“Ill-Advised Zeal for Righteousness”: Calvin and That Awfully Divisive Person in Your Church
The most effective way to discourage your pastor is to be a source of discord in your church.
Here, he makes a remarkably helpful distinction. The schismatic wants the church to be entirely perfect, and its failure to be perfect means it is no true bride. Calvin takes a more measured, and quite frankly more beautiful, approach. He says that “it is also no less true that the Lord is daily at work... Continue Reading
Faith for the Fog
As I talk with neighbors and co-workers, underneath each conversation is a palpable sense of concern about the future.
I know I feel it. A new boss and changes at work are making me wonder if my job will still be there next year. Also, my wife and I decided, just before the coronavirus quarantines, to move to a new house within walking distance of the schools our boys attend. But ever since, it’s... Continue Reading
A Constellation of Wonders
Truly, Jesus “sets no bound to his own forgiveness.”
Spurgeon remarked that our forgiveness of each other is “a very small matter” when compared to the fact that God forgives “not his fellows, but his rebel subjects, guilty of treason against his majesty.” Indeed, he mused “Could there be a sweeter word in any language than that word ‘forgiveness,’ when it sounds in a... Continue Reading
What Difference Does an Inerrant Bible Make?
"We affirm that a confession of the full authority, infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture is vital to a sound understanding of the whole of the Christian faith."
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy strikes a delicate balance. It affirms that the doctrine of inerrancy is “vital to a sound understanding of the whole of the Christian faith” and that to deny it has grave consequences for the individual and the church. However, this statement also makes clear that belief in inerrancy is... Continue Reading
Got Peace Right Now? 7 Things You Need to Know about Your Justification in Christ
"Because if this article stands," said Luther, "the church stands; if this article collapses, the church collapses."
As sinful creatures, the gospel does not come naturally to us. We need to be reminded over and over again of the fact that God’s grace is lavish. It comes as no surprise that a biblical conception of justification would cause offense, for justification is the very heart of the gospel. That is precisely why... Continue Reading
Christian Maturity and How it Relates to Discernment
Discernment is something all of us should be doing as believers.
It is so sad when I encounter believers who have the attitude that their walk should never offend anyone so they do not “practice that discernment stuff.” On the other hand, I have also seen many “discernment ministries” online that I would prefer that they weren’t. Discernment is important so let’s take a closer look... Continue Reading
The Way of the Kingdom
This is our Savior. This is love. This is the way of the Kingdom of God.
We should stand amazed that our Lord, in His moment of greatest affliction––and as the object of the greatest injustice in the history of the world––would stretch out His hand to His enemies in love. This last miracle of love is rivaled in greatness only by our Lord praying on the cross––as the soldiers nailed... Continue Reading
The Wrong Enemy
Paul told us who the real enemy is in Ephesians 6.
We pray against the wrong enemy a lot of the time. Why aren’t we praying against Satan and the demons? Just because we can’t see it, and we don’t know much about it, therefore, we think that the battle is entirely in the visual spectrum. But the real battle is a spiritual one. When we... Continue Reading
3 Good Things to Remember When You Feel Overwhelmed by Your Sin and Failures
Though he disciplines us, teaching us as a loving and gracious father, he remembers our dusty weakness with compassion.
It is good to mourn our sins in confession, regretting the pain we have caused others and ourselves. It is right to have a healthy desire to be taught by God—to have the discipline of a loving father. Yet, in our weakness God shows forth his glory in the love and forgiveness we have in... Continue Reading
What Came Before God?
God’s eternality is inseparably related to His self-existence, His aseity.
His eternality, perhaps more than anything else, sets God apart from us. His holiness refers not only to His purity but also to His otherness or transcendence—the sense in which He is different from us. One thing we human beings have in common is that we are creatures, who by nature are temporal. At the... Continue Reading