Is the New Perspective on Paul a Product of the West’s Cultural Moment
The NPP is less driven by historical exegesis than it is with communitarian projects.
The NPP developed in the 1990s in light of the shadow of violent acts of ethnic cleansing in Rwanda and the Balkans. So, is the NPP shaped by certain ethnic issues or oriented towards certain religious matters? Undoubtedly! Is that a bad thing or does it explain away the NPP’s insights? Certainly not! Over... Continue Reading
God’s Forgetfulness and God’s Face
Does God really "forget" and does God really have a "face"?
David expresses himself in question form: “How long….Will You forget….will You hide Your face….?” Consider the following two aspects of David’s complaint: “Will You forget me forever?” and “How long will You hide Your face from me?” There are at least two ways to understand these and other statements like them. True believers may,... Continue Reading
Nine Biblical Arguments for the Spiritual Presence of Christ at the Lord’s Supper
In the Supper by faith the Spirit nourishes our soul, heightens our experience of Christ (since the Spirit is the Lord’s Spirit), and cements our unity with the body of Christ, the church.
I am not talking about theories of how Christ is present (transubstantiation, consubstantiation, or impanation). Nor do I intend to make the argument for the Supper as an instrument of grace. I am speaking about the general idea that Christ through his Spirit acts through our faith and in the symbols of the bread and... Continue Reading
Christian, Do You Love God’s Law?
The real problem is that we do not understand grace.
Neither Jesus nor Paul had a problem with the law. Paul wrote that his gospel of grace upholds and establishes the law (Rom. 3:31)—even God’s laws in their negative form, since the “grace of God . . . teaches us to say ‘No’” (Titus 2:11–12NIV). And remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:17–19? Our attitude to the law is... Continue Reading
4 False Accusations against Reformed Theology
Here are the four accusations the Synod sought to address, along with a short quote from their actual response in the Canons of Dort.
“This Synod of Dort in the name of the Lord pleads with all who devoutly call on the name of our Savior Jesus Christ to form their judgment about the faith of the Reformed churches, not on the basis of false accusations gathered from here or there, or even on the basis of the personal... Continue Reading
Philippians 2:12-13 – The Most Important NT Text on the Christian Life and Sanctification
All of us struggle to make sense of the relationship between God’s sovereignty and our responsibility.
At the heart of Paul’s argument is the fact that when it comes to the Christian life, God is always antecedent. He comes first. He acts before we act. We only act because he has already acted. God works in us in advance of our working for him. To put it in slightly different terms, God is... Continue Reading
Memorial
“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statue forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”
In calling this feast a “memorial,” God meant more than simple a passive remembrance of the first event of Passover; this is clear by the fact that the Hebrews were meant, not merely to recount the event of the first Passover, but to actually reenact the event. In so doing, the people of Israel for generations to... Continue Reading
Enjoying God Is a Command
The Lord sings over us with joy (Zeph. 3:17). Our hearts sing for joy in return.
There is joy in the Lord to be tasted in the worship we enjoy in church communion. The church is the new Jerusalem, the city that cannot be hidden, the joy of the whole earth (Ps. 48:2). In the Spirit-led communion of praise and petition; soul pastoring; Word preaching; psalm, hymn, and spiritual song singing;... Continue Reading
Jesus’ Authority and the Great Commission in Matthew 28
Just as it takes a village to raise a child, discipleship takes a church.
Jesus promised to be with his disciples in the task of making disciples until the end of the age. The commission to the church remains, even if the world has moved on. Os Guinness writes: The message is so familiar that people know it so well that they don’t know it. Yet at the same... Continue Reading
The Eager Anticipation of Glory
When Christ returns, he will make all things new.
Anyone who desires to live a godly life will suffer persecution (2 Tim. 3:12) and as a result of this broken world—both Christians and non-Christians will endure hardships. The rain falls on the just and the unjust—and so do the results of the curse. If you visit a hospital will you find both believers and... Continue Reading