About Me

As Calvinists, we subscribe to what is often referred to as The Five Points of Calvinism which goes by the acrostic TULIP:

• T - Total Depravity
• U - Unconditional Election
• L - Limited Atonement
• I - Irresistible Grace
• P - Perseverance of the Saints 

Not all Presbyterian & Reformed (P&R) denominations are the same; however, among all of the conservative P&R denominations who are members of the North American Reformed and Presbyterian Council (NAPARC), they all share in common the love for the historic confessions. For the Dutch and German Reformed, their primary Confessional standards are the Three Forms of Unity which include the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort. 

For Scottish Presbyterians (like me -- though I'm not Scottish), founded by John Knox, our primary Confessional standards are called the Westminster Standards, named so because they were created in Westminster Abbey. These include the Westminster Confession, Westminster Shorter Catechism, and Westminster Larger Catechism

The Reformed believe that God deals with His people primarily through the workings of Covenants wherein each Covenant in a fuller revelation of the Covenant of Grace pointing us to Jesus Christ and the fulfillment that we find in the New Covenant. We believe that God has worked through two primary covenants:

1. The Covenant of Works (Do this and you shall live)
   • Adamic Covenant (Part 1)
     • Given to Adam in the garden - "... but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” - Genesis 2:17 (ESV)
2. The Covenant of Grace (It is finished)
   • God saves sinners through Christ alone - This is true in both the Old and New Testaments
   • The CoG is broken up into several Covenants that slowly "unravel" the mystery of God's plan of redemption through Jesus Christ:
     • Adamic Covenant (Part 2) - Genesis 3:15 
     • Noahic Covenant - Genesis 9:8-17
     • Abrahamic Covenant - Genesis 12:1-3 & Genesis 15
     • Mosaic Covenant - Exodus 19-~24
     • Davidic Covenant - 2 Samuel 7
     • The New Covenant - Luke 22

For a great layman's resource on Covenant Theology, I recommend Christ of the Covenants by O. Palmer Robertson.

Because we believe God when he promised to Abraham to be his God and his children's God forever, we baptize our children as an initiation into the New Covenant. We do not believe baptism is the direct cause of regeneration, but, like circumcision which it replaces, it places a sign upon that child and the child is granted membership into the covenant. The child is admitted to the Lord's Supper once they are able to confirm their baptism with a credible profession of faith. Unlike Baptists, we do not believe that the thing signified must be there before the sign is given, thus eliminating the distinction between the sign and the thing signified. Like Ishmael and Isaac, our children receive the sign, and then we rejoice when God is shown faithful in granting our prayers and gifting the child with faith (the thing signified).