Trinity Reformed Church

If inheriting the promise is contrary to obtaining the promise by law, why the law? And if the law was given to increase transgression, is the law contrary to the promises of God? Paul addresses these biblical/ theological questions. His answers are foundational to our faith.

God's promises are graciously bestowed. They cannot be earned by law-keeping. He promised them to Abraham and his offspring, who is Christ, and they have been given to Abraham and his offspring.

God's blessing and his cursing are always just. We cannot earn God's blessing by keeping the law. Imperfect law-keeping earns us the just disfavor of the Lord. The law is insufficient to make us righteous before God. Christ became a curse for us that we might have the blessing of God. By him, we are justified, adopted into Abraham's family, and receive the promised Holy Spirit.

Is Abraham your father? If so, how? Why does that relationship matter?

The whole of the Christian life, from regeneration to glorification, is lived by hearing with faith in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Trading the works of Christ for our works is the pinnacle of foolishness. When we try to contribute some of our works as a means of obtaining right standing before God, we will stand before him based on our works alone. Christ has been placarded before our eyes as crucified. He has achieved all for us. Let us not make a foolish trade.

A Christmas Eve Message on the Gospel of the birth Jesus Christ, Immanuel. Jesus is just what we needed in a savior. He is the God- Man, God with us.

Advent season is a season of looking forward both to Christ's first advent and his second. Isaiah gives us hope by showing us who our messiah is, how he will rule, and what his kingdom looks like. There is no greater kingdom and no greater king.

Darkness pervades the world. 700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah was talking about him as the messianic king who would bring light into the darkness.

The first message in the 2019 Advent season. God would not see his image-bearers utterly defeated at the beginning of his divine drama. Neither would the just God go back on his promise, "you shall surely die if you eat of the tree." Genesis 3:15 gives us hope that the seed of Eve will ultimately triumph over the devil. In Christ, God both brings glory to his people and sustains his justice, all t...

Life is given and sustained so that we can give thanks to God. Thanksgiving is meant to be spread. We learn from Hezekiah that thanksgiving proceeds from personal gratitude, out into the family, and further into corporate worship. God has created and sustained us to give thanks to him and spread thanks over the globe for his glory.

Is Jesus a minister of sin? Does he "make us sinners?" Should we really seek to find righteousness in the man who most reveals our sin? Should we look for life in death? These are paradoxical questions Paul answers in this text.

This sermon lays out some foundational definitions and distinctions for the discussion of the topic of justification by faith alone in Christ alone. Justification comes not by works of the law but by faith in Christ.

It is a life long struggle to walk more and more in step with the gospel. In this message, we learn from the example of the apostles. Even Peter fearing men more than God made serious blunders. What is critical is that we submit ourselves to the corrective authority of the gospel.

Paul and the apostles received the gospel message as well as the call to preach that message from the Lord Jesus. Paul verified his gospel after some time preahing it to the gentiles. This verification was not strictly necessary, but it was helpful. We see that the gospel the apostles preached was singular and settled. This is because the source of authority from which the true gospel proceeds is...

How can I know I am saved? The things that I do cause me to question my worth in God's sight. The nature of God's preserving grace is just that, grace. God's true children cannot fall away from saving grace. God preserves those who are his.

Servants of Christ seek to please their master. The gospel of Jesus Christ is offensive to the world, but it is pleasing to God. The call upon the Christian is to both believe and testify to the one true Gospel, bear its reproach, and enjoy the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.

Threats encroach upon the purity of the Gospel in the lives of Christians and in the church. We need to be warned of these threats and to daily repent of our pet false gospels.

Galatians addresses the most important question we can ask: how can we be made right with God? Paul opens this letter with an abridged version of the rest of the book. The answer is found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who died for sins to the glory of the Father and heralded by his apostles.

Concluding our series on Habakkuk, God is the only viable source of joy to be had in this life. In the gravest of tragedies our fallen estate of sin and misery has to offer, we can follow Habakkuk's confession of faith. God himself gives and he takes. He is our joy. He is our strength.

Habakkuk's hymn of faith teaches us to believe God who is both the God of wrath and the God of mercy. God marches through the earth as a mighty, warrior king. He is terrifying. When his weapons are pointed at us we should tremble, and rottenness should enter into our bones. But the King marches for his people. He goes forth for our salvation.

In a sinful and confusing world, God's power is our reliable grounding point. He has shown himself to be powerful to his people and to the world. He is a mighty and terrifying warrior, who saves his people. God is merciful and just. His wrath reminds us of his fierce and terrible power. That same power he uses to bring salvation to his own.

How do we approach the living God in worship? Is he a consuming fire for us? Is he worthy of acceptable worship, with reverence and awe? Habakkuk chapter 3 is a hymn of prayer for the corporate worship of the saints. We learn by example what it means to worship the God of heaven with a sense of holy fear.

God's glory is the supreme good in his universe. How comforting it is to know that God will never fail his own glory. His law will be known. Justice will be upheld. The nations will bend the knee. As the Saints await our day of vindication, we have great confidence in the renown of the name of the Lord.

God's ways are not our ways. As we have seen throughout Habakkuk, we are often perplexed at God's interactions with the World. There are two responses, we can rise up in pride and unbelief or we can submit in Faith.