Refreshed In Chains
The gospel refreshes us even through the actions of others.
When Paul sent off Onesimus with this commendation and request, the gospel ensured that though Paul was left behind in chains, in a far more profound way, Paul himself was hand-delivering his own letter. This truth, that Paul’s identity was enveloped in and expressed through Onesimus’, is a profound fruit of the gospel truth best explained... Continue Reading
Here’s Why We Must Never Preach Legalism
The Bible is not law-centered, but it is Christ-centered and gospel-focused.
Some wrongly pit the Old Testament against the New Testament, asserting that the OT is law-focused and external while the NT is heart-focused and internal. Even a cursory reading of the OT makes clear that true righteousness always involved internal faith and a transformed heart. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart... Continue Reading
Judah’s Scepter
Jesus is that great Judean son.
Although peace was established by Judean kings such as David and Solomon, their reign could not establish it universally where “the obedience of the peoples” (v. 10) belonged to them, nor could they bring about a kingdom prosperity that provided eschatological abundance (vv. 11–12). They were a picture of a greater son of Judah, the... Continue Reading
Why Is God Upset with Threshold Jumpers?
This is actually exhibit A to display the depth of the Israelites idolatry.
They went to great trouble to adhere to the most minute detail of superstition and yet they trampled upon God’s law and ignore the most fundamental aspects of it. Their lives were controlled and patterned by “laws” that weren’t prescribed by God. It was evidence that they were receiving instruction from their surrounding culture instead of... Continue Reading
The Incomparable Conjunction of Love and Wrath
The Son becomes the object of the commingling of the love of the Father and the unmitigated wrath of the Father.
We must distinguish between the two kinds of love that the Father had for the Son. The first is that immutable, “infinite love that flows out from the Father to the Son because of the intrinsic relationship that they sustain to one another” (75). The second is “the love of complacency that flowed out with... Continue Reading
The Overgrown Tree of False Theology
As men look to this tree for wisdom, they receive superstition rather than revelation.
The only way that we can turn away from this tree is through the Word of God and the means of grace that the Lord Jesus Christ provides for growth in true theology. The Word of God must fill our minds and our hearts, and that must be with more awe and more reverence than that... Continue Reading
God’s Call to Excellence: A Challenge
We all know excellence when we see it.
Too often, we focus primarily on doing and neglect being. But doing is rooted in being! Jesus: asked, “Can a bad tree bear good fruit?” Therefore, in my book on excellence, before turning to specific virtues, I have chapters on holiness and sanctification as well as spirituality. Today, I want to invite you to think with me... Continue Reading
Love and Anger at the Cross?
Is it unorthodox to believe that, in some sense, the Father was angry with the Son when He hung on the cross in the place of His people to propitiate the wrath of the Father?
That the Father never stopped loving the Son–even when he hung on the cross–is one of the most important Christological truths upon which we can meditate. After all, it was Jesus who said, “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again” (John 10:17). Herman Witsius, the... Continue Reading
The Puritans on the Lord’s Supper (7)
The devil “will be with you at the sacrament to rob you of the comfort and hinder you from that joy that there you might be filled with.”
Reynolds said the Supper was ordained “to exhibit Christ” so as “to increase the mystical union of the church unto Christ their head.” Just as natural food strengthens our bodies by becoming part of them, so we receive “spiritual nourishment” from the Supper in “the vital Spirit of Christ” so that “Christ, being united unto... Continue Reading
Hell: What Sort of Place?
Hell is terrible beyond words precisely because it is not heaven.
Contrary to the teachings of some Christians, the Bible gives us every reason to believe that hell is a physical place that affects our physical bodies, in addition to its mental and spiritual torments. Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him... Continue Reading