The Divine Foundation of Authority
The very word authority has within it the word author.
An author is someone who creates and possesses a particular work. Insofar as God is the foundation of all authority, He exercises that foundation because He is the author and the owner of His creation. He is the foundation upon which all other authority stands or falls. “You’re out!” “I’m safe!” “Out!” “Safe!” “Out!” “It’s... Continue Reading
The Law Exposes Racism As Sin
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:39).
What is racism? The Oxford Dictionary of English s.v. “racism,” defines it as “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior…the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as... Continue Reading
Jonathan Edwards and Why I am a Cessationist
“If we aren’t really speaking in tongues, and if the Holy Spirit isn’t causing people to faint and act that way, what are we doing, then?”
Scripture demands we test the spirits to discern if they originate with God (1 John 4:1). The Israelites’ greatest threat wasn’t from the pagan culture outside their camp, but from false prophets within—many of whom drew larger crowds and were better known than genuine prophets. I’ve been a Southern Baptist all my life, and... Continue Reading
New Calvinists and Red Letter Christians Together
Moore’s challenge was to say that you can’t have King on your side today without acknowledging that your fathers and grandfathers opposed King.
What Moore did not say, and where he may have been guilty of the very problem that Jesus identified in the Pharisees, was to mention those contemporary prophets that evangelicals should be listening to and following. After all, Moore appealed to King to plead for the integration of evangelical churches. But by the time that... Continue Reading
How to Avoid Living a Fragmented Life
Resurrection is a benefit that we wait for eagerly during our current death-stained lives, but we should not think that resurrection is merely a future blessing.
Is fragmentation an all too real and present danger? Absolutely, but we have been united to a Savior who is whole. In our union with Him, we, too, can taste the heavenly gift of wholehearted worship and life. To be sure, sin is still at work in us to draw us away from this gift... Continue Reading
What Do You Do When Scripture Feels Dry Or Lifeless?
“I feel lifeless, and I continue to feel lifeless when I am in Scripture.”
The psalmist wants to be satisfied in the Lord, and remembers the time when the Lord was close, but now life is misery and that former experience feels far from him. It turns out that the person who feels so parched and far away has been unintentionally plagiarizing the experience of the psalmist. This... Continue Reading
A Psalm for Burial
The burial of Jesus isn't peripheral to his work. In fact, the Apostle Paul names it as one of those things of first importance (see 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
When we sing this Psalm [16] (the Psalms were written to be sung after all) we do so as those who have been buried with him in baptism. And it connects us to the very words of him who is the firstfruit of the resurrection, of him who bore our sins, and of him who was in... Continue Reading
Why Study the Books of Lamentations, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah?
Lamentations, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah are rich with God’s truth about our sin and need of redemption as well as his love for us in the Savior Jesus Christ.
These prophets reveal an important part of covenant history. Israel was chosen and set apart as a holy nation unto the Lord (Ex. 19:5–6; 1 Pet. 2:9–10), who set his love upon them and called them out of Egypt. He protected and led them through the wilderness into the Promised Land. Though God was faithful... Continue Reading
Encourage One Another
How can we perform deeds of encouragement that amplify our words of encouragement?
When God’s people lovingly “encourage one another” with Christ-exalting words and deeds, the gospel message is not only clarified but amplified. Even more profoundly, God is glorified as His family enjoys a home “where seldom is heard a discouraging word.” I am sure that somewhere and at some time Tabletalk readers have heard the... Continue Reading
Why Francis Schaeffer Matters: Epistemology – Part 5
Dr. Schaeffer’s epistemology is integral to his approach to apologetics
The Christian epistemological system brings three things together in a unified whole; the unified field of knowledge that modern man has given up on. “The infinite personal God who made the universe; and man, whom he made to live in that universe; and the Bible, which He has given us to tell us about that... Continue Reading