The first and most important distinction between Rome and the Reformed Orthodox

Q1. What is the chief and highest end of man?
A. Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.

Just to be clear, this is from the “Westminster Larger Catechism”. After a century of contending with Roman Catholicism, the Reformed Orthodox perceived this issue to be the first and most important distinction between themselves and the Roman Catholics. Rome wants to deify itself and man; the Reformers sought God in his own glory, for His own sake.

Reformation500: Tony Phelps Teaches the Commandments through the Westminster Larger Catechism

The First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me”

Recently Pastor Tony Phelps has been teaching through the Ten Commandments using the Westminster Larger Catechism.

Recently, I’ve started to use the Westminster Larger Catechism’s exposition of the Ten Commandments as the basis for the homily before our corporate confession of sin. I plan to spend four Sundays on each commandment. And beginning with this post, I plan to share these homilies in my upcoming blogs, starting now:

If ever you think you’re doing pretty well in the Christian life. If you’re not feeling much like a sinner, but pretty darn holy. It’s time to sit yourself down and carefully read the Westminster Larger Catechism on the Ten Commandments. It’s a thorough, biblical exposition of each commandment – what duties each one requires, and what sins each one forbids. In fact, it’s so thorough, that we will only be able to sample it. But as we do, it will be more than sufficient to show us our sin and drive us to our Savior. …

Here is his four-part series on the First Commandment:

Part 1: http://reformation500.com/2013/05/20/yielding-all-obedience-submission-to-him-with-the-whole-man-fail/

(See also J.W. Wartick: http://jwwartick.com/2013/05/06/law-gospel-lutheran/)

Part 2: http://reformation500.com/2013/05/27/another-first-commandment-fail-ignorance-of-the-one-true-god/

Part 3: http://reformation500.com/2013/06/03/first-commandment-fail-3-bold-curious-searching-into-his-secrets/

Part 4: http://reformation500.com/2013/06/10/one-more-first-commandment-fail-legalism-and-the-deification-of-man/

Tony Phelps is pastor of Christ Our Hope PCA in Wakefield RI, the second largest PCA church in RI. (He says, “at the moment, there are only two; come to think of it, that makes us the smallest PCA church in RI.)