Category: Pre-confession Class Doctrinal Review

A. Introduction. 1. The knowledge of God: a. Is it possible to know God? Why can not man arrive at such knowledge? b. God is revealed in: 1) Creation. 2) Scripture. 2. Scripture as the revelation of God. a. How we came to have Scripture: 1) Primary Author and secondary “authors.” 2) The Spirit guides…

A. The creation of the heavens and the earth. 1. The manner of creation: a. In six days of creation—what was formed on each day? b. The six days—how are they to be understood? How long are they? 1) The views which we must condemn: a) Evolution. b) The period-theory of the creation days. 2)…

A. The necessity of a Mediator. 1. What God’s justice requires which makes a Mediator necessary: a. The righteous God can never ignore nor forget about sin. b. But God demands complete payment in harmony with His justice for every sin. 2. Man can never save himself from his sins: a. He could never do…

A. The “ordo salutis” or order of our salvation: 1. Salvation is one whole—it can not be cut into parts. 2. Yet there is a logical order in that salvation: a. The order is true as far as our conscious experience of it is concerned. b. Following the order, we can see what it is…

A. What the church is. 1. The use of the name: “church”. 2. The attributes of the church: a. Holy (in Christ and principally) b. Catholic (universal: of all nations, tribes, tongues, and languages). c. Apostolic (built upon the truths of God’s Word as taught by the apostles). d. Oneness (in Christ the church is…

A. The believer’s death. 1. What death is: a. The sentence of God upon the sinner. b. Death can be spoken of in a three-fold sense: 1) Physical death—of the body. 2) Spiritual death—separation from the face of God. 3) Eternal death in hell—the lot of the wicked reprobate. 2. Necessity for the believer’s death:…

I. The first point: “Relative to the first point which concerns the favorable attitude of God towards humanity in general and not only towards the elect, Synod declares it to be established according to Scripture and the Confessions that, apart from the saving grace of God shown only to those that are elect unto eternal…