truths I have gleaned from the treasure trove of Reformed theology

Some of the many crucial truths I have gleaned from the vast treasure trove of Reformed theology (to mix metaphors) are:

1. that God does not merely provide an opportunity for sinners to be saved, but He actually saves sinners, the three Persons of the Godhead concurring in the work of salvation - the Father electing, the Son redeeming, and the Holy Spirit applying redemption to the elect,

2. that nevertheless, the offer of the gospel is designed by God to be extended to sinners as sinners (without regard to whether or not they are elect), and that therefore all human beings without exception have a warrant to trust in Christ for their salvation.

3. that our justification is by sovereign grace alone, appropriated by faith alone, and judicially grounded on the finished work of Christ alone,

4. that God's revelation is covenantally structured, and that there are two types of covenants: law covenants and promise covenants,

5. that Christ not only endured the curse of God's wrath for our sins, but also merited our entitlement to heaven through His perfect obedience to God's Law,

6. that Christ reigns over the eternal Kingdom of God by His word and Spirit, but over the temporal kingdom of man by His providence,

7. that the nation of Israel was both a "republication" of the works-based economy that God had established with our first parents in the garden of Eden, and a typological prefiguration of the eternal Kingdom of Christ,

8. that Christ, as our federal Head who was "born under the Law" and perfectly fulfilled it, is both the Second Adam and the true Israel,

9. that the Old Testament account of Israel's exile and the prophetic promises of restoration typologically prefigure the sufferings and glory of Christ,

10. that while the substance of the covenant of grace extends to the elect only (the invisible church), its historical administration embraces all who profess the true religion and their children (the visible church), and that therefore, all these ought to receive the covenant sign (circumcision from Abraham to Christ; baptism after).

11. that biblical eschatology has an "already/not yet" structure,

12. that the Christian life is lived "in exile" and "in the wilderness" - in anticipation of our full possession of the promised heavenly inheritance,

13. that God's Kingdom is built and extended through the ministry of word and sacrament, not through any sort of attempt to "Christianize society,"

14. that in this age of inaugurated eschatology (between Christ's two advents), Christians ought to cooperate with unbelievers to build the temporal city of man, and

15. that only when Christ returns to judge the city of man and deliver His own will His Kingdom take on a geopolitical dimension (like Old Testament Israel) and extend over the whole (new) earth.

I could go on, but perhaps this list has grown long enough for the time being ... I may attempt to unpack some of this in future posts.