Tag Archives: Historical Theology

Augustine – Sanctification, Free Will, and the Holy Spirit

21 Feb

The human will is so divinely helped in the pursuit of righteousness, that he [the believer] receives the Holy Spirit, by whom there is formed in his mind a delight in, and a love of, that supreme and unchangeable good, which is God. By this gift to him of the down payment, as it were, of the free gift, he [the believer] conceives a burning desire to cleave to his Maker. A mans free will, indeed, does not help at all except to sin, if he does not know the way of truth. And even after he begins to know his duty and proper aim, unless he also takes delight in and feels a love for it, he neither does his duty, nor sets about it, nor lives rightly. Now, in order that such a course may engage our affections, Gods love is shed abroad in our hearts, not through the free will which arises from ourselves, but through the Holy Spirit, who is given to us [Rom 5: 5].

~Augustine~


Historical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI; Zondervan; 2011) Chapter 24: Sanctification

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Martin Luther – No Holy Spirit, No Salvation

22 Aug

I believe that I cannot, by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me by his gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in the true faith. In the same way, he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and preserves it in union with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church he daily and richly forgives all my sins, and the sins of all believers. And he will raise up me and all the dead at the last day, and he will grant eternal life to me and to all who believe in Christ. This is most certainly true.

~Martin Luther~


Historical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI; Zondervan Books; 2011) Chapter 20: The Holy Spirit.

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Martin Luther – Hallelujah!

15 Aug

Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands,
For our offenses given;
But now at God’s right hand he stands
And brings us life from heaven;
Therefore let us joyful be
And sing to God right thankfully
Loud songs of hallelujah.
Hallelujah!

~Martin Luther~




Historical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI; Zondervan Books; 2011) Chapter 19: Resurrection & Ascension.

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Augustine – What is Grace?

19 Jun

What is grace? That which is freely given. What is “freely given”? Given, not paid. If it was due, wages would be given, but grace would not be bestowed. But if it was really due, then you were good. But if, as is true, you were evil but believed on him who justifies the ungodly (What is, “who justifies the ungodly”? the ungodly is made righteous), consider what by right hung over you by the law and you have obtained by grace. But having obtained that grace by faith, you will be just by faith—”for the just lives by faith.”

~Augustine~


Historical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI; Zondervan; 2011) Chapter 23: Justification

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John Calvin – Christian, Do You Fear God’s Wrath?

26 Apr

What was figuratively represented in the Mosaic sacrifices is manifested in Christ, the archetype of the figures. Therefore, to perform a perfect expiation, he gave his own life as an Asham, that is, as an expiatory offering for sin… upon which our stain and punishment might somehow be cast, and cease to be imputed to us…. The Son of God, utterly clean of all fault, nevertheless took upon himself the shame and reproach of our iniquities, and in return clothes us with his purity…. Here, then, is the meaning of this saying: Christ was offered to the Father in death as an expiatory sacrifice that when he discharged all satisfaction through his sacrifice, we might cease to be afraid of God’s wrath.

~John Calvin~



Historical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI; Zondervan Books; 2011) p. 401.

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Martin Luther – No Remedy Except One

24 Apr

Because an eternal, unchangeable sentence of condemnation has passed upon sin – for God cannot and will not regard sin with favor, but his wrath abides upon it eternally and irrevocably – redemption was not possible without a ransom of such precious worth as to atone for sin, to assume the guilt, pay the price of wrath and thus abolish sin. This no creature was able to do. There was no remedy except for God’s only Son to step into our distress and himself become man, to take upon himself the load of awful and eternal wrath and make his own body and blood a sacrifice for sin. And so he did, out of the immeasurably great mercy and love towards us, giving himself up and bearing the sentence of undending wrath and death.

~Martin Luther~


Historical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI; Zondervan Books; 2011) p.399.

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Martin Luther – Are You Elect?

8 Mar

If you follow this advice, if you first recognize that you are a child of wrath by nature, guilty of eternal death and damnation, from which no creature, either man or angel, is able to save you, and if you then grasp God’s promise, believing that he… has sent Christ, his only Son, to render satisfaction for your sin, to give you his innocence and righteousness, and finally to redeem you from all danger and death, then do not doubt that you belong to the little flock of the elect.

~Martin Luther~


Historical Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan; 2011) p.461

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Martyn Lloyd-Jones – The Spirit or the Bible?

10 Feb

The Bible suggests, therefore, that the Holy Spirit normally speaks to us through the Word. He takes his own Word, he illumines it, and takes our minds and enlightens them, and we are thus made receptive to the Word…. It is not right, therefore, to speak of the Spirit or the Word, but rather of the Spirit and the Word, and especially the Spirit through the Word.

~Martyn Lloyd-Jones~






Historical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI; Zondervan; 2011) p. 97. Excerpted from Authority (Chicago: InterVarsity, 1958), 63-64

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Athanasius – Our Need of the Atonement

17 Dec

It was necessary that the debt owed by everyone should be paid, and this debt owed was that everyone should die. For this particular reason, Jesus Christ came among us… He offered up his sacrifice on behalf of everyone, yielding his temple [i.e., his body] to death in the place of everyone…. And so it was that two wonderful things came to pass at once: the death of everyone was accomplished in the Lord’s body, and death and corruption were completely done away with by reason of the Word that was united with it. For death was necessary, and death must be suffered on behalf of everyone, so that the debt owed by everyone might be paid.

~Athanasius~


Historical Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan; 2011) p. 393-394.
Cited from On the Incarnation, p 20.

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