Theological term
Moralism
6 sermons · All terms
The Manifestation of God's Grace
Titus 2:11–15 presents God's grace not merely as the ground of salvation but as the very teacher of holy living. This exposition traces four aspects of grace in the passage: its appearance in the incarnation and atoning work of Christ, its instruction toward denial of ungodliness and worldly lusts and pursuit of sober, righteous, and godly life, its demonstration in the deity of the returning Christ and the definite redemption he accomplished, and its proclamation through authoritative gospel ministry. The controlling hermeneutical key is the grammatical and theological priority of the indicative over the imperative: believers obey not in order to be saved but because they have been saved, and inverting that order collapses the gospel into moralism.
The Persistent Problem of Idolatry
Romans 1:18–32 sets the universal guilt of mankind before any presentation of the gospel, and this exposition argues that the root of all social and moral disorder is not first a behavioral problem but a theological one: the suppression of God's self-revelation and the exchange of His glory for creature-worship. Paul's descent from ungodliness to unrighteousness maps directly onto contemporary culture, and the three divine abandonments of verse 24, 26, and 28 are read not as future threat but as present judicial reality. Believers are called to recognize idolatry as a persistent personal danger — of theology, innovation, utilitarianism, Mammon, and self — and to find the only antidote in the cross of Christ.
The Third Announcement of Jesus' Death
Matthew 20:17–19 records Jesus' third and most detailed formal announcement of his coming death, functioning as a table of contents for the remainder of Matthew's Gospel. The passage identifies four prophetic elements: the betrayal of the Son of Man to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council's condemnation, the delivery to the Gentiles for mocking and scourging, and the triumph of resurrection on the third day. This announcement is grounded in the Covenant of Redemption — the pretemporal compact between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — the fulfillment of Old Testament Scripture, and the necessity of saving God's elect from their sins. The sermon calls the church to receive, embrace, and worship in response to the gospel, and calls the unbeliever to flee the wrath of God by faith in Christ crucified and risen.
The Significance of the Resurrection
Romans 4:25 presents what Charles Hodge called 'a comprehensive statement of the Gospel': Christ was delivered up because of our offenses and raised because of our justification. This sermon expounds the two parallel clauses of that verse, arguing that the death of Christ was a particular, substitutionary, propitiatory sacrifice for the definite sins of God's elect, and that the resurrection is the Father's public attestation that the atonement was fully accepted and justification secured. The practical implication is that justified sinners — not improved moralists — have peace with God and an unshakeable hope grounded not in exemplary preaching but in the historical, redemptive work of Christ.
The Corporate Conduct of the Believer
Colossians 3:15–17 sets out three governing marks of the believer's corporate life in the church: the peace of Christ ruling as referee over all relationships, the Word of Christ dwelling richly as the church's food and curriculum, and every act done in the name of Christ to the Father's glory. The sermon insists that these marks flow not from moral effort but from the gospel itself — from justification by faith, which produces peace with God that must then govern peace among God's people. Believers are exhorted to be gluttons for Scripture, to sing doctrinally sound psalms and hymns that are God-exalting rather than self-centered, and to cultivate gratitude as a constant recognition that all goodness is grace.
True and False Religion: Almsgiving
Matthew 6:1–4 expounds the general principle governing all acts of Christian piety: deeds of righteousness are corrupted not by their practice but by the motive of seeking human approval. Christ assumes that His redeemed people will give alms, but He warns that charitable deeds performed to secure the praise of men constitute a completed transaction — the hypocrite receives his reward in full and forfeits the approval of God. The positive instruction calls for a secrecy so thorough that the believer guards against self-congratulation, resting in the promise that the Father who sees in secret will reward openly. The sermon grounds the call to cheerful, hidden generosity in the supreme act of almsgiving: Christ leaving the riches of heaven to become poor, that sinners through His poverty might become rich.