Can Christians Affirm Multiple Wills in God?
Any position that posits multiple wills in God potentially can disrupt the unity of the one, simple God.
If the Father and Son do not have a unified will and nature which can be distinguished by subsistent relations or origin (eternal generation), then the unity of God comes under threat. And specifically, the Arians threatened God’s unity by not affirming eternal generation and instead affirming some sort of relation in which the Father... Continue Reading
Prodigal Daughter
I am a sinner, ransomed and redeemed, lost and found.
That night on the floor with my Bible, I realized that I had two options. The first, of course, was to give in to the despair and walk away for good. In so many ways, it would have been easier. I was so far into the world already, and I desperately wanted what it offered—status,... Continue Reading
Uses of the Law in Psalm 119
Think of this as a starting point for considering the uses and purposes of God’s law.
As strangers and sojourners in this barren land, we are not left without instructions. Just as the Old Testament Jews had Moses as their guide to the promise land, we too have been given instructions for life as we wait to enter our eternal promise land (vs. 54). God’s law shows us the path we... Continue Reading
Time Does not Exist (It Has no Substance)
Everything that has a beginning has motion.
When our bodies grow matter and develop, we call this age. When our bodies atrophy and begin to shut down, we too call this age. We define our own age on the basis of the earth’s rotation and orbit around the sun. One orbit of the earth around the sun, one year we gain. ... Continue Reading
What Is the Kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God is wherever God reigns, and since He reigns everywhere, the kingdom of God is everywhere.
God’s messianic kingdom will be ruled by God’s appointed Messiah, who will be not just the Redeemer of His people, but their King. So when John speaks of the radical nearness of this breakthrough, the intrusion of the kingdom of God, he’s speaking of this kingdom of the Messiah. Suppose someone asked you that... Continue Reading
Why the Third Day?
The Promise of Resurrection in all of Scripture
Following the original creation of humanity, Jesus’s resurrection unto glory is the most decisive event in the history of mankind, for it brings the dawning of the new creation and validates that those in Christ are no longer imprisoned under sin, the payment for which is death. The New Testament is clear that the Scriptures... Continue Reading
On The Canons Of Dort (31): Doubts, Carelessness, and Godliness
The Remonstrants were convinced that the Reformed faith did not produce sufficient godliness.
The Reformed were Augustinian Protestants. They believed the historic doctrine of original sin. They saw Luther’s doctrine of salvation sola gratia, sola fide in Scripture. They were realistic about the Christian life. They knew that sinners sin—that even those who have been redeemed by Christ and regenerated by the Holy Spirit continue to struggle with sin and... Continue Reading
Where then is Boasting? It is Excluded; by What Kind of Law? Of Works? No, But by a Law of Faith
For many years my understanding of salvation and its doctrines was very fuzzy compared to my understanding now.
During those years of doctrinal “confusion” I based my salvation on something I had done. I based my assurance on things I did. When I witnessed to others during that time the emphasis was on bringing people to make a decision followed by them reciting a sinner’s prayer. As well meaning as all of that... Continue Reading
Tried with Fire: Why Us?
Adam’s sin brought death and its brood upon both humankind and the created order.
Romans 8 and Romans 5 have to be taken together. First, Romans 5:12Open in Logos Bible Software (if available) links human suffering and death to Adam’s original sin. Then Romans 8 teaches that human suffering and “natural” suffering (i.e., the suffering of the created order) are tied together. These notions form a single, biblical idea... Continue Reading
Is Homosexual Practice No Worse Than Any Other Sin?
Scripture shows (1) sins do differ in significance to God and (2) God regards homosexual practice as a particularly severe sexual sin.
However, the idea that, if the church had just delivered the message on homosexual practice as sin with more love and more balance, there wouldn’t be any expression of anger and bitterness from the gay-rights community is preposterous. Jesus was a loving guy and yet he was crucified for speaking the truth. Sin hates any... Continue Reading