How Hebrews 1 Hammers Home the Deity of Christ
A majestic meditation on how Christ is better than angels.
Now the question of how Jesus compares to angels isn’t exactly on the front-burner of most modern evangelical minds (angel-oblivious people that we are). But for first-century Jews, there would’ve been few better ways to demonstrate Jesus’s divine nature than to prove that he is greater than the angels. When it comes to biblical... Continue Reading
Why Does It Matter to Me That Jesus Rose? Part 3
Because Jesus rose from the dead, God has confirmed that all Jesus aimed to achieve on the cross was successful.
Because Jesus rose from the dead, death need no longer be the end of your story. Every other religious figure could teach his followers, but all of them ended up dead and buried. Jesus rose from the dead and so is in a category of his own. If he conquered death himself, then he can... Continue Reading
Saved Through Good Works?
We confess that both the imputation of Christ’s righteousness and faith as the receiving instrument are nothing but God’s free gifts.
God’s grace is twofold (duplex), the justification is the first benefit (beneficium) and sanctification is the second. It is not a “second blessing” in the way neo-Pentecostalists speak of tongues etc as a “second blessing,” as if there are two classes of Christians, those with and those without. Rather, we say that progressive sanctification flows... Continue Reading
Remembering and Forgetting
Those who practice remembrance, that is, who live their lives in remembrance of Christ, are those who abide in Him. They are living sacrifices.
God has not forgotten His children nor has He forsaken the truth. Even though we believe that things could not get much worse in Christendom, the Church has been under this sort of attack in every age. In these ages God has raised up men who contended for the truth even if it appeared to... Continue Reading
What God Wants
If you don’t know the Lord Jesus, then you cannot please him no matter what you do.
God wants us to do the right thing and to love doing the right thing! We have to want to do good, we have to like it. We should show mercy and kindness to those who wrong us. Why? Because that is what we receive from God. We have been forgiven of so much and... Continue Reading
You Are Very Important
The Sixth Day of Creation
Yes, the imago dei has been severely marred. We are like the Titanic, resting around 12,500 feet down on the floor of the North Atlantic, broken, holed, and rusting: a faded wreck of the glorious original. But it is still the Titanic, and we are still image-bearers! Human beings in the West are very confused. On... Continue Reading
Beware of Small People with Authority
While perfectly acceptable for parents to offer “…it’s for your own good," it remains contrary to America’s core principles for government to expansively wield that phrase.
Like guardrails on a curving highway, the rules exist for all—but there will always be those who desire rules for others but not for themselves. Only the bravery of those who love freedom can curtail those who wish to use calamity to satisfy their lusts for control. A friend who owns a small retail... Continue Reading
A Place for Churches in Reopening Our Land
Even more than material blessings, we need the blessing of God on our souls.
I’d like to think there may be a better way forward as states reopen their economies. What if governors welcome churches to do what they do best in the reopening? Sunday has historically been called the “market-day of souls” (more on that in a moment). What if our leaders reopen the markets of our state... Continue Reading
Ten Ways God is Working Through the Coronavirus
We have a Father who doesn’t always give us what we want but always gives us what we need.
Many liberal Christians have come out strong in their opposition against God having anything to do with the sending of the Coronavirus, rejecting a God who is involved with the affairs of the world. But the fact of the matter is that God is the ultimate cause for everything that happens on earth, so, it... Continue Reading
Are We Living In Reality?
May we fix our eyes on Him, our true Reality!
Our perceived reality can often be skewed, like looking through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars. It often has us and our plans as the star of the show and the center of the universe. Actual reality says something entirely different and it frees us from ourselves in a mighty way. These... Continue Reading