Puritanism's Guiding Principles Pt. 2

Questions to answer in this Equipping Hour 1. Who exactly were the Puritans? 2. What can they contribute to your everyday walk with the Lord? 6 Principles that guided Puritanism 1. A critique of “idolatry” that encompassed the whole of Catholic worship 2. An understanding of divine revelation as xed or constant fi 3. High praise for the church on earth 6 Principles that guided Puritanism 4. “Discipline” as a necessary feature of the Christian community 5. An evangelical and social activism predicated on transforming self, church, and society “Idleness is the mother of unrighteousness… Never be idle, but be always well employed; for in my own experience I have found it, when the devil came to tempt me, I told him that I was not at leisure to hearken to his temptations, but was busy in my calling, and thereby resisted his assaults.” — George Swinnock (1627-1673) fl “If men are so busy as not to attend their souls, God will be so busy as to not bestow salvation… How much time do you squander away in long meals, in vain sports, in idle discourse, in super uous sleep! And yet you have the face to tell God that you have no time in a whole day to seek his favor, and to mind your eternal felicity? The truth is you do not so much want time as waste time.” — George Swinnock (1627-1673) Richard Sibbes (1577-1635) William Perkins (1558-1602) John Bunyan (1628-1688) 6 Principles that guided Puritanism 4. “Discipline” as a necessary feature of the Christian community 5. An evangelical and social activism predicated on transforming self, church, and society 6. Divine providence and apocalypticism Central Motifs of Puritan Theology 1. Covenant Theology Covenant of Redemption Covenant of Works Covenant of Grace Central Motifs of Puritan Theology 1. Covenant Theology 2. Sin 3. Faith & Repentance 4. Assurance Assurance “I may look to my graces as evidence of my part in Christ and salvation but not my causes; I may make use of duties as means to bring me to Christ and salvation but not to be saved by them…(God) looks not so much at what we are but what we would be, neither doth he measure us so much by our actions as by our affections.” — Nehemiah Wallington (1598-1658) Assurance “This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion, grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith, founded upon (1) the divine truth of the promises of salvation, (2) the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, (3) the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God; which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption.” —WCF Chapter 18.2 (1647) Central Motifs of Puritan Theology 1. Covenant Theology 2. Sin 3. Faith & Repentance 4. Assurance 5. The Law Central Motifs of Puritan Theology “A Golden Chain” — William Perkins Predestination Effectual Calling Justi cation Sancti cation fi fi fi Glori cation Predestination “By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death.” —WCF Chapter 3.3 (1647) “By His decree, and for the manifestation of His glory, God has predestined (or foreordained) certain men and angels to eternal life through Jesus Christ, thus revealing His grace. Others, whom He has left to perish in their sins, shows the terrors of His justice.” —2nd LBC Chapter 3.3 (1689) Effectual Calling “This effectual call is of God’s free and special grace alone, not from any thing at all foreseen in man; who is altogether passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed to it.” —WCF Chapter 10.2 (1647) Justi cation fi fi “Those whom God effectually calleth He also freely justi eth; not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous: not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone.” —WCF Chapter 11.1 (1647) Sancti cation fi fi “They who are effectually called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them are further sancti ed, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection, by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them.” —WCF Chapter 13.1 (1647) Glori cation fi “The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption; but their souls (which neither die nor sleep), having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies.” —WCF Chapter 32.1 (1647) Questions to answer in this Equipping Hour 1. Who exactly were the Puritans? 2. What can they contribute to your everyday walk with the Lord?