4 Approaches to Understanding the Redemptive Nature of Scripture
An approach to understanding the redemptive nature of all biblical texts is to identify how God’s Word predicts, prepares for, reflects, or results from the person and/or work of Christ.
Every text, seen in its redemptive context, is reflecting an aspect of humanity’s fallen condition that requires the grace of God. Focus upon this fallen condition will inevitably cause readers to consider the divine solution characteristic of the grace that culminates in the provision of the Savior. All of Scripture Bears Witness We should... Continue Reading
Did the Church Create the Bible?
This question of whether the church is over the Bible also comes up in the world of critical scholarship.
Critical scholars will often make the point that, historically speaking, the church essentially created the canon sometime in the fourth or fifth century. The canon is merely a human product. So, there is unexpected common ground here between the Roman Catholic view and the historical-critical view. While the former believes these books are divinely inspired,... Continue Reading
Do I Need to Follow a Pattern While Praying?
Following the structure and topics of the biblical prayers is a good practice.
Consider this: we find many prayers in the Bible, but we don’t find any texts that say, “You must pray according to this pattern.” The closest we get is the Lord’s Prayer. Teaching His disciples how to pray, our Lord prefaced the prayer by saying, “When you pray, say . . .” (Luke 11:1–4), and, “Pray... Continue Reading
What Corrie ten Boom Taught Me about Suffering
In some of the darkest, most evil circumstances in human history, Corrie planted her feet on the firm foundation that is Jesus Christ.
Corrie ten Boom and her family boldly risked their lives to hide Jews in their home during World War II. After betrayal by a fellow Dutch citizen, they were sent to a Nazi concentration camp. Corrie was the only member of her family to survive the horror. “I could never do what she did,”... Continue Reading
The Universalistic Passages
God is the absolute sovereign Ruler of heaven and earth, and we are never to think of Him as wishing or striving to do what He knows He will not do.
Arminians insist that in II Peter 3:9 the words “any” and “all” refer to all mankind without exception. But it is important first of all to see to whom those words were addressed. In the first verse of chapter 1, we find that the epistle is addressed not to mankind at large, but to Christians:... Continue Reading
The Apostles’ Creed: The Resurrection & the Life
The “resurrection of the body” reminds us that to be fully human is to be soul and body.
When I stand and read these words with my brothers and sisters on a Sunday morning, each sentence in the Creed encapsulates so many vital truths of scripture. This often moves me to tears as I reflect on who God is and all that He has done. But of late, the last statement has been... Continue Reading
Defeat and Victory in the Church
Paul;s outrage was grounded in the public shame the church had to endure.
The judges of Corinth did not share in the common faith of the early believers and did not belong to the covenantal community. But what led up to this lawsuit? In the same verse, Paul states that neither party was willing to be wronged. The first mark of a church in defeat is when believers... Continue Reading
Like A Beast
If you allow yourself to believe that lasting fulfillment can be found in the comforts of the physical world, then your everyday life will be a hot pursuit of pleasure.
If we don’t protect our heart, we can function with a distorted worldview. This world was never designed to satisfy us, but we ask it to. People won’t submit to the law of our kingdom for very long, but we try to force them. Circumstances won’t obey our commands, yet we are surprised when they... Continue Reading
The Twofold Obedience of Christ
“But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.”
Believers’ union with Christ means that “in Christ Jesus” we are considered to have the same (perfect) “wisdom . . . , righteousness . . . sanctification, and redemption” that Christ possesses. This does not mean that we possess these attributes in our personal existence on earth. Instead, we are represented by Christ as becoming these things because of our... Continue Reading
How Should We Understand Genesis 3:16b Looking Through The Lens of Song of Song? (Part 3)
To understand how God hates abuse and why he gives incentives to encourage husbands not to abuse their wives, both the OT and NT must be interwoven and overlaid.
Lust is the fruit of worshiping self-absorption. Lust breaks the marriage Covenant. Lust commits the waywardness sins of horizontal and vertical alienation; it’s an act of disobedience. God’s Word, as spoken to us in Song, should now convince every husband and wife that marital sex is the greatest thing ever! What man would ever want... Continue Reading