Redeemed from Impurity (Titus 2:14; LD 1)

A strange slogan for the gospel could be, “The Lord can save even a cretan.” This does not sound very polite, but the apostle Paul quotes from a cretan philosopher who summarizes non favorable cretan philosophers. Nevertheless, Paul makes very clear that even the cretans get the same gospel as Abraham. The point that Paul is making is that we are all set apart in Christ as a people who have been made worthy in Christ. It is because Christ has redeemed us that desire to live out of gratitude. In fact, it is a blessing to be owned by Christ.

God’s Imperishable Seed (1 Peter 1:23; COD Head 5 RE 8)

Peter greets the church as a scattered seed, when he says "the dispersion." We are a people scattered throughout the world like Israel in exile. This means that the church is not settled in the land of canaan. We are sojourners through this world who will experience suffering, testing, and unrest. The assurance is that while we are the scattered seed in this world we are born of the imperishable seed from heaven, and we will persevere by God's preserving power.

Heroes or Hero of the Faith? (Hebrews 11; COD Head 5 RE 6, 7)

Normally when we read Hebrews 11 we focus on the individuals and their faith. We look at the deeds that they have done in the power of the faith and we consider them to be the heroes. However, if we put the chapter in the context we discover that the real hero is God who is showing his invisible power at work in his people.

The Sin Unto Death (1 John 5:16-18, COD 5 RE 4, 5)

John tells us that if we see someone sin we should pray for that person provided that they are not committing the sin unto death. This can result in us being concerned that maybe we committed the sin unto death and we might wonder if we are saved. The assurance that we have is that if we are concerned about committing the sin unto death then we need to be confident that we did not commit the sin.

Godliness through Assurance (2 Corinthians 7:6-13; COD Head 5, Arts 12, 13)

Our instinct is to think that if we are assured of our faith then we will not grow because we will continually backslide. We might think that in order for us to grow we should be a little afraid, terrified, of God. If we are not terrified of the Lord's wrath then we will not be properly motivated to grow to conform to him. This is what we might think, but the Canons of Dordt is teaching us the opposite truth. The Canons of Dordt teaches us that If we are not assured of our faith then we will not grow in our faith. How does the Apostle Paul exhort the church? What can we learn from his exhortation?

Conflicted Assurance Prevails (1 Cor. 10:1-13; COD Heads 5, Arts 1-9)

The Apostle Paul shows where God's people have failed and disappointed the Lord in the past. The Lord's people have fallen into idolatry while calling it proper worship. This is intended to sober God's people and awaken us to see that we too are prone to these temptations. The Apostle Paul interjects at the conclusion of these examples that God is faithful. How can God being faithful encourage us when we doubt his goodness? Why is it so assuring that God will keep us until the end?

God Remembers His Promises! (Psalm 51; COD 5 Arts 7,8)

We are warned by those who have gone before us that if we push the boundaries of grace that God might give us the sin that we desire. The Lord might allows us to wallow and to walk in our sin for a time. So, what happens when the Lord snaps us out of our sin? What does David communicate to us about the Lord remembering his promises? How does David's sin, and more importantly, his restoration, teach us about the Gospel?

God's Gracious Boundaries (Head 5; Art 4-6)(1 Peter 1:1-9)

The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is sometimes summarized as, "Once saved always saved." There is truth to this statement, but it radically misses the complexity of the Christian walk. God will certainly preserve his people until the end, but we are called to persevere by the Lord's grace. The challenge in this life is that we can have sinful desires that are contrary to God's kingdom. The Canons of Dordt warns us that God can hand us over to those desires. Where do we find our strength in this life to continue on our Christian sojourn?

Just Sinners (Hd 5, Arts 1-3; Romans 6:1-23)

The Apostle Paul tells us that we are either slaves of sin or slaves of righteousness. Is our situation really this dire? Are we really just people destined to slaves of one thing or the other thing? Is it really a good thing that we are slaves of Christ Jesus? Why would we actually find freedom in such slavery?

God's Worthy Citizens (2 Peter 1:3-11; COD Head 3, 4, RE 9, 10)

Christ has come to establish the Lord's kingdom and to bring his people to his heavenly city. We might wonder how one is worthy to enter into this city. Does one make themselves worthy through a series of preparations or is the Lord's grace bigger than our ability?

God's Overbearing Mercy (Isa 43:22-44:5; COD Head 3, 4 RE 1-5)

God is the one who overwhelms us with his mercy and Grace. God is the one who prevails over his people. We might think that this is a terrible thing until we realize that it is God who is conquering us. We might think that we would naturally love God, but Isaiah teaches us something radically different: we weary God while thinking he wearies us. So, is it good that God overwhelms us with his grace and mercy?

Man’s Hopeless Situation (COD Head 3, 4 RE 1-4; Ephesians 2:1-6 )

As human beings who sojourn through this world we can think that we are doing well. The problem is that we might not have the clearest picture on life. The tragedy of our existence is that we do not naturally want to pursue God. How do we then interact with God? Is God our enemy? How does God's grace and power overcome our hopeless situation?

Why Give Exhortations and Pursue God if We are Elect? (1 Peter 1:22-2:3; COD 3, 4, Art. 17)

We can think that if God has chosen us before the foundation of the world, if God has elected us to be his people, and we are those who worship him then we are golden. We can fall into a trap of self righteousness thinking that because we have done the right thing we are worthy of God's electing mercy. However, the Canons of Dordt does not encourage this thinking. In fact, the canons does a wonderful job of reminding us that we are truly saved by grace, delivered from hell for the sake of Christ, and still called to live out of gratitude.

God’s Free Spirit (COD 3, 4; Art. 10-13)(John 3:1-8)

The Lord is free to do what the Lord desires to do, but the Lord still uses his means to call his people. We know that his gospel will be sent, and his people will respond in faith. We are familiar with John 3:16, but what does the context tell us about some coming to Christ and others rejecting Christ? What does Christ tell Nicodemus about this division in the recipients of the gospel message?

God’s Just Freedom (John 6:35-59; COD 3,4; 7-9)

God builds his heavenly city and calls his saints to dwell with him forever. Today as we take hold of Christ by faith we will dwell in this heavenly city. We will dwell with him and we taste his goodness as we walk in his spirit. We experience the joy in that we walk in him offering ourselves as living sacrifices in Christ Jesus.

Our Problem of Condemnation (Romans 5:12-21; COD Head 3, 4 Arts 1-3)

Reformed confessions might not lay out the most encouraging words regarding the status of humanity. We say things like man naturally hates God and his neighbor. Or we mention that man deserves the Lord's wrath from conception. We hear these things and might wonder if such strong language is really warranted. Is man really that bad? How did man ultimately get into this predicament? Why move forward in life if we are condemned anyway?

The Same Old Covenant (Romans 3:25; RE 4, 5)

Christ Sustains His Bride (John 11:45-53)

Christ' work will be applied to his people. We certainly have seen this in John 17. We know that individuals will come to faith, but what about the church? Is the church going to be sustained until the end? Will the Lord preserve his church through thick and thin?

Does God Love the Unlovable? (Deuteronomy 10:15)

Human beings can go in two different directions. On the one hand we can think that there is something about us that is appealing to God. So, we think that God is going to love us because we are a little more worthy of God's affection than say another person.

The other side of this is that we can think that we are so bad that we are beyond redemption. We can think that God's mercy and grace cannot bring us back from being lost so we avoid the Lord. This too is wrong as we fail to understand the Lord's grace.

How is it encouraging to know that God loves the unlovable? If we are not adorable why would we be encouraged and want to live for God? if we think we are adorable how can God's grace humble us? How does the humbling of God's grace ultimately lift us up?

Is There More than Just Trust and Obey? (COD 1; RE1; Acts 13:48)

When Christians talk about man's free will and our coming to faith we end up with the old "Tastes Great.... Less Filling debate." We are not getting to the heart of the issue. The Canons of Dordt seeks to clarify how man comes to faith. The Canons also spells out that God's choosing does not deny our sincere call to respond in faith. The Canons affirms that we are called to obey God. The Canons also defends that christians are called to persevere in our faith. So, what is the fundamental problem? Is this merely a difference of preference or is there a substantive difference?