The loss of this distinction makes it more difficult for us to understand Paul on his own terms, in his setting. Further, it removes from us an important way to think about Scripture more broadly, about ourselves as image bearers (theological anthropology), about our eschatology, and about life in the here and now.   In part... Continue Reading

False teachers are not always argumentative or divisive; often they are some of the nicest people we know. They usually creep in not with scowls on their faces but with big smiles. They don’t normally creep into churches and teach obvious heresies and falsehoods; they usually subtly question the truth and teach partial truths, and... Continue Reading

A common interpretation of the passage suggests that a woman will desire control over her husband, but her husband will resist that control and respond in even more dominating ways of his own. John Piper says this. “When sin has the upper hand in woman, she will desire to overpower or subdue or exploit man.... Continue Reading

I am not just barely tolerated by God, but accepted in the beloved. He loves ME, and, yes, if I may say so, he likes me. And so let’s all put aside our doubts and our fears and run this race together, shall we? Let’s quit trying to lift ourselves up by tearing one another... Continue Reading

Our Father is perfectly wise and good and he knows how to uphold his children so that we persevere. That illness, that disappointment, that conflict, that setback, that failure—in God’s hands don’t we see these things bringing us to a new sense of our helplessness apart from the Lord, a new lease of life in... Continue Reading

All this to say, what John 3:16 tells us is that God sent his one and only Son in order that (i.e., with the intent that) every believer in him (i.e., every Christian believer) would not perish but have everlasting life. In other words, God’s plan of atonement was directed specifically at those who believe (a group coextensive with the elect, on... Continue Reading

In the absence of what the preposition “for” tells us about the death of Jesus, we have no hope. Delete what “for” implies and we have no gospel, no good news to share with a dying world. No other preposition conveys what “for” does. Not “to” or “with” or “beside” or “through” or “behind” or... Continue Reading

Similarly, no one, absolutely no one, can read the Bible without some pre-understanding, for example, of God; even if the person is an atheist, the god whose existence he or she is denying is still some kind of god. So, you cannot approach the text without bringing baggage with you, in terms of what words... Continue Reading

In the exodus story and the many other stories that share its patterns, the Scripture looks us directly in our eyes in the present day. The themes of redemption disclosed in such narratives resonate with those of the New Exodus that we have been caught up into by the work of Christ. When we hear... Continue Reading

“The resurrection sets Jesus apart from every other central figure of world religions. Buddha is dead. Mohammed is dead. Confucius is dead. None of these were sinless. None offered atonement. None were vindicated by resurrection.”   The life of Jesus follows a general pattern of movement from humiliation to exaltation. The movement is not strictly... Continue Reading