Welcome to the Reformed Bible Study. Question 33 of the Heidelberg Catechism asks why Jesus alone is called God's only begotten Son, since we also are the children of God. As we look at it together, we will weigh a recent challenge to the phrase "only begotten" that bears directly on the deity of Christ. The Catechism answers by contrasting Christ's eternal, natural sonship with our adoption through grace for his sake. In that distinction believers find both firm confidence before the Father and a sure bond with one another as members of one family.

Welcome to the Reformed Bible Study. From the fire on Mt. Carmel back through Eden, the Flood, and the plagues of Egypt, Scripture records contest after contest in which a rival claims power, the LORD accepts the challenge, and the outcome never hangs in doubt. The only question is, Who will join the confession that was made when Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal? They proclaimed, "The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God" (1 Kings 18:39).

Welcome to the Reformed Bible Study. Question 32 of the Heidelberg Catechism asks why you are called a Christian, and its answer gives that familiar name far more weight than most believers realize: by faith you are a member of Christ and a partaker of his anointing as prophet, priest, and king. In this lesson we consider what it means to confess his name, to present ourselves a living sacrifice of thankfulness, and to fight against sin and the devil with a free and good conscience in this life, and to reign with him forever.

Welcome to the Reformed Bible Study. Elijah the Tishbite enters the sacred record with no genealogy and no recorded call, announcing drought to a king who had made Baal the religion of the realm, and his ministry runs from a widow in Sidon to the fire that fell on Mt. Carmel and consumed the evening sacrifice to the stolen vineyard of Naboth. In this lesson we ask why God raised up such a prophet, and how the man who stood with Moses on the mount of transfiguration served the purpose of the whole prophetic office: to prepare the way for Christ.

Welcome to the Reformed Bible Study. Solomon's apostasy split the kingdom his father built, and in Jeroboam's rebellion and Rehoboam's folly we watch covenant unfaithfulness bear its bitter fruit. But even here, the LORD preserves a remnant for David's sake, a mercy that points beyond every failed son of David to the one King who never divides His kingdom or shares His worship.

Welcome to the Reformed Bible Study. Today we turn to Solomon, whose divinely given wisdom raised the temple, brought Israel to the height of its glory, and carried redemptive history one step nearer to the greater Son of David to come. His reign holds both grace and folly together, and offers, in equal measure, covenant instruction for the church today.

Welcome to the Reformed Bible Study. The Psalms are Israel's hymnal — one hundred fifty poems that range from the midnight of David's cave to the bright certainty of a coming King, and that have served, as Luther put it, as a Bible in miniature for every generation that has prayed through them. In this lesson we survey the book's structure, its poetry, its authors, and the remarkable thread that runs from David's own anointing and suffering all the way to the greater David who cried from the cross with David's words on his lips.

Welcome to the Reformed Bible Study. King Saul is one of the Bible's most sobering figures — a man who had every advantage. He was king and won an early victory. He also prophesied among the prophets. Yet he disobeyed God, pursued David relentlessly, and ended his days consulting a witch in secret. Saul's story is not ultimately about himself, but about a covenant God who, through Saul's spectacular failures, was preparing a better king.