Hell to Pay: What Truly Happened to Jesus on the Cross?
Jesus underwent “a separation from the face of the Father” on the cross.
If Jesus wasn’t truly condemned on the cross, then we are not truly justified before God. If Jesus did not objectively suffer the equivalent of hell in his body and soul, then there will be hell for us to pay. Praise God that there was hell to pay for Jesus when “in my place, condemned... Continue Reading
Principles to Remember in Crisis: God Allows Circumstances for His Purposes
Jesus reveals the hand of God in the story of Lazarus.
In God’s plan, more was going on than what met the eye. Although uncomfortable physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, God allowed these circumstances in the lives of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha for something greater. The immediate circumstance did not reveal the totality of what God was doing. In our own circumstances, it is important to remember... Continue Reading
What Does It Mean to be Created in the Image or Likeness of God?
The image of God in man includes three important capacities.
God did not commune with any animal in Eden in the sense that He communed with Adam and Eve. He did not call out to any animals, “Where art thou?” There is a unique capacity in us to have communion with Him. Nature does not choose to praise God because it does not have the... Continue Reading
The Diseased Ethics of Bailout Culture
Examining Canada's entrenched kleptocracy.
Our culture has been shaped by the godless notion that compassion means the abolition of consequences. Addicts should be given a free home and a safe place to kill themselves. Career criminals should either be released, or sequestered away in a resort prison where he can think about what a bad boy he’s been. Corrupt politicians should... Continue Reading
How Can We Sing the Lord’s Songs in Babylon?
Daniel shows the exiles how to live joyfully and faithfully for God in Babylon.
This world is Babylon—the world in rebellion against the Lord. It presses in on us constantly, trying to squeeze us into its mould. It may seem like God is absent, that he has been ousted by the more powerful gods of Babylon—not Marduk, Ishtar and Adad any longer, but Self, Equality and Freedom. We may... Continue Reading
“The Most High Rules the Kingdom of Men” – Daniel 4:1-18 (An Exposition of the Book of Daniel–Part Eight)
Christ’s Kingdom Is Far Greater than Nebuchadnezzar’s
Christ’s kingdom may have a small and inauspicious beginning (twelve disciples) but it becomes far greater than any geopolitical empire (such as Nebuchadnezzar’s), as the gospel spreads to the end of the earth, through word and sacrament, in the power of the Holy Spirit. As the apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:8, “none... Continue Reading
The Carpenter and the Cross
The attributes of carpentry uniquely contributed to prepare Christ for his earthly ministry.
Why was Jesus born the son of a carpenter to work as a carpenter? The question remains answered only in the mind of God. Yet it can be said that the Father’s plan to atone for sin through Christ was perfect, and carpentry provided the perfect home life and work for the Son of God... Continue Reading
What Is Good Friday All About?
Jesus’s last words on the cross, “It is finished,” leave nothing in question that still needs to be accomplished. Jesus paid fully for all our sins. It is done, finished, and complete.
The final words of Jesus on the cross, “It is finished,” leave nothing in question that still needs to be accomplished. Jesus paid, in body and soul, for all our sins. It is done, finished, and complete. What a marvelous gospel the Christian faith announces: The just for the unjust, he “who knew no sin,... Continue Reading
8 Characteristics Incompatible with Christian Contentment
None of us are perfect in our battle against these eight sins.
Christian contentment opposes despair. For the believer, there should never be a time when we believe there is no hope. God can always open the doors of heaven (2 Kings 7:2). In other words, just because we do not see a way out does not mean God’s hands are tied. There is no situation in... Continue Reading
“I’m So Happy! I’m Going to Teach Children!”
We get to be among the first ones to plant those seeds that could grow into eternal life.
My grandmother wrote this keen observation as she began her time preparing to teach children: “I quickly began reading and studying the teacher’s book, then the pupil’s book, then the teacher’s book – until I realized that I had forgotten the most important Book: the Bible. Believe me, I’ve started with that Book first ever... Continue Reading
Difficult Incidents Shouldn’t Surprise Us
Being the family of God—if we’re doing it right—is going to be messy.
Most people who show up to an AA meeting don’t need to be convinced they have a sin problem. Christians should show up to church the same way, but with an even deeper hope. We don’t need to expect perfection or even social grace from all of our brothers and sisters all of the time.... Continue Reading
Jackals in the Ruins
Beware of these destructive charlatans.
There are Christian pastors and leaders who will never address the vital issues of the day, be it abortion, the assault on marriage and family, the violation of children by the trans agenda, and so on. They steer well clear of these issues, just feeding their flocks on happy and pleasant and non-threatening pep talks... Continue Reading
Crushed, Stricken, Victorious
How do we grow our trust of our Lord and His power over our sin?
Jesus showed Himself trustworthy by gaining the victory over sin when we were the transgressors. Through His resurrection, justifying work, and exaltation, Christ is worthy of our trust and confidence. When the apostle Peter read Isaiah 53 and saw what Jesus had done for His people, his response was to see Jesus’ suffering as a model of... Continue Reading
Raising Neurotic Wrecks
A Review of Abigail Shrier’s Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up
Bad Therapy should shake parents out of the world’s therapeutic parenting ideology. Then, of course, Christians will have to replace the worldly wisdom Shrier debunks with sound Biblical teaching. God is gracious and when we walk by faith and parent according to God’s design, we can be confident that we will raise godly children capable of... Continue Reading
Why Won’t the Librarians Blush?
Remember when librarians were considered the frigid do-gooders of society? Today, they no longer know how to blush.
If we don’t oppose events like the tranny story hour, we cede the war by handing over the next generation. These story hours are not an innocent opportunity for nice fairy people to give back to their community. These are confused, sinful people who are after generational acceptance. They want to confuse our children into... Continue Reading
How a Handful of Billionaires Created the Transgender “Movement”: An Interview with Jennifer Bilek
The medical-tech sector is trying to confer human rights upon a group who are seeking to disown their humanity.
The primary catalysts driving the gender industry are rooted in technological developments entwined with an unfettered market. Medical-sex identities, along with technological reproduction, are at the forefront of attempts to advance our species beyond our current human borders. The strategic linking of an agenda aimed at deconstructing reproductive sex with a civil rights movement centered... Continue Reading
Truthful Thinking Is Greater than Positive Thinking
We must concern ourselves with things that matter to God.
Truthful thoughts are greater than positive thoughts because truth sets us free (John 8:32). Positive thinking is great when immersed in truth. But positive thoughts often get unhinged from reality, causing us to get stuck in cycles of frustration and deception. Christianity claims that truth exists. Not my truth or your truth, but real,... Continue Reading
Dead or Alive?
Our Glorious Salvation, Part 2
Here is the truth: You don’t have to sin anymore! You are no longer a slave to sin as a ruler, but you are a slave to Christ and His grace. You have a choice and a power that you never had. You have been made right because of Christ, and you can use each... Continue Reading
Principles to Remember in Crisis: God’s Immediate Purposes Are Not Always Knowable
We do not know the intricacies of God’s plan.
It is impossible for us to discern exactly why anyone goes through crisis. Instead, we need to do two things: 1) Trust God and 2) Consider our own hearts to see if we are right with God. Recently in the first post of this series, we revealed that the Apostle Paul provided two vital... Continue Reading
3 Misunderstandings of Christian Contentment
Submission to God’s Sovereign Will in Hardship
Godliness with contentment is great gain, but we must not misinterpret what it is to such a degree that we turn this wonderful doctrine into something wretched. Godly contentment is not incompatible with feeling the pain of affliction, making our complaints known to God, or seeking lawful ways of escape. As Jeremiah Burroughs puts... Continue Reading
The Receding Tides of New Atheism
Book Review—"The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God," by Justin Brierley
The story of the West is so bound up in the story of Christianity that it is easy to forget the water we are all swimming in. This is true of the moral values we deem worth fighting for: “when we exalt humility and compassion, or champion the equality and dignity of every human being,... Continue Reading
When God Blesses Others and Not Us
Avoid the temptation of bitterness.
“The Spirit of the Lord is not straitened, and what he bestows on one corner of the vineyard is not given at the expense of another. It is rather designed to awaken a desire and expectation for like gifts of grace, where they have not yet been received, and to give manifest proof to all... Continue Reading
Therapeutic Antinomianism
The form of antinomianism most prevalent today is the belief that if Christians are straightforwardly taught that they must obey God they will actually be pushed away from God.
Therapeutic-antinomian preaching follows a predictable pattern. Take any imperative of Scripture, tell the congregation how they are unable to obey that imperative, and then urge them to trust that Christ has obeyed it for them. Then end the sermon. Every sermon will be the same, no matter the text. This week my wife wrote... Continue Reading
O Day of Rest and Gladness: A Biblically Charismatic Liturgy for the Lord’s Day
It is entirely possible that apart from one’s daily quiet time with the Lord, there is no more important activity for a Christian man or woman.
Because God desires to meet with his people, and because their needs are so very great, he carefully regulates his own worship. In particular, he gives us detailed instructions concerning the attitudes, actions, and procedures that are proper to the gathering of the whole church. We may think of these regulations as borders with which he surrounds, creates, protects,... Continue Reading
The Comity of Nations: Brief Thoughts on a Useful but Neglected Concept
The notion of minding one’s own country’s business is not the principle which governs contemporary politics.
Those that disregard comity make themselves judges over strangers in foreign places—in many cases ones they have never been, nor ever will be. The revolutionary desire for utopia leads people to work themselves into perpetual anxious fits over things well outside their power or responsibility. Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is... Continue Reading
The Holy Spirit’s Most Supernatural Work
Without the work of the Holy Spirit, there would be no salvation.
The Holy Spirit convicts sinners (Jn 16:8), but he does so by means of the Word he inspired, which is profitable for such conviction (2 Tm 3:16). The Holy Spirit regenerates dead hearts, but he does so by means of his Word. He does not “zap” new life in a person’s heart independently of the Word—”faith... Continue Reading
Is That Descriptive or Prescriptive? Ackshually, It’s Both
When we understand why the author included what is described we are in a position to think about what the scriptures intend to prescribe.
If we recognise that every bit of scripture is both describing and prescribing something, the question is this “descriptive” or “prescriptive”? becomes unhelpful and not a little limiting. If we always answer both, we are forced to ask how do we tell which is which? It can be more helpful to reframe our original question... Continue Reading
“Save Alive Nothing That Breathes”: How Should We Understand Divine Commands to Destroy? A Response to Paul Copan
Innate depravity alone justifies our deaths in corporate judgment, even those who have been saved through God’s grace.
God requires that the state, a collective entity, punish evildoers (Rom. 13:4). This “sword” can be carried by the state in dealing with its own citizens, or with the army of a foreign power. Of course, to go beyond those directly responsible for the evil being judged and to punish the innocent along with them... Continue Reading
What the EPC Can Learn from the PCA
We already share the same doctrine as the PCA and the reason we don’t want their kind of rigor is because we have historically prided ourselves on being more relaxed.
As B.B. Warfield put it, Reformed theology is “Christianity come into its own”, and the EPC should happily and clearly communicate that along confessional lines. There are important things that distinguish the EPC from the PCA, but our doctrine is not one. If we are going to contrast ourselves with other Christians, we should do... Continue Reading
Did My Sin Cause My Suffering?
Never confuse judgment and discipline.
Redemption doesn’t end our suffering in this life. Christians suffer (1 Thess. 3:3; 2 Thess. 1:5). But we suffer in the comfort that our pains are “in the hands of our all-wise, all-powerful, all-good Father.” Not in the hands of Satan, fate, or a god who’s self-amused by our pain. Every sting in life is appointed... Continue Reading