The Power of Guilt
Maybe we seek the guilt we feel we can do something about rather than acknowledge the guilt which we really have.
Nothing we do can actually deal with guilt—actual or otherwise. Our best actions can’t undo the wrong done. It is a perpetual stain on our lives. Redemption is not in our hands—either as individuals or as nations. So what should we do? Douglas Murray’s book The Strange Death of Europe is a fascinating read.... Continue Reading
How to Suffer Well
Three Ways to Prepare Now
The apostle Peter wrote his first letter to help Christians suffer well, with more than a dozen lessons for the valley. While their specific suffering is not necessarily common to all Christians, it is common to many Christians around the world, and the wisdom and hope here speak just as powerfully into every kind of... Continue Reading
Context Mattered to Jesus, Part 3
Jesus counters Satan's temptation with clear teaching from Scripture.
Jesus stands where Israel fell. He walks the path from his baptism to his cross and he trusts the Lord with every step. In this encounter with the devil, Matthew shows Jesus’s intentions and first steps, and he invites careful attention to the Savior’s life and words. In the third and final temptation of... Continue Reading
On Disputable Matters
Ten reflections on what does and does not constitute a theologically disputable matter.
In the easy cases, the difference between indisputable matters and disputable matters is straightforward. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is an indisputable matter: that is, this is something to be confessed as bedrock truth if the gospel makes any sense and if people are to be saved (1 Cor 15:1–19). If Christ did not rise... Continue Reading
Humiliation & Exaltation: Christ’s Resurrection
Through the apostolic preaching about Jesus, the resurrection power possessed by the exalted, reigning Lord Jesus is present and given to those chosen for eternal life.
It might surprise some Christians that the Bible places a great importance on the relationship between Jesus’ bodily resurrection, his exaltation and the effectiveness of the preached word of God, and not merely the content of what is preached. Jesus’ exaltation hinges on his bodily resurrection from the dead. The conquering of death by... Continue Reading
A Black-And-White Proposal
Farewell To Fuzzy Thinking
I hear what Don Miller is saying and I suspect that he’s concerned with Christ-followers who demonstrate less than loving behavior. He would be right to be concerned. Indeed, Christ is the most loving person that ever existed or will ever exist. But Christ was also a black-and-white thinker. The prophets were black-and-white thinkers. The... Continue Reading
Context Matters: Jesus Came to Give Abundant Life
Having an abundant life means having a good shepherd!
Plenty of employees can perform simple tasks for the sheep, but they don’t care for the sheep at all. They will save their own skin when the wolf howls. But Jesus is so, so different. He is the good shepherd. He knows his sheep, and he lays down his life for his sheep. Notice that... Continue Reading
Identity Politics and the Bondage of the Will
The only route to salvation is a work of God’s free grace coming not from within but from without.
It has been argued above that CT is, at its root, diametrically opposed to historic Christian beliefs about the nature of man as the imago Dei. The appropriate and effective response is to reassert with vigor and conviction the truths of the Bible, the historic Protestant confessions and ecumenical creeds, and catholic orthodoxy. Introduction [M]an’s... Continue Reading
One of the Most Misused Words Today
Biblically, the heart refers to the whole person, including our capacity to think.
The Scripture presents the heart not just as a unity but also as a trinity of spiritual functions: the mind, the desires, and the will. To put it another way, the heart includes what we know (our knowledge, thoughts, intentions, ideas, meditation, memory, imagination), what we love (what we want, seek, feel, yearn for), and... Continue Reading
Messianic Vision of the Pentateuch
Paul was able to derive a Christology from the OT itself, even one that included the Messiah’s suffering, death, and resurrection.
In the ongoing debate over the meaning of the OT, let me succinctly state my view: the central message of the OT is its Messianic vision. It is breathtakingly beautiful—because he is. May you see it, and may he capture your heart. For over two millennia, the Old Testament has been a heavily contested... Continue Reading