Ligonier Ministries

Is there anything wrong with using the “sinner’s prayer”?

NICHOLS: It’s in one of my favorite Johnny Cash songs, so I would have to say no—but really let me say this: I love the Book of Common Prayer—the old one, not the new stuff. They had a prayer for …Read More

Is there evidence of Adam and Eve’s repentance and faith after the fall?

Obviously, Adam and Eve experienced a profound sense of guilt and shame, which Scripture teaches. Even though they fled from God and hid from God, two things stand out in that narrative. One, the first act of redemption recorded in …Read More

What is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?

THOMAS: Interestingly enough, we talked a little bit about this today in a course that I was teaching here for Ligonier. We talked about the change of view that has taken place since the Puritan period in the seventeenth century. …Read More

I was baptized before conversion. Should I be baptized again after coming to faith?

No one is ever required to be baptized again. That’s a point Calvin makes very strongly throughout his writings. Baptism, by its very nature, can only happen once. Now, of course, the people who want to baptize you after you …Read More

How were people saved in the Old Testament?

LAWSON: There is only one way of salvation. It is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. There is not one way to be saved in the Old Testament and a different way to be saved in the …Read More

Should fear play a role in our evangelism?

My mentor, who was an expert on the theology of Jonathan Edwards, once wrote a little chapter in a book called “Justifying a Scare Theology.” Of course, if anybody was the master of scaring people with his theology, it was …Read More

Should we cast lots today to help us make decisions?

I would say no, because we are not under the direct prescription of God to cast lots as a way of discerning His will. There were strict controls on the way in which that was handled in the priesthood, with …Read More

How do I know if I am saved?

You know that you’re saved because salvation begins to appear in your life. You desire new and different things. The law of God that you regarded as an enemy and an irritation becomes a friend, and you want to keep …Read More

Does the incarnation mean that God has changed in space and time from that point on? If not, why and how do we respond to the question?

SPROUL: The first part is very easy—He certainly does not change. In His being, He is immutable. In the incarnation, He took upon Himself a human nature. He didn’t stop being God and become a human being. To affirm He …Read More

Why do some Christians use the Westminster Confession while others use the Three Forms of Unity?

Coming out of the Reformation there were different branches, but they all agreed on a couple of things. They agreed that they were against Catholicism. They agreed on the five solas of the Reformation. They were committed to the sovereignty …Read More