The Regulative Principle of Worship holds that we worship God in the manner He has commanded us in His Word. As the Westminster Confession says, “But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited to his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the... Continue Reading

The very best commentary on the Bible is the Bible itself. If you want a a special key to unlock the Bible’s understanding, start by getting very familiar with the Old Testament. Pray for the Spirit’s guidance and understanding as you read and study. Yes, commentaries and teachers of the Bible can help you learn what a text means, and they have their place. Yet we must keep them in their place by first wrestling with and praying over the Bible ourselves. As it says in Job, “Behold, God is exalted in his power; who is a teacher like him?” (Job 36:22).

My friend and fellow RM writer Marcos Ortega said it this way: “If the Father is authoritative and the Son subordinate, and if these attributes should define the way we live in the church and in our families, it’s no wonder that some will turn to abuse in order to ensure obedience. That to me is the most insidious aspect you’re pointing at. People are abusing to be obedient to God!”

Some attention to the context shows us that Luke’s narrative is not meant to serve as a blueprint for cultural engagement as much as an illustration of the surprising power of an unlikely message. The social tumult that followed gospel ministry of Paul was not the result of the Christianization nor the transformation of the culture but the violent reaction by the predominantly pagan culture to the gospel and to the work of the Holy Spirit among his elect. In Thessalonica in particular we do not even see Paul preaching to Gentiles outside the synagogue. He was preaching Christ in a relatively small setting.

All this means–because the divine nature did not undergo essential change–that in coming to earth, the Son of God did not abdicate his rule, but extended it. It also means–because the human nature was not swallowed up by the divine–that the Son’s earthly obedience was free and voluntary. In short, the extra protects a Chalcedonian understanding of the incarnation that Christ’s divine and human natures were indissolubly joined, yet “without confusion” and “without change.”

“Before Langton (1150-1228), several people had tried to divide the longer books of the Bible into more manageable chunks. But his version was the one that stuck and is the basis of the chapters we use today.”   Anyone who knows about Magna Carta and King John has probably heard of Stephen Langton, the Archbishop... Continue Reading

The question put to Ware & Grudem is whether they do or do not subscribe to Nicene orthodoxy. If yes, then recant the teaching that the Son is eternally submissive. If no, then say so, and come clean. And the simple argument is that the Nicene Creed’s teaching is logically incompatible with what they have publicly taught on the submission of the Son to the Father.

Too often we hear of men who are well-thought of in church. They know all of the right phrases, and know when to shed the right tears. They sing with gusto and say “Amen” at the right places in the sermon. But when they go home and are alone with their wives and children, they think only of destruction and murder. They systematically seek to destroy the image of God in their family. They are the king of the castle and smack their loved ones around just to make sure that they remember it. They belittle, despise and ridicule their wives. They beat and abuse their children.

Of all that Job lost, the deaths of his children had to be the most painful. Some may argue that in Satan coming a second time before God and asking to harm Job himself that his own health was most dear to him. No, that was Satan’s wicked, selfish logic (2:4) that any loving parent will tell you is untrue, for you would rather suffer yourself than see your own child suffer or die. Indeed, the gospel faith that Job had (19:25) is centered on the searing pain of the Father watching his own Son suffer and die. The loss of his children was Job’s greatest sorrow. The boils on his flesh and the bitter curse of his now child-deprived wife merely represent the awful pain of his loss.

Whatever Aquinas says in one place concerning election, regeneration, justification, the bestowal of the Holy Spirit, adoption, sanctification, and other graces, must be considered with the realization that he holds heretical views on the sacraments. In one part of the Summa, you can read what Aquinas says about justification by faith, but then you go... Continue Reading