A blessed Reformation Day, all!

The Ausburg Confession, Article IV (Of Justification):

Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.

A blessed All Saints Day! The Collect:

Almighty God, who hath knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord: Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable joys, which thou hast prepared for them that unfeignedly love thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

https://youtu.be/_BjxfCCcCe0?si=6HavZCEKCRgAEFkb

463 years ago today Guido de Bres threw his Reformed confession of faith (The Belgic Confession) over the castle wall in Tournai for the governor to find. Five and a half years later he was killed as a martyr for his faith.

Stained glass panel from All Saints Episcopal Church, one of the oldest churches in Florida (est. 1894).

Baptism is not only a sign and seal; it is also a means of grace, because in it the blessings which it signifies are conveyed, and the promises of which is its the seal, are assured or fulfilled to those who are baptized, provided they believe.... Unless the recipient of this sacrament be insincere, baptism is an act of faith, it is an act in which and by which he receives and appropriates the offered benefits of the redemption of Christ. And, therefore, to baptism may be properly attributed all that in the Scriptures is attributed to faith. Baptism washes away sin (Acs 22:16); it unites to Christ and makes us the sons of God (Gal. 3:26-27); we are therein buried with Christ (Rom. 6:3); it is the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5).

-- Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, 3.20.12

Some "Calvinists":

> I believe in TULIP -- God is completely sovereign and saves how and whom he will!

So, is God sovreign enough to save by water, wine, bread, and absolution?

> Noooooo that's PaPiSm! That's hErEsY!

That's what John Calvin believed.

> Well John Calvin doesn't sound like a real Calvinist to me.

Yeah, or maybe you're not a real Calvinist.

But the holy scripture teaches that we are washed clean from our sins by baptism; for baptism is a sign, a testimony and sealing, of our cleansing. For God truly has promised sanctification to his church, and for his truth's sake, he purifies his church from all sins by his grace through the blood of his Son, and he regenerates and cleanses it by his Spirit; this cleansing is sealed in us by baptism, which we receive.

-- Heinrich Bullinger, Decades, 5.8

This is your election season reminder that Christ is King, His word is law, and anyone who refuses to obey Him rules illegitimately.

You should still vote, don't get me wrong. I'm voting for Trump myself. Nonetheless, apocalyptic projections and insane stakesmanship over this election is only going to contribute to you feeling powerless and stupid.
-Voting is not a replacement for irl community building.
-Voting is not a replacement for having your life together.
-Voting doesn't fix your problems.
All it does is help determine down the line how easy or difficult some of that is going to be on your end. Take control of your life, relying on God to set things in order.

And baptism is sufficient and effectual for the whole life of man; yes, and it reaches and is referred to all the sins of all those who are baptized. For the promise of God is true. The seal of the promise is true, not deceivable. The power of Christ is ever effectual to thoroughly cleanse and wash away all the sins of those who are his. However often we have sinned in our lifetime, let us call to remembrance the mystery of holy baptism, with which we are washed for the whole course of our life, that we might know and not doubt that our sins are forgiven by the same God and our Lord. Yes, and forgiven by the blood of Christ, into whom we are grafted once by baptism, that he might always work salvation in us, till we are received out of misery into glory.

-- Heinrich Bullinger, Decades, 5.8

DIVISION OF THEOLOGY INTO FOUR GREAT DEPARTMENTS

The usual treatment of Theology distinguishes four departments, which are named Exegetical Theology, Historical Theology, Systematic Theology and Practical Theology.

The point to be observed for our present purpose is the position given Exegetical Theology as the first among these four. This precedence is due to the instinctive recognition that at the beginning of all Theology lies a passive, receptive attitude on the part of the one who engages in its study.

The assumption of such an attitude is characteristic of all truly exegetical pursuit. It is eminently a process in which God speaks and man listens. Exegetical Theology, however, should not be regarded as confined to Exegesis.

The former is a larger whole of which the latter is indeed an important part, but after all only a part. Exegetical Theology in the wider sense comprises the following disciplines:

(a) the study of the actual content of Holy Scripture;

(b) the inquiry into the origin of the several Biblical writings, including the identity of the writers, the time and occasion of composition, dependence on possible sources, etc. This is called Introduction, and may be regarded as a further carrying out of the process of Exegesis proper;

(c) the putting of the question of how these several writings came to be collected into the unity of a Bible or book; this part of the process bears the technical name of Canonics;

(d) the study of the actual self-disclosures of God in time and space which lie back of even the first committal to writing of any Biblical document, and which for a long time continued to run alongside of the inscripturation of revealed material; this last-named procedure is called the study of Biblical Theology.

The order in which the four steps are here named is, of course, the order in which they present themselves successively to the investigating mind of man. When looking at the process from the point of view of the divine activity the order requires to be reversed, the sequence here being

(a) the divine self-revelation;

(b) the committal to writing of the revelation-product;

(c) the gathering of the several writings thus produced into the unity of a collection;

(d) the production and guidance of the study of the content of the Biblical writings.

This would be better structured as a simple 10k credit, but as it is, Trump is proposing to allow families to contribute 10k a year to a (sort of) tax-exempt account to cover homeschool costs. So really the benefit is 10k x your marginal rate. Still pretty based.

https://www.infowars.com/posts/trump-pledges-to-grant-homeschoolers-a-10000-per-child-tax-write-off

I made this observation 2 years ago after the midterms. Let's see if it's true. Praying not.

https://t.me/protestantpost/558

Remember, Remember, the fifth of November. Happy Guy Fawkes day to all!

Brothers, make sure you show up to vote on abortion ballot measures if there are any in your state. Regardless of what you do at the top of the ticket (though I'd encourage a Trump vote).

Get on the record and drop your predictions in the comments:

Mine is Harris wins, odds 75/25. If Trump wins, it'll be because he flips VA or MN -- states they didn't think would need "fortifying." He will lose PA, MI, and WI like last time, though I expect GA and AZ to flip.

Edit: I'm praying for Trump to win and either way, Christ is King and we will win in the end. No blackpilling allowed.

Thanks be to God.