Let’s say it’s a beautiful day outside and you’re taking a stroll in the park. You study your shadow, and you notice just how much it looks like you. It’s an image of you. It’s connected to you. You start to run, and it follows you. It does what you do. Your shadow is affixed to you. Your shadow cannot be detached from you . . . unless you’re Peter Pan. Keith Mathison uses this helpful illustration in his little book titled The Lord’s Supper to explain the spiritual presence of...
Tag - Belgic Confession Article 35
A bicycle is a pretty simple machine, but I doubt you understand the science behind how a bike works. I certainly don’t. According to interestingengineering.com, several theories about how bikes remain stable have been disproven (the gyroscopic theory and the caster theory). [1] A bike is a simple machine, and yet, the exact mechanism that makes a bicycle stable is a mystery. Okay, if a simple machine involves mysteries that scientists can’t figure out or explain, how much more are the...
In my experience, many Christians struggle to understand what they believe and to find the right words to communicate what they believe. This is where creeds, confessions, and catechisms help Christians immensely. They define and explain things in simple terms—terms children can learn and understand—and unite Christians around a common understanding of Scripture. Creeds, confessions, and catechisms communicate, “This is what we believe as Christians, and this is what we do not believe.”...
Before I begin to unpack Article 35 of the Belgic Confession, let me make an important clarification for this podcast. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God, inerrant, infallible, and the only rule or authority for faith and life (WCF 1:2). The ecumenical creeds and Reformed confessions and catechisms do not replace Scripture nor are they equal to Scripture. Please listen carefully. Scripture alone is the Word of God, however, the ecumenical creeds and...