Jim Cassidy | The Seed of Abraham: Christ in the Patriarchs and the Promise
Release Date: 10/30/2025
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Vos Group #105 — Our Lord's Critique of Jewish Ethics
Reformed Forum
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Reformed Forum
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Reformed Forum
This is the first lesson in Dr. Lane G. Tipton’s Reformed Academy course, The Theology of Heaven in the Book of Hebrews. This lesson covers the following topics: Vos on the Relation and Distinction Between Heaven and Earth Vos on Heaven as the Supreme Reality Kline on the Endoxation of the Holy Spirit Register for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to dozens of additional video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and...
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Josiah Leinbach | William Whitaker's Disputation on Scripture
Reformed Forum
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The Structure of Church Government, Part 2 | The Doctrine of the Church (Lesson 7)
Reformed Forum
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Reformed Forum
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The Structure of Church Government, Part 1 | The Doctrine of the Church (Lesson 6)
Reformed Forum
This is the sixth lesson in Dr. James Cassidy's Reformed Academy course, The Doctrine of the Church. This lesson covers the following topics: The Structure of Church Government: Preliminary Considerations The Elders: Preliminary Considerations Presbuteroi How Many Offices? Overseers (Episkopos) The Deacons Register for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to dozens of additional video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and...
info_outlineDr. James Cassidy speaks at the Reformed Forum Annual Theology Conference, held at Lakeland Church in Gurnee, Illinois on September 27, 2025.
The lecture, titled “The Seed of Abraham, Christ in the patriarchs and the promise” by Dr. James Cassidy, addresses the common theological perception that New Testament authors, particularly the Apostle Paul in Galatians 3, give a “surprise ending” to the Old Testament, seemingly reading it against its original intent. Dr. Cassidy argues against this view by showing that the Abrahamic Covenant is fundamentally a covenant of grace, centered on Christ as the singular “offspring” of promise. He explains that the promise is both individual (Christ himself) and collective (all those redeemed through him from every nation), a subtlety Paul rightly handles without misinterpreting Genesis. Crucially, the address highlights that the subsequent giving of the Mosaic Law 430 years later did not and could not annul the original promise of justification by faith, thereby maintaining the primacy and immutability of God’s covenant of grace.
Chapter Markers
- 00:00 - Introduction
- 00:23 - Greetings and Reading of Galatians 3:15–20
- 02:20 - The “Surprise Ending” View of the New Testament Reading the Old Testament
- 04:13 - Three Parts of the Address: Paul’s Theology, Eschatology, and Primacy of the New Testament Reading
- 04:35 - Part 1: Paul’s Theology of Abraham’s Offspring (Galatians 3)
- 05:25 - Argument from the Lesser to the Greater: Human vs. Divine Covenants
- 07:13 - Paul’s Interpretation: Offspring is Singular (Christ) and not Plural (Ethnic Israel)
- 08:24 - The Grammatical Ambiguity of “Offspring” (Collective and Individual)
- 11:12 - The Individual and Collective Scope of the Offspring (Christ and the Church)
- 11:35 - The Law’s Function: It Did Not Annul the Promise to Abraham
- 13:30 - The True Seed of Abraham is Christ and Those In Him
- 14:13 - Part 2: The Eschatology of Abraham’s Promise
- 15:35 - The Delay in Fulfillment: Hope Against Hope (Romans 4)
- 18:24 - Abraham as the Archetypal Believer and the Nature of Saving Faith
- 20:18 - The Promised Land and the City Whose Builder is God (Heavenly Fulfillment)
- 22:15 - Christ is the Mediator of the Abrahamic Covenant
- 23:43 - The Abrahamic Covenant’s Fulfillment in the New Covenant
- 25:27 - **Part 3:** The Primacy of the New Testament’s Reading of the Old
- 26:40 - Reading the Old Testament Through the Lens of Christ
- 28:13 - The New Testament is the Proper Hermeneutical Key to the Old
- 30:17 - Application: Gospel Living and World Missions
- 32:00 - Conclusion and The Blessings to All Nations
- 35:55 - Final Exhortation