We Are Equally Sinful. We Are Not All Equally Broken or Toxic.
There is a tendency to assume that biblical principles like those found in I Corinthians 10:13 mean that all our struggles carry the same weight.
As I am using these terms, “broken” would refer to things for which we do not bear moral responsibility but create unique challenges for us, and “toxic” would refer to persistent patterns of sin that not only harm others but we punish others if/when they bring them to our attention. From the opening paragraph, the... Continue Reading
What Do Manuscripts Tell Us About the Origins of the NT Canon? A Response to John Meade
Just because the quantity of manuscripts doesn’t tell us everything about the canon, does not mean it tells us nothing about the canon.
At the end of Meade’s piece, he sums up his main complaint: “But my critique is that [Kruger] and others should describe what early Christians actually thought about these books according to their clearest statements on the subject before turning to material evidence, which is not self-interpreting.” In other words, I should have covered patristic... Continue Reading
The Freedom Of The Christian Man
The sole, unique authority of the Bible, God’s inerrant, infallible Word is provides and guards our liberty against the tyranny of human opinion
As recipients of such rich and richly undeserved favor freely given we are free. Because it was freely given it was not earned. Because it was not earned it cannot be kept. We do not “keep” it. Grace keeps us. In that case, we are free from the tyranny of human expectations at least when... Continue Reading
Protestantism Is Over and the Radicals Won
Many today who claim the Reformation as their heritage are more likely heirs of the Radical Anabaptists.
I’m not talking about Amish communities in rural Pennsylvania. In fact, I don’t have in mind specific offshoots, like Arminian Baptists, as such. I’m thinking more of the Radical Anabaptists, especially the early ones, who were more an eruption of late medieval revolutionary mysticism than an offshoot of the Reformation. I have in mind a utopian,... Continue Reading
Rachel Miller Contra Mundum? The 5 Solas and John Piper, Part 2: “Salvation”
Faith is the instrumental cause of not only our Justification, but our complete and final Salvation.
This is what is truly precious about the doctrine of Justification: it is not just the first step from which one moves on into the rest of the benefits of saving Union with Christ. It is the declaration at the beginning of what will be at the end. Justification is the definitive, present, juridical, and... Continue Reading
Faith Doesn’t Save Anyone
By itself, faith is a meaningless word. Faith means to believe in…something
“What becomes a problem is when we believe that faith is what saves us. If we take just a second to examine ourselves, some questions come up. How much faith do I need? What do I believe in, then? Am I having faith in faith? But that seems a bit odd. How do I believe... Continue Reading
Weapons in the Fight Against Anxiety and Fear
We serve a God who reigns over all. He can be trusted; He can be relied upon.
“The desire to know why things are happening in our life and even more so to control things in our life is one of the greatest killers of contentment. It also proves to be one of the greatest engines of anxiety.” A two-year-old will never obsess about world economies. A three-year-old will never ask... Continue Reading
Did Martin Luther Invent “Justification” 500 Years Ago?
The Reformation put the puzzle pieces in place, but the pieces were there all along
The doctrine of justification doesn’t rest simply on a verb here or there. It is the whole teaching of the Scriptures that God will provide the sacrificial skins to cover our nakedness (Gen. 3:21). The whole sacrificial system of the Old Testament pointed forward to “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of... Continue Reading
Discerning the Devil
Against Satan’s deceptions, we must stand in the Holy Scriptures
“In his second letter to the Corinthians included in the canon of Scripture, Paul revisits many of the same problems he addressed in his first letter. Only this time, he brings another consideration to bear, that of enemy opposition and spiritual combat.” The children’s Sunday School class could no longer use the room. The... Continue Reading
10 Things You Should Know About Systematic Theology
Systematic theology is a way of studying the Bible that attends to the full scope of biblical teaching
The only way the church truly submits to the Bible’s doctrinal and moral teaching is by submitting to the full scope of the Bible’s doctrinal and moral teaching. Failure to attend to the whole counsel of God “leads to one-sidedness and error in theology and pathology in the religious life” (Herman Bavinck). 1. Systematic... Continue Reading