On November 30, 2010, Ligonier Ministries held the first session of “Ask R.C. Live.”
Dr. Sproul answered a wide range of questions, including “Why is Arminianism so popular in the Church at large in our day?”, “What is the biblical way to leave a church?”, “What are your thoughts on the second commandment?”, and “When did deep-fried frog legs become your favorite food?”
Ask R.C. Live (Nov. 30, 2010) from Ligonier on Vimeo.
At the Council of Trent in the 16th century, the Roman Catholic Church placed its eternal and irrevocable curse on the Gospel, announcing it as actually heretical. I am certain that in the hearts and minds of the delegates at the Council, this was never intended – not even for a moment – but that is in fact what happened.
The most relevant Canons are the following:
Canon 9. If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone…, let him be anathema.
Canon 11. If anyone says that men are justified either by the sole imputation of the justice of Christ or by the sole remission of sins,… let him be anathema.
Canon 12. If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in divine mercy (supra, chapter 9), which remits sins for Christ’s sake, or that it is this confidence alone that justifies us, let him be anathema.
Canon 24. If anyone says that the justice received is not preserved and also not increased before God through good works but that those works are merely the fruits and signs of justification obtained, but not the cause of the increase, let him be anathema.
Canon 30. If anyone says that after the reception of the grace of justification the guilt is so remitted and the debt of eternal punishment so blotted out to every repentant sinner, that no debt of temporal punishment remains to be discharged either in this world or in purgatory before the gates of heaven can be opened, let him be anathema.
Canon 32. If anyone says that the good works of the one justified are in such manner the gifts of God that they are not also the good merits of him justified; or that the one justified by the good works that he performs by the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ…does not truly merit an increase of grace and eternal life… let him be anathema.
As Dr. Michael Horton rightly noted, “It was, therefore, not the evangelicals who were condemned in 1564, but the evangel itself. The ‘good news,’ which alone is ‘the power of God unto salvation’ was judged by Rome to be so erroneous that anyone who embraced it was to be regarded as condemned.” Continue reading
“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart…” – Jeremiah 15:16
As I type these words on my keyboard, next to my computer are seven different Study Bibles in five different English translations. Those are just the Bibles on my desk. On the shelf behind me, I have more. And that’s just my study. I have more in the living room, close to my comfy chair where I can sit and read without distraction with a cup of English tea (some traditions die hard).
Then there is the Bibleworks program loaded on my computer which has dozens more translations, including the original Hebrew and Greek texts (even though I have the same texts in book form). By any standard of measurement, the study resources at my disposal are very comprehensive. Added to this are the many commentaries and books in my possession written by some of the great Bible teachers in Church history, as well as in our own day – all of them are within easy access from my chair. Online, I have access to many more translations. I am blessed with amazing spiritual riches. I am a Christian in America.
Just a few minutes ago, I watched this video you will find below. My only reaction was to weep. Even now, tears roll down my face. These are tears of joy, you understand. Continue reading