The ages before the birth of Christ are called BC, before Christ. The years after are called AD, which does not mean after death. Rather, it stands for a Latin phrase: anno Domini (the year of the Lord). We are now counting years since the arrival of Christ. And though He died, He did not …
This is not an easy question to answer, especially whenever we consider the church local or universal, visible or invisible. Thankfully, this answer applies to both. God chooses and preserves for himself a community elected for eternal life. Those opening words contain terms that can be uncomfortable for some Christians, but this is simply language …
My last sermon of 2025 was titled Why Did God Write Poetry? I attempted answering that question because most of us today treat poetry as unnecessary and purely intellectual, ornamental rather than essential. Yet roughly one-third of Scripture is written in poetry. Thus, if we lack a proper appreciation for poetry, we will also struggle …
Continue reading Soul in Paraphrase: A Treasury of Classic Devotional Poems | Leland Ryken
This question builds on the previous one, which answered: What is the Lord's Supper? Now, just like with baptism, we have a clarifying follow-up. Baptism is a beautiful picture of our saving faith in Jesus Christ, but it does not wash away sin itself. Baptism is necessary for the Christian life but not for salvation. …
Continue reading Question 47: Does the Lord’s Supper Add Anything to Christ’s Atoning Work?
The four-volume Reformed Systematic Theology by Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley is a massive work. Reading it cover to cover is quite a journey to embark upon but also a satisfying accomplishment to complete. Indeed, that is one of the reasons why our church has recently used this set as the primary reading of our …
Continue reading Reformed Systematic Theology | Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley
After addressing baptism over the past two questions, we now come to the second ordinance: the Lord's Supper. The catechism's answer begins by grounding the Supper in Christ's command, which again is what makes it an ordinance. Just as baptism is commanded by Christ in the Great Commission, so the Lord's Supper was instituted at …
Each December 31st I write this post, looking back on the previous year and forward to the new. As you may have noticed, 2025 was quite similar to 2024 here: my writing was fairly sparse. There were two main reasons. First, instead of using my free time to write, I have been devoting it to …
I recently finished reading War and Peace (here is a great three-volume edition), which I picked up this year after coming across a full set of The Great Books of the Western World at a bookstore. It was the original 54-volumed edition and in great condition. So, we bought it. I began looking at reading …
It’s time once again to reflect on the past year, and as always, here is my list of my ten favorite books (or, eleven, since I always include an honorable mention). This year was a little unusual for me. I read fewer books than normal, completing only twenty. But at the same time, this ended …
After question 44 answered for us, What is baptism?, question 45 takes up another essential issue: Now, again, we believe that baptism is a sign of Christ’s death and resurrection, His work on our behalf. So when we affirm that baptism does not wash away sin itself, this should not be taken as diminishing baptism …
Continue reading Question 45: Is Baptism with Water the Washing Away of Sin Itself?
B. C. Newton 