reformers also rejected the Anselmian alternative 'satisfaction or punishment', and pointed out that the one does not exclude the other, but that the satisfaction rendered through the sacrifice of Christ was the satisfaction through punishment. In other words, they stressed the fact that the sufferings of Christ were penal and vicarious.The History of Christian Doctrines (183)
homoiousios [taught] that the Son is of similar substance with the Father...
The term homoousios could not be twisted to mean anything else than that the essence of the Son is identical with that of the Father.The History of Christian Doctrines (87)
the power of evil is both great and universal, is an ever present blight on life in all its manifestations, and is a matter of daily experience in the life of every man.
Strictly speaking, it is the Word as it is preached in the name of God and in virtue of a divine commission, that is considered as a means of grace in the technical sense of the word, alongside of the sacraments which are administered in the name of God.
In the first place it should be borne in mind that in speaking of His coming, He does not always have in mind the eschatological coming. Sometimes He refers to His coming in spiritual power on the day of Pentecost; sometimes to His coming in judgement in the destruction of Jerusalem.Systematic Theology, 527
A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ, in which by sensible signs the grace of God in Christ, and the benefits of the covenant of grace, are represented, sealed, and applied to believers, and these, in turn, give expression to their faith and allegiance to God.Systematic Theology, 527
These officers clearly had the oversight of the flock that was entrusted to their care. They had to provide for it, govern it, and protect it, as the very household of God.Systematic Theology 500
It is maintained that the life of regeneration and the habits that develop out of it in the way of sanctification can never entirely dissapearSystematic Theology, Chapter XI
Perseverance may be defined as that continuous operation of the Holy Spirit in the believer, by which the work of divine grace that is begun in the heart is continued and brought to completion. It is because God never forsakes His work that believers continue to stand to the very end.Systematic Theology, 546.
Calvin maintained an intermediate position. Like Zwingli, he denied the bodily presence of the Lord in the sacrament, but in distinction from the former, he insisted on the real, though spiritual, presence of the Lord in the Supper, the presence of Him as a fountain of spiritual virtue and efficacy.Systematic Theology, 646
[For Officers] three things: (a) the consciousness of being impelled to some special task in the Kingdom of God, by love to God and His cause; (b) the conviction that one is at least in a measure intellectually and spiritually qualified for the office sought; and (c) the experience that God is clearly paving the way to the goalSystematic Theology, 587
The ultimate ground on which faith rests, lies in the veracity and faithfulness of God, in connection with the promises of the gospel... Roman Catholics find the ultimate ground of faith in the Church; Rationalists acknowledge only reason as such; Schleiermacher seeks it in Christian experience; and Kant, Ritschl, and many modern liberals place it in the moral needs of human nature.Systematic Theology, 507
Subjectively, the union between Christ and believers is effected by the Holy Spirit in a mysterious and supernatural way, and for that reason is generally designated as the unio mystica or mystical union.Systematic Theology, 447
Arminians are not satisfied with it, because it does not go far enough. They regard common grace as an integral part of the saving process.Systematic Theology, 444
Common grace enables man to perform what is generally called justitia civilis, that is, that which is right in civil or natural affairs, in distinction from that which is right in religious mattersSystematic Theology, 443
it also relates to our moral condition, our gradual sanctification. When we address the Father in His name, He [Jesus] sanctifies our prayers... Christ's ministry of intercession is also a ministry of loving care for His people. He helps them in their difficulties, their trails, and their temptations.Systematic Theology (403)
it should be pointed out that there is an inseparable connection between the purchase and the actual bestowal of salvation. The Bible clearly teaches that the design and effect of the atoning work of Christ is not merely to make salvation possible, but to reconcile God and man, and to put men in actual possession of eternal salvation, a salvation which many fail to obtainSystematic Theology (395)
[The Ascension] clearly embodied the declaration that the sacrifice of Christ was a sacrifice to God, which as such had to be presented to Him in the inner sanctuary; that the Father regarded the Mediatorial work of Christ as sufficient and therefore admitted Him to the heavenly glory; and that the Kingdom f the Mediator was not a kingdom of the Jews, but a universal kingdom.Systematic Theology, 351
In the divine plan of salvation it was absolutely essential that the Mediator should also be very God. This was necessary, in order that (1) He might bring a sacrifice of infinite value and render perfect obedience to the law of God; (2) He might bear the wrath of God redemptively, that is, so as to free others from the curse of the lawSystematic Theology, 319
Many Modernists at present do not hesitate to say that the doctrine of Rousseau respecting the inherent goodness of man has proved to be one of the most pernicious teachings of the Enlightenment, and now call for a greater measure of realism in the recognition of sin.Systematic Theology, 227
Some may for a time dream of the essential goodness of man and speak indulgently of those separate words and actions that do not measure up to the ethical standards of good society as mere foibles and weaknesses, for which man is not responsible, and which readily yield to corrective measures; but as time goes on, and all measures of external reform fail, and the suppression of one evil merely serves to release another, such persons are inevitably disillusioned. They become conscious of the fact that they have merely been fighting the symptoms of some deep-seated malady, and that they are confronted, not merely with the problem of sins, that is, of separate sinful deeds, but with the much greater and deeper problem of sin, of an evil that is inherent in human nature.Systematic Theology, 227
With respect to fishes, birds, and beasts we read that God created them after their kind, that is, on a typical form of their own. Man, however, was not so created and much less after the type of an inferior creature. With respect to him God said, "Let us make man in our image"... the creation of man stands out as something distinctive.Systematic Theology, 183
The entrance of sin into the world makes the supernatural intervention of God in the course of events necessary for the destruction of sin and for the renewal of creation.Systematic Theology, 177
(a) sinful acts are under divine control and occur according to God's pre-determination and purpose, but only by divine permission, so that He does not efficiently cause men to sin - (b) that God often restrains the sinful works of the sinner - (c) that God in behalf of His own purpose overrules evil for goodSystematic Theology, 174
it is quite evident that [Genesis 1] is intended as a record of history, and is clearly so regarded in Scripture, cf. Ex 20:11; Neh. 9:6; Ps. 33:6,9; 145:2-6; (2) the opening of Genesis "lacks nearly every element of acknowledged Hebrew poetry" (Strong); and (3) this narrative is inseparably connected with the succeeding history, and is therefore most naturally regarded as itself historical.Systematic Theology, 158
When the Babylonian account was discovered, many scholars hastily assumed that the Biblical narrative was derived from the Babylonian source, forgetting that there are at least two other possibilities, namely, (a) that the Babylonian story is a corrupted reproduction of the narrative in Genesis; or (b) that both are derived from a common, more primitive source.Systematic Theology, 151
that eternal decree of God whereby He has determined to pass some men by with the operations of His special grace, and to punish them for their sins, to the manifestation of His justiceSystematic Theology, 116
that eternal act of God whereby He, in His sovereign good pleasure, and on account of no foreseen merit in them, chooses a certain number of men to be the recipients of special grace and of eternal salvationSystematic Theology, 114
the [eternal] generation of the Son: It is that eternal and necessary act of the first person in the Trinity, whereby He, within the divine Being, is the ground of a second personal subsistence like His own, and puts this second person in possession of the whole divine essence, without any division, alienation, or change.Systematic Theology, 94
opera ad extra are ascribed more particularly to one person and some more especially to another... creation is ascribed primarily to the Father, redemption to the Son, and sanctification to the Holy Spirit. This order in the divine operations points back to the essential order in God and forms the basis for what is generally known as the economic Trinity.Systematic Theology, 89
opera ad intra... are personal operations, which are not performed by the three persons jointly and which are incommunicable. Generation is an act of the Father only; filiation belongs to the Son exclusively; and procession can only be ascribed to the Holy SpiritSystematic Theology, 89
A distinction is generally made between the absolute and the relative justice of God. The former is that rectitude of the divine nature, in virtue of which God is infinitely righteous in Himself, while the latter is that perfection of God by which He maintains Himself over against every violation of His holiness, and shows in every respect that He is the Holy One.Systematic Theology, 74-75
This ethical holiness of God may be defined as that perfection of God, in virtue of which He eternally wills and maintains His own moral excellence, abhors sin, and demands purity in his moral creatures.Systematic Theology, 74
that perfection of the Divine Being by which He transcends all spatial limitations, and yet is present in every point of space with His whole Being.Systematic Theology, 60
On the whole it may be said that Scripture does not exalt one attribute of God at the expense of the others, but represents them as existing in perfect harmony in the Divine Being.Systematic Theology, 42
It is customary to distinguish two kinds, namely, practical and theoretical atheists. The former are simply godless persons, who in their practical life do not reckon with God, but live as if there were no God. The latter are, as a rule, of a more intellectual kind, and base their denial on a process of reasoning.Systematic Theology (22)
In 1791 fifteen hundred English Catholics signed a statement denying that papal infallibility was a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. However, the opposition of the Gallicans was gradually overcome, and in 1870 the Vatican Council declared that 'the Roman Pontiff... enjoys fully that infallibility which the divine Redeemer wished his Church to have in defining doctrine touching faith and morals... consequently such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are of themselves unchangeable and are not to be changed through the approval of the Church.' The History of Christian Doctrines (239-240)
In the year 533 the Byzantine Emperor Justinian recognized the primacy of the bishop of Rome over the occupants of the other patriarchal sees. Gregory the Great still refused the title 'Universal Bishop', but in 607 it was conferred on his successor, Boniface III, who had no scruples in accepting it. From this time on the spiritual primacy of the succeeding bishops of Rome was generally honoured in the West, through strenuously resisted in the East. It marks the beginning of PoperyThe History of Christian Doctrines (232)
According to Calvin and the Reformers generally, original sin is a hereditary depravity and corruption of human nature, rendering man obnoxious to the divine wrath and producing in him the works of the fleshThe History of Christian Doctrines (147-148)
Semi-Pelagianism made the futile attempt to steer clear of all difficulties by giving a place to both divine grace and human will as co-ordinate factors in the renewal of man, and by basing predestination on foreseen faith and obedience. It did not deny human corruption, but regarded the nature of man as weakened or diseased rather than as fatally injured by the fall.The History of Christian Doctrines (138)
John of Damascus still spoke of the Father as the source of the Godhead, and represents the Spirit as proceeding from the Father through the Logos. This is still a relic of Greek subordinationism. The East never adopted the 'filioque' of the Synod of Toledo. It was the rock of which the East and the West split.The History of Christian Doctrines (92)
The Cappadocians followed in the footsteps of Athanasius and vigorously maintained the homoousis of the Holy Spirit. Hilary of Poitiers in the West held that the Holy Spirit, as searching the deep things of God, could not be foreign to the divine essence.The History of Christian Doctrines (90)
According to him [Athanasius] the unity of God as well as the distinctions in His being are best expressed in the term 'oneness of essence'. This clearly and unequivocally expresses the idea that the Son is of the same substance as the Father, but also implies that the two may differ in other respects, as, for instance, in personal subsistence.The History of Christian Doctrines (85)
While he was the first to explain the relation of the Father to the Son by employing the idea of eternal generation, he defined this so as to involve the subordination of the Second Person to the First in respect to essence... this... afforded a stepping-stone for Arius.The History of Christian Doctrines (84)
While the great heresy of the second century was Gnosticism, the outstanding heresy of the third century was MonarchianismThe History of Christian Doctrines (83)
Top Authors
1. Charles Spurgeon (107)
2. J.C. Ryle (103)
3. Thomas Watson (87)
4. John Piper (80)
5. John Calvin (76)
6. J.I. Packer (72)
7. Louis Berkhof (62)
8. C.S. Lewis (49)
9. George Swinnock (49)
10. A.W. Pink (47)
11. Francis Schaeffer (47)
12. Gerald Bray (46)
13. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (43)
14. Tim Keller (42)
15. Abraham Kuyper (40)
16. B.B. Warfield (37)
17. Thomas Brooks (36)
18. John Flavel (36)
19. Martin Luther (33)
20. John Owen (33)
2. J.C. Ryle (103)
3. Thomas Watson (87)
4. John Piper (80)
5. John Calvin (76)
6. J.I. Packer (72)
7. Louis Berkhof (62)
8. C.S. Lewis (49)
9. George Swinnock (49)
10. A.W. Pink (47)
11. Francis Schaeffer (47)
12. Gerald Bray (46)
13. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (43)
14. Tim Keller (42)
15. Abraham Kuyper (40)
16. B.B. Warfield (37)
17. Thomas Brooks (36)
18. John Flavel (36)
19. Martin Luther (33)
20. John Owen (33)
Top Topics
1. Sin (138)2. Prayer (106)
3. Preaching (99)
4. Scripture (94)
5. Faith (90)
6. Gospel (71)
7. Suffering (55)
8. Law (45)
9. Truth (40)
10. Justification (37)
11. Church (36)
12. Salvation (36)
13. Apologetics (30)
14. Fear (30)
15. Grace (29)
16. Love (28)
17. Worship (27)
18. Creation (26)
19. Pride (26)
20. Sanctification (26)
21. Unbelief (25)
22. Evolution (24)
23. Heaven (23)
24. Holiness (23)
25. Missions (23)
26. Theology (23)