And we, too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

-- St. Clement of Rome [full article]

For in the Sacraments God alone properly acts; men bring nothing of their own, but approach to receive the grace offered to them. Thus, in Baptism, God washed us by the blood of his Son and regenerated us by his Spirit; in the Supper he feeds us with the flesh and blood of Christ. What part of the work can man claim, without blasphemy, since the whole appears to be of grace? The fact of the administration being committed to men, derogates no more from the operation of God than the hand does from the artificer, since God alone acts by them, and does the whole ... For we ought to turn our thoughts not only to the sprinkling of water, but also to the spiritual reality which begets the confidence of a good conscience by the resurrection of Christ ... Such remembrance [of baptism], I say, not only makes sins venial, but altogether obliterates them. Whenever there is any question of forgiveness of sins, we must flee to Baptism and from it seek a confirmation of forgiveness. For as God reconciles us to himself by the daily promises of the Gospel, so the belief and certainty of this reconciliation, which is daily repeated even to the end of life, he seals to us by Baptism.

-- John Calvin, Antidote to the Council of Trent, 7.5, 7, 10

Besides, baptism - being the entrance into the Church and the symbol of our ingrafting into Christ - is here appropriately introduced by Paul, when he intends to show in what manner the grace of God appeared to us; so that the strain of the passage runs thus: “God hath saved us by his mercy, the symbol and pledge of which he gave in baptism, by admitting us into his Church, and ingrafting us into the body of his Son.” Now the Apostles are wont to draw an argument from the Sacraments, to prove that which is there exhibited under a figure, because it ought to be held by believers as a settled principle, that God does not sport with us by unmeaning figures, but inwardly accomplishes by his power what he exhibits by the outward sign; and therefore, baptism is fitly and truly said to be “the washing of regeneration.” The efficacy and use of the sacraments will be properly understood by him who shall connect the sign and the thing signified, in such a manner as not to make the sign unmeaning and inefficacious, and who nevertheless shall not, for the sake of adorning the sign, take away from the Holy Spirit what belongs to him.

-- John Calvin, Commentary on Titus 3

One thing the Puritans got very right was opposition to the theater and the stage.

They rightly saw it as a gateway for sin and vice thinly veiled under "the arts." They noted that the subject matter was frequently unnecessarily immoral, and that the industry served as a pipeline to prostitution and homosexuality.

Obviously, little has changed in our day.

That only a few Shakespeare plays survive as relevant artistic works (whereas contemporary musical composers wrote hundreds of masterpieces) shows what a low form of art it really was, despite what your 3rd grade English teacher Ms. Karen Catlady told you.

The power of the mystery [the sacrament] remains intact, no matter how much wicked men try to their utmost to nullify it ... Men bear away from this Sacrament no more than they gather with the vessel of faith.... Yet, it is one thing to be offered, and another to be received ... the Sacrament is one thing, the power of the Sacrament another.... There is here no reason to lose faith in the promises of God, who does not stop the rain from falling from heaven, although rocks and stones do not receive the moisture of rain.

-- John Calvin, Institutes 4.17.33-34

You devoutly and prudently desire that the effect of the sacraments and what the Lord confers to us through them be explicated more clearly and more fully than many allow. Indeed it was not my fault that these items were not fuller. Let us therefore bear with a sigh that which cannot be corrected.

-- John Calvin, Letter to Martin Bucer re the Consensus Tigurinus

Collect for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost

 O God, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee, mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the same Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, now and forever. Amen.  

What's Wrong with Full Preterism:

Full preterists get much correct about what the New Testament prophecies about judgement on Jerusalem in 70 A.D. But in attempting to squeeze all of biblical prophecy into that event, they err:

1) They collapse all prophecy into one dimension. Yet Scripture is full of multi- layered prophetic texts (Is. 7, Ps. 110, etc.).

2) They claim Jesus' return (in judgement on Jerusalem) was spiritual, yet Acts 1:11 clearly states His return will be physical:

This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

3) They deny a physical resurrection, but Jesus proved the validity of his own resurrection (Lk. 24:43, Jn. 20:27) by physical proofs, and by rasising others like Lazarus.

4) Paul grounds our hope of resurrection in Christ's resurrection (1 Cor. 15). Their reply is that this resurrection is a spiritual one based on vs. 50, but Paul is not arguing our physical bodies disappear but rather that they "put on immortality" (vs. 54).

The efficacy of the sacraments does not depend upon the worthiness of men ... nothing is taken away from the promises of God, or falls to the ground, through the wickedness of men.

-- John Calvin, Commentary on 1 Corinthians [11:27]

The church has always made it her mission to help those in economic need. Historically, it's been the elderly who need her help, and many elderly still do need help.

But that generation grew up at a time of unprecedented economic prosperity, and as we revert to the mean, it's now younger people who are by and large the most needy.

The solution would be conditional, interest-free loans and below- market rentals made by Christians perhaps via the church to younger Christians.

We confess and teach that holy baptism, when given and received according to the Lord’s command, is in the case of adults and of young children truly a baptism of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, whereby those who are baptized have all their sins washed away, are buried into the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, are incorporated into him, and put on him for a new and godly life and the blessed resurrection, and through him become children and heirs of God.

-- John Calvin & Martin Bucer, Brief Summary of Christian Doctrine and Religion Taught at Strasbourg

God is pleased to connect the benefits of redemption with the believing reception of the truth. And he is pleased to connect these same benefits with the believing reception of baptism. That is, as the Spirit works with and by the truth, so he works with and by baptism, in communicating the blessings of the covenant of grace. Therefore, as we are said to be saved by the word, with equal propriety we are said to be saved by baptism...

-- Charles Hodge, Commentary on Ephesians