What is the Seal of the Holy Spirit?
Some Christians in the first centuries defined the seal of the Spirit as baptism itself.
We might say that baptism is the visible sign of the Spirit’s invisible work within us that tangibly shows God’s seal upon us and his promise to save in the gospel. Paul speaks of the Spirit sealing believers in three texts (2 Cor. 1:21–22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). While interpreters often associate this sealing with... Continue Reading
The Body of Christ: On the Nature of the Church (WCF 25.1–25.6)
The Westminster Confession utterly shatters a low view of the church.
While our experience of the visible church is fallible—flawed, messy, and subject to error—it remains the apple of God’s eye and the earthly expression of Christ’s bride. We must not abandon the visible church, for it is the very place where Christ has promised to meet us, feed us with His Word, and prepare us... Continue Reading
This Is How We Know We Know
The Holy Spirit not only designates a Christian by the knowledge of God, but also characterises knowledge by keeping the commandments.
Religion is not defined by a number of opinions, or by a collection of articles of faith, but rather by practice and obedience to the known will of God. This is because knowledge is a duty in relation to something else—it is instrumental to something else—it is not principally intended for itself, but for obedience.... Continue Reading
Absorbing Frustration in the Home
The Hidden Usefulness of Steady Strength
Christ doesn’t lead His bride with irritation and volatility, and He doesn’t abandon her in distress. He leads with strength under control. So when frustration rises in the home, the first response shouldn’t be explosion or retreat, but self-government. In my article yesterday about kingdom utility, I wrote that a husband is useful to... Continue Reading
Steve Mcqueen: Born Again, Set Free
When the king of cool met the King of kings, he fell to his knees.
Steve McQueen reportedly left life with a bible given to him by Billy Graham. According to his wife, he read it daily. Why? Because he had a new heart, new affections, new loves. He knew the Savior and had been adopted by God. Steve McQueen made The Great Escape. But he was sprung by... Continue Reading
A Fence, Not a Cage
Why the PCA needs a Directory for Worship that guides the church we have, not the church we imagine.
The work of reforming and strengthening worship is never finished by adopting a document. But it can be helped by one. A good Directory will not do the work of pastors and elders for them. But it can help pastors and elders do their work better. A constitutional Directory for Worship will not, by... Continue Reading
Bullet Points—Kinism and The Sin of Noticing
I have noticed that there is a broad spectrum of men who claim to be proponents of Kinism.
I have noticed that the term “race” does not appear in the Bible. It is a relatively new term in the history of mankind. The terms “race” and “ethnicity” have replaced the biblical word “nation.” The word nation refers, first of all, to a people who have a common biological ancestor. I have noticed... Continue Reading
No Church, No Problem?
The individualistic emphasis of evangelicalism stands in sharp contrast to the covenantal paradigm that we find in Scripture.
Like any family, the church needs proper discipline and order so that our personal and corporate life together will imperfectly but truly reflect the fact that the church is an embassy of Christ and the age to come even in this present evil age. God’s law, not our spontaneous sincerity, defines what we should do.... Continue Reading
The Visible Church As a “Corpus Per Mixtum”
There are only two categories of persons in the visible church: the regenerate in Christ, and all the rest (who are not regenerate).
In any body of Christians (of any size), there will be a “mixture” of those who are regenerated, and those who are not. The problem is, it is not always that easy to discern between the two. The good news is, God has not called us to know this. “Corpus per mixtum,” is Latin,... Continue Reading
What Should Christians Remember amid Tragedies?
Even when His goodness seems hidden by the shadow of a difficult providence, we can trust in the goodness of God.
Through suffering, God is conforming us to the image of His Son. When we are faced with personal tragedies, we should remember that God is not just working outside of us, but He is working in us. It was just after 11 p.m. on an unusually cold January night in north Florida when the... Continue Reading
A Reading in John of Damascus, with Commentary: Or, Another Problem with Theological Retrieval Demonstrated. (Part One)
Beware of those who have begun to commend retrieving the teachings of Eastern Orthodoxy. Of particular interest is John of Damascus.
Basil also said that “the idea of the image would be lost were it not to preserve throughout the plain and invariable likeness”. By that standard any image purporting to show Christ cannot be deemed his image, since we cannot know it preserves “plain and invariable likeness” to him—and since there are as many purported... Continue Reading
Facets of Gospel Grace (Part 2)
The Gospel as a Diamond
If the hearers of the gospel do not witness the glory of Christ in the image of God through all the blessings of the gospel, then we have not yet seen what finally makes the gospel truly good news—the Person of God himself. We have pictured the gospel as a glorious diamond reflecting biblical... Continue Reading
The Third Best Gift to Give Our Children
Adults have allowed children to not accept the responsibility of work.
From an early age, work must be taught, positively modeled by adults, and regularly practiced by children. This is one of the best gifts we can give to children. I guess it could be subjective as to what is best to give our children. Even though God is the one who changes their heart,... Continue Reading
Harness the Power of Failure
Failure need not be final. In fact, failure can be the first step towards greater success if you handle it humbly.
If we are able to be humble and evaluate ourselves honestly when we fail, if we will listen to others when they come with corrections and critiques, and if we will be willing to admit we were wrong, then we put ourselves in a position where we can grow from failure. I was listening... Continue Reading
A Directory with a Smile
Why the PCA Should Welcome the Revised Directory for Worship
The revised Directory gives the PCA an opportunity to say that the worship of our Triune God is not an afterthought.…Worship is the highest privilege of the Christian and the church’s glad response to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. For that reason, we should receive this proposal with gratitude, read it carefully,... Continue Reading
Walking with an Unseen Limp: God’s Enduring Faithfulness in the Private Pain of a Pastor’s Wife
The pain of a pastor’s wife is often as unseen as her work.
When other Christians cause us pain, we can be tempted to think, I love Jesus, I just don’t want anything to do with the church. But Jesus is not a brideless groom. His bride is the church, and he has called every believer to be a part of her and to fiercely love her because... Continue Reading
What Are We Looking At?
The psalmist prayed: “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things…”
Sometimes, we hear people say they are “living the dream,” and we feel sorry for them, because their “dream” life is inferior to the better things and life that God gives. They are deceived as to what is valuable and what is worthless. In Psalm 119:37a, the psalmist prays for something important that you... Continue Reading
A Protestant Appraisal of “Rock & Sand”: Sola Scriptura Properly Understood
“Rock and Sand” is useful, not as a refutation of classical Protestantism, but as a mirror held up to evangelical weakness.
What is needed is not a retreat to Rome or Constantinople, but a retrieval of the Protestant tradition that predated the individualism and heart religion that came from the Great Awakenings. Protestantism is the solution, not the problem. Fr. Josiah Trenham is one of the top online personalities influencing people to convert to Eastern... Continue Reading
Is Jesus Christ the Natural and Adopted Son of God?
The doctrine of adoption in union with Christ stands at the heart of the gospel’s account of filial communion with God.
Editor’s Note: This post contains two essays, the first by Dr. Robert Letham and the second by Dr. Lane G. Tipton. Because these essays interact with David B. Garner’s view concerning the Son’s adoption as set forth in his book Sons in the Son, Ref21 has invited Dr. Garner to respond in these pages if he... Continue Reading
The LORD Will Provide: A Father, a Son, and a Sacrifice on Moriah (Gen. 22:1–19)
God did provide for Himself the Lamb. His name is Jesus.
When Abraham named the mountain Yahweh Yireh, he wasn’t just talking about the ram in the thicket. He was prophesying. Two thousand years later, on that very same mountain range, another Father led His “only Son, whom He loved” up the hill. That Son also carried the wood of His sacrifice on His back. That... Continue Reading
Enemy Engagement
Christ’s solitary battle would not be for His victory alone. It would be for ours.
Just as Satan in the Garden appealed to human desire so he did with Jesus who had gone forty days and forty nights without food. Just as he did in the Garden, Satan sought to lead the second Man to test God. Just as the devil quoted God’s word in the Garden, so he twisted... Continue Reading
One Day, God Will Wipe away His People’s Tears
Our tears are all recorded in Heaven’s books.
When Jesus wipes away all our tears with His gentle, omnipotent hand, I believe our eyes will fall on the scars that made our suffering His, so that His eternal joy could become ours. “He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the... Continue Reading
Don’t Waste the Gift
What happens when we stop treating God's blessings as the ultimate prize.
A life is wasted when it is spent chasing things, even good things. But the life that is hidden with Christ in God, that life has no waste. Marriage, singleness, talents, and times, those things are the gift, not the prize. You waste your life when you live for those things. But you enjoy life... Continue Reading
Let the Lord’s Righteousness Comfort Your Soul
As we live in a world full of injustice, let us not forget who is both King and Judge.
Though the wicked foolishly live as though God has not seen what they have done and that there is no justice coming to them, God has seen and will repay them to their face for every evil act and even every evil intention of their heart. As the psalmist concludes his song, “He will bring... Continue Reading
The Self-Devouring Argument from Evil
The atheist's sharpest weapon turns in his hand.
To call suffering “wrong” is to invoke a framework in which “ought” and “ought not” have real purchase, and that framework does not come free of charge with materialism. The atheist does not merely borrow the word. They borrow the entire architecture that gives the word its force. Injustice, violation, the conviction that things have gone... Continue Reading
Understanding the Difference Between Critical Theory and Critical Race Theory
Critical race theory is a nephew rather than the firstborn son of critical theory.
For the critical theorist, culture was front and center, after economics and traditional Marxism. For critical race theorists, clearly, race is front and center, and that was not a particularly big emphasis for the critical theorist, with one exception—Herbert Marcuse. Downstream from Critical Theory How should we think about critical theory as compared to... Continue Reading
How I Met the Biblical Jesus (And Lost the Shallow One)
Jesus as a real person mysteriously reveals the personal heart of God, assuring me that I am not alone in an impersonal universe.
The Gnostic Jesus, like the Buddha, Lao-tse, or Sufi masters, offers deep teaching on esoteric spirituality—techniques that quickly become salvation by works. What attracts me to the biblical Jesus is that he came not just to teach but to accomplish a task I cannot accomplish myself. By his actions alone, in obedience to God his... Continue Reading
Is It Wrong to See Jesus in the Old Testament?
We can see Jesus in the Old Testament when others don’t because Jesus reveals Himself by his Spirit to those who trust in Him.
Why do Jews today fail to see Jesus as the promised Messiah? Doesn’t this show that Jesus is not clearly portrayed in the Old Testament as we think he is? While differences in interpretation and tradition certainly shape how people read these texts, I would like to argue that, in cases like this, the reason... Continue Reading
Muslim Countries Build Mosques in the West While Persecuting Christians at Home
Construction of Islamic worship centers funded by Turkey, Qatar, and Iran has been welcomed by Western politicians eager to court the Muslim immigrant vote.
“Qatar is today a leading funder of Islam in Europe,” Malbrunot said in an interview with Swiss television RTS in 2019. He said Qatar was doing this through a network of connections close to the Muslim Brotherhood. At home, however, Qatar has a completely different policy towards Christians. Islam is Qatar’s state religion, with the country’s... Continue Reading
Jesus Is Awkwardly Exclusive, Radically Inclusive, and Stubbornly Objective
The claims of Jesus have become more credible since he first made them.
When Jesus died on a Roman cross, he had just a few dozen followers. He’d claimed he was the great King whom God had promised to send to the Jewish people. But instead of being crowned, he’d been killed. A reasonable observer might have thought this little Jewish sect would fizzle out—extinguished like a cigarette... Continue Reading