Superior Envy
When a person is filled with envy, he is fixated on the gap between himself and the person with whom he compares himself.
Proverbs 14:30 reminds us that “A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones.” It is the nature of envy to be willing to suffer, so long as others suffer even more. Yes, even persons of superior prosperity and happiness are willing to suffer when they are consumed by... Continue Reading
The Blessed Repetition of Redemptive History
Jesus had to relive Israel’s history in order to bring about the spiritual reality of what the original exodus typified.
Why do we have a clear recapitulation of [Israel’s] history in the biblical record of the life of Jesus? The simple explanation is that Jesus came to do everything that Israel failed to do. He came to live as the perfect representative of His people. Everyone loves the idea of new beginnings, as well... Continue Reading
What Will I Find When I Look at Christ?
Jesus Christ came into the world, so that you could come into a greater knowledge of God than was even given to Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob.
Whatever you have experienced in the Christian life, you ain’t seen nothing yet. You will see heaven opened and the angels ascending and descending—what the world longs to see, but cannot apart from Jesus Christ. My invitation today to every person who is sincere in searching for the truth, but has genuine questions: “Come... Continue Reading
The Glory of the God-man: Who can Declare His Generation?
Indeed, we cannot comprehend this mystery.
When the Catechism introduces us to our Savior’s divine nature it describes Him as “the eternal Son of God.” In other words, it identifies Him with an attribute of God (“eternality”) and then identifies Him according to His distinct personal subsistence within the Godhead (“Son of God”). This description is rooted in Trinitarian categories. Both... Continue Reading
What Does “Faith Alone” Mean, and Why Should You Care?
In response to Rome’s perversion of biblical doctrine, the Reformers returned to the Scriptural truth that nothing we do can earn favor with God.
A common critique is that this doctrine makes for lazy Christians. The objection goes something like this: If I am justified merely by faith and not works, then there is no need for me to do good works. But the Reformers scoffed at that notion, because it misinterprets what God is doing for us through... Continue Reading
“The Expulsive Power of a New Affection”
The Life-Changing Insight of Thomas Chalmers
Chalmers poses for himself the question: How shall the human heart be freed from its love for the world? (How shall the air of world-love be removed from the soul-beaker?) This “love” is not a duty one performs. It is a delight one prefers. It is an affection before it is a commitment. Christian... Continue Reading
To Whom Do We Entrust Ourselves?
The Biblical answer for the Christian is that we always entrust ourselves into the hands of God.
For pastors and ministers of the Gospel who keep watch over the souls of the flock, it is good for us to continually exhort our people to entrust themselves to the just judge. As the political climate in the US and abroad continues to heat up to a boil next November, the temptation for many... Continue Reading
On Faith, Works, the Lordship of Christ, and Assurance
Saving faith has legs that keep a Christian moving forward in obedience to Jesus.
Does genuine faith bear fruit? Yes, that much is clear. But how much fruit? And how quickly does the fruit grow on the branches of a person’s life? And does every kind of fruit grow on all of the branches all of the time? The Bible simply does not ever go so far as to... Continue Reading
Paul’s Theology of Friendship
We find that Paul and the Philippians enjoy a fellowship of gift and suffering, with God as the divine source in a triangular friendship.
Two traits appear in Paul’s theology of friendship. The first is a reciprocity of gifts (immaterial and material) between Paul and the Philippians, which stems from a mutual phronesis—a way of thinking, feeling, and acting patterned after Jesus Christ (Phil 2:5–11). A comparison between Paul and Aristotle on friendship may seem futile, at first... Continue Reading
Chick-fil-A to Stop Donations to Charities with Anti-LGBT Views
Chick-fil-A has been working on the new charitable structure since summer 2018, according to sources familiar with the process, and finally approved it in a board vote last week.
The new giving structure moves away from the multiyear commitments Chick-fil-A had with the Salvation Army and the FCA and focuses on annual grants, which Tassopoulos said will be reviewed and assessed each year. Future partners could include faith-based and non-faith-based charities, but the company said none of the organizations have anti-LGBT positions. As... Continue Reading