Three Forms Podcast

Three Forms Podcast
  • 5.0 (8)
  • CHRISTIANITY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

A joint ministry of Beaverdam Christian Reformed Church and Coopersville CRC, where Pastor Lloyd Hemstreet and Reverend Tyler Wagenmaker walk through the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, and Canons of Dort week by week. Our goal is to reconnect our denomination (and others) to these trusted and proven historic paths, threeformspodcast.substack.com

  1. 4D AGO

    Episode 319: Canons Of Dort, Third And Fourth Heads Of Doctrine, Paragraphs 1-4

    Here the Synod rejects those that have failed to correctly triage the human spiritual condition, as they think that Original Sin will not condemn someone to Hell, unless other sins are added to it. Rejection of the Errors Having set forth the orthodox teaching, the Synod rejects the errors of those I Who teach that, properly speaking, it cannot be said that original sin in itself is enough to condemn the whole human race or to warrant temporal and eternal punishments. For they contradict the apostle when he says: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death passed on to all people because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12); also: “The guilt followed one sin and brought condemnation” (Rom. 5:16); likewise: “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). II Who teach that the spiritual gifts or the good dispositions and virtues such as goodness, holiness, and righteousness could not have resided in the ­human will at creation, and therefore could not have been separated from the will at the fall. For this conflicts with the apostle’s description of the image of God in Ephesians 4:24, where he portrays the image in terms of righteousness and holiness, which definitely reside in the will. III Who teach that in spiritual death the spiritual gifts have not been separated from human will, since the will in itself has never been corrupted but only hindered by the darkness of the mind and the unruliness of the emotions, and since the will is able to exercise its innate free capacity once these hindrances are removed, which is to say, it is able of itself to will or choose whatever good is set before it—or else not to will or choose it. This is a novel idea and an error and has the effect of elevating the power of free choice, contrary to the words of Jeremiah the prophet: “The heart itself is deceitful above all things and wicked” (Jer. 17:9); and of the words of the apostle: “All of us also lived among them” (the children of disobedience) “at one time in the passions of our flesh, following the will of our flesh and thoughts” (Eph. 2:3). IV Who teach that unregenerate humanity is not strictly or totally dead in sin or deprived of all capacity for spiritual good but is able to hunger and thirst for righteousness or life and to offer the sacrifice of a broken and contrite spirit which is pleasing to God. For these views are opposed to the plain testimonies of Scripture: “You were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Eph. 2:1, 5); “The imagination of the thoughts of the human heart is only evil all the time” (Gen. 6:5; 8:21). Besides, to hunger and thirst for deliverance from misery and for life, and to offer God the sacrifice of a broken spirit is characteristic only of the regenerate and of those called blessed (Ps. 51:17; Matt. 5:6). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit threeformspodcast.substack.com

    33 min

  2. MAR 3

    Episode 318: Canons Of Dort, Third And Fourth Heads Of Doctrine, Articles 16-17

    Though marred by sin, people are not merely "stocks and blocks," or treated as robots, God reprogramming us against our will. Instead, His Spirit treats us as human, while healing and correcting us. Article 16: Regeneration’s Effect However, just as by the fall humans did not cease to be human, endowed with intellect and will, and just as sin, which has spread through the whole human race, did not abolish the nature of the human race but distorted and spiritually killed it, so also this divine grace of regeneration does not act in people as if they were blocks and stones; nor does it abolish the will and its properties or coerce a reluctant will by force, but spiritually revives, heals, reforms, and—in a manner at once pleasing and powerful—bends it back. As a result, a ready and sincere obedience of the Spirit now begins to prevail where before the rebellion and resistance of the flesh were completely dominant. In this the true and spiritual restoration and freedom of our will consists. Thus, if the marvelous Maker of every good thing were not dealing with us, we would have no hope of getting up from our fall by our own free choice, by which we plunged ourselves into ruin when still standing upright. Article 17: God’s Use of Means in Regeneration Just as the almighty work by which God brings forth and sustains our natural life does not rule out but requires the use of means, by which God, according to his infinite wisdom and goodness, has wished to exercise that divine power, so also the aforementioned supernatural work by which God regenerates us in no way rules out or cancels the use of the gospel, which God in great wisdom has appointed to be the seed of regeneration and the food of the soul. For this reason, the apostles and the teachers who followed them taught the people in a godly manner about this grace of God, to give God the glory and to humble all pride, and yet did not neglect meanwhile to keep the people, by means of the holy admonitions of the gospel, under the administration of the Word, the sacraments, and discipline. So even today it is out of the question that the teachers or those taught in the church should presume to test God by separating what God in his good pleasure has wished to be closely joined together. For grace is bestowed through admonitions, and the more readily we perform our duty, the more lustrous the benefit of God working in us usually is, and the better that work advances. To God alone, both for the means and for their saving fruit and effectiveness, all glory is owed forever. Amen. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit threeformspodcast.substack.com

    31 min
  3. Episode 317: Canons Of Dort, Third And Fourth Head Of Doctrine, Articles 13-15

    FEB 24

    Episode 317: Canons Of Dort, Third And Fourth Head Of Doctrine, Articles 13-15

    Scripture does not tell us that we must fully understand all of the details of our Salvation in this life. Instead, we rest in and are satisfied that we have truly received and experienced grace! Article 13: The Incomprehensible Way of Regeneration In this life believers cannot fully understand the way this work occurs; meanwhile, they rest content with knowing and experiencing that, by this grace of God, they do believe with the heart and love their Savior. Article 14: The Way God Gives Faith In this way, therefore, faith is a gift of God, not in the sense that it is offered by God for people to choose, but that it is in actual fact bestowed on them, breathed and infused into them. Nor is it a gift in the sense that God bestows only the potential to believe, but then awaits assent—the act of believing—by human choice; rather, it is a gift in the sense that God who works both willing and acting and, indeed, works all things in all people and produces in them both the will to believe and the belief itself. Article 15: Responses to God’s Grace God does not owe this grace to anyone. For what could God owe to those who have nothing to give that can be paid back? Indeed, what could God owe to those who have nothing of their own to give but sin and falsehood? Therefore those who receive this grace owe and give eternal thanks to God alone; those who do not receive it either do not care at all about these spiritual things and are satisfied with themselves in their condition, or else in self-assurance foolishly boast about having something which they lack. Furthermore, following the example of the apostles, we are to think and to speak in the most favorable way about those who outwardly profess their faith and better their lives, for the inner chambers of the heart are unknown to us. But for others who have not yet been called, we are to pray to the God who calls things that do not exist as though they did. In no way, however, are we to pride ourselves as better than they, as though we had distinguished ourselves from them. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit threeformspodcast.substack.com

    32 min

  4. FEB 18

    Episode 316: Canons Of Dort, Third And Fourth Heads Of Doctrine, Articles 10-12

    Irresistible Grace summarizes much of the "God active" language we see all throughout Scripture related to our salvation. God is the one that moves and transforms our hearts and minds to respond. Article 10: Conversion as the Work of God The fact that others who are called through the ministry of the gospel do come and are brought to conversion must not be ­credited to human effort, as though one distinguishes oneself by free choice from others who are furnished with equal or sufficient grace for faith and conversion (as the proud heresy of Pelagius maintains). No, it must be credited to God: just as from eternity God chose his own in Christ, so within time God effectively calls them, grants them faith and repentance, and, having rescued them from the dominion of darkness, brings them into the kingdom of his Son, in order that they may declare the wonderful deeds of the One who called them out of darkness into this marvelous light, and may boast not in themselves, but in the Lord, as apostolic words frequently testify in Scripture. Article 11: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Conversion Moreover, when God carries out this good pleasure in the elect, or works true conversion in them, God not only sees to it that the gospel is proclaimed to them outwardly, and enlightens their minds powerfully by the Holy Spirit so that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God, but, by the effective operation of the same regenerating Spirit, God also penetrates into the inmost being, opens the closed heart, softens the hard heart, and circumcises the heart that is uncircumcised. God infuses new qualities into the will, making the dead will alive, the evil one good, the unwilling one willing, and the stubborn one compliant. God activates and strengthens the will so that, like a good tree, it may be enabled to produce the fruits of good deeds. Article 12: Regeneration a Supernatural Work And this is the regeneration, the new creation, the raising from the dead, and the making alive so clearly proclaimed in the Scriptures, which God works in us without our help. But this certainly does not happen only by outward teaching, by moral persuasion, or by such a way of working that, after God’s work is done, it remains in human power whether or not to be reborn or converted. Rather, it is an entirely supernatural work, one that is at the same time most powerful and most pleasing, a marvelous, hidden, and inexpressible work, which is not less than or inferior in power to that of creation or of raising the dead, as Scripture (inspired by the author of this work) teaches. As a result, all those in whose hearts God works in this marvelous way are certainly, unfailingly, and effectively reborn and do actually believe. And then the will, now renewed, is not only activated and motivated by God, but in being activated by God is also itself active. For this reason, people t­hemselves, by that grace which they have received, are also rightly said to believe and to repent. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit threeformspodcast.substack.com

    34 min

  5. FEB 10

    Episode 315: Canons Of Dort, Third And Fourth Heads Of Doctrine, Articles 7-9

    God's Word, and thus all Calvinist, believe in the free proclamation and offer of the Gospel. This call is not fake, or half hearted. And when people ignore that call, it is on them, and not God. Article 7: God’s Freedom in Revealing the Gospel In the Old Testament, God revealed this secret of his will to a small number; in the New Testament (now without any distinction between peoples) God discloses it to a large number. The reason for this difference must not be ascribed to the greater worth of one nation over another, or to a better use of the light of nature, but to the free good pleasure and undeserved love of God. Therefore, those who receive so much grace, beyond and in spite of all they deserve, ought to acknowledge it with humble and thankful hearts. On the other hand, with the apostle they ought to adore (but certainly not inquisitively search into) the severity and justice of God’s judgments on the others, who do not receive this grace. Article 8: The Earnest Call of the Gospel Nevertheless, all who are called through the gospel are called earnestly. For urgently and most genuinely God makes known in the Word what is pleasing to him: that those who are called should come to God. God also earnestly promises rest for their souls and eternal life to all who do come and believe. Article 9: Human Responsibility for Rejecting the Gospel The fact that many who are called through the ministry of the gospel do not come and are not brought to conversion must not be blamed on the gospel, nor on Christ, who is offered through the gospel, nor on God, who calls them through the gospel and even bestows various gifts on them, but on the people themselves who are called. Some in self-assurance do not even entertain the Word of life; others do entertain it but do not take it to heart, and for that reason, after the fleeting joy of a temporary faith, they relapse; others choke the seed of the Word with the thorns of life’s cares and with the pleasures of the world and bring forth no fruits. This our Savior teaches in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit threeformspodcast.substack.com

    32 min

  6. FEB 3

    Episode 314: Canons Of Dort, Third And Fourth Heads Of Doctrine, Articles 4-6

    While we confess Total Depravity, God's Word does not teach that humans are Utterly Depraved, or as bad as they could be. No, even after the Fall, there still remains glimmerings of our former glory. Article 4: The Inadequacy of the Light of Nature There is, to be sure, a certain light of nature remaining in all people after the fall, by virtue of which they retain some notions about God, natural things, and the difference between what is moral and immoral, and demonstrate a certain eagerness for virtue and for good outward behavior. But this light of nature is far from enabling humans to come to a saving knowledge of God and conversion to him—so far, in fact, that they do not use it rightly even in matters of nature and society. Instead, in various ways they completely distort this light, whatever its precise character, and suppress it in unrighteousness. In doing so all people render themselves without excuse before God. Article 5: The Inadequacy of the Law In this respect, what is true of the light of nature is true also of the Ten Commandments given by God through Moses specifically to the Jews. For humans cannot obtain saving grace through the Decalogue, because, although it does expose the magnitude of their sin and increasingly convict them of their guilt, yet it does not offer a remedy or enable them to escape from human misery, and, indeed, weakened as it is by the flesh, leaves the offender under the curse. Article 6: The Saving Power of the Gospel What, therefore, neither the light of nature nor the law can do, God accomplishes by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the Word or the ministry of reconciliation. This is the gospel about the Messiah, through which it has pleased God to save believers, in both the Old and the New Testaments. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit threeformspodcast.substack.com

    32 min

  7. JAN 27

    Episode 313: Canons Of Dort, Third And Fourth Head of Doctrine, Articles 1-3

    The Third and Fourth Heads of Doctrine were combined, as the Synod of Dort did not disagree with how the Arminians described human depravity. The issue was, they failed to live into their own teaching. The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine Human Corruption, Conversion to God, and the Way It Occurs Article 1: The Effect of the Fall on Human Nature Human beings were originally created in the image of God and were furnished in mind with a true and sound knowledge of the Creator and things spiritual, in will and heart with righteousness, and in all emotions with purity; indeed, the whole human being was holy. However, rebelling against God at the devil’s instigation and by their own free will, they deprived themselves of these outstanding gifts. Rather, in their place they brought upon themselves blindness, terrible darkness, futility, and distortion of judgment in their minds; perversity, defiance, and hardness in their hearts and wills; and finally impurity in all their ­emotions. Article 2: The Spread of Corruption Human beings brought forth children of the same nature as themselves after the fall. That is to say, being corrupt they brought forth corrupt children. The corruption spread, by God’s just judgment, from Adam and Eve to all their descendants—except for Christ alone—not by way of imitation (as in former times the Pelagians would have it) but by way of the propagation of their perverted nature. Article 3: Total Inability Therefore, all people are conceived in sin and are born children of wrath, unfit for any saving good, inclined to evil, dead in their sins, and slaves to sin. Without the grace of the regenerating Holy Spirit they are neither willing nor able to return to God, to reform their distorted nature, or even to dispose themselves to such reform. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit threeformspodcast.substack.com

    32 min

  8. JAN 20

    Episode 312: Canons Of Dort, Second Head Of Doctrine, Rejection Of Errors, Paragraphs 5-7

    The Canons reject the false teaching that Jesus death purchased a blanket reconciliation or reversal of Original Sin, but rather the specific redemption of his people, the church, the bride of Christ. Rejection of the Errors Having set forth the orthodox teaching, the Synod rejects the errors of those: V Who teach that all people have been received into the state of reconciliation and into the grace of the covenant, so that no one on account of original sin is liable to condemnation, or is to be condemned, but that all are free from the guilt of this sin. For this opinion conflicts with Scripture which asserts that we are by nature children of wrath. VI Who make use of the distinction between obtaining and ­applying in order to instill in the unwary and inexperienced the ­opinion that God, as far as he is concerned, wished to bestow equally upon all people the benefits which are gained by Christ’s death; but that the distinction by which some rather than others come to share in the forgiveness of sins and eternal life depends on their own free choice (which applies itself to the grace offered indiscriminately) but does not depend on the unique gift of mercy which effectively works in them, so that they, rather than others, apply that grace to themselves. For, while pretending to set forth this distinction in an acceptable sense, they attempt to give the people the deadly poison of Pelagianism. VII Who teach that Christ neither could die, nor had to die, nor did die for those whom God so dearly loved and chose to eternal life, since such people do not need the death of Christ. For they contradict the apostle, who says: “Christ loved me and gave himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20), and likewise: “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is Christ who died,” that is, for them (Rom. 8:33-34). They also contradict the Savior, who asserts: “I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:15), and “My command is this: Love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for one’s friends” (John 15:12-13). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit threeformspodcast.substack.com

    32 min
See All (113)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

A joint ministry of Beaverdam Christian Reformed Church and Coopersville CRC, where Pastor Lloyd Hemstreet and Reverend Tyler Wagenmaker walk through the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, and Canons of Dort week by week. Our goal is to reconnect our denomination (and others) to these trusted and proven historic paths, threeformspodcast.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Three Forms Podcast
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    113
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Three Forms Podcast
  • Show Website
    Three Forms Podcast

You Might Also Like