10 Things You Should Know about Reformed Theology
A survey of a Reformed catechism or systematic theology shows that there is much more to Reformed theology than the doctrine of salvation.
Reformed theology does not depart from our ancient Christian heritage but affirms the catholic, orthodox doctrines of God and Christ that form the backbone of the great confessional tradition of worldwide Christianity. Though the Reformers were excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church, they did not cast off the Trinitarian faith of the councils of Nicaea,... Continue Reading
Sitting in the Dust with the Disgraced American Church
It's ironic that God doesn't seem to care about his reputation nearly as much as we do.
All my life I have struggled with the desire to be the good girl, to follow the good Christian rules of praying before meals and sticking a fish on my car and moving to deepest darkest Africa. There was this underlying current to the evangelical culture around me that if we all looked really nice... Continue Reading
The Christian’s North Star
Proverbs 3:5-6: The North Star for the child of God.
The next thing to note is that our trust should be constant: in all your ways acknowledge him. Take one step at a time, and make sure that each step is under God’s direction. Always make your plans in total dependence on God. It is nothing short of self-idolatry to imagine that we can carry... Continue Reading
Biblical Unity and Separation
All of us are in various stages of spiritual growth and repentance to be sure, but the mark of the washing of regeneration is there to be seen in all of God’s people that cannot be counterfeited.
According to those in the seeker-sensitive, Woke, and New Calvinist camps unity is what the Church must be about. This unity is all encompassing with no regard for doctrine, et cetera. Instead, they have created a humanist unity. For instance, the seeker-sensitive seeks unity no matter what one’s belief system is while the Woke camp... Continue Reading
Redemption Applied
As thoroughly ordinary as Jesus is, His life explodes beyond the common.
The God-man undertook a divinely appointed, unrepeatable, and decisive historical role. Like the Adam of Eden, the last Adam—Jesus Christ—was a public man. In His representative calling, Jesus became the “merciful and faithful high priest . . . [who made] propitiation for the sins of the people” (v. 17). Only this one man has accomplished that extraordinary,... Continue Reading
The Destiny Hermeneutic
You and I must live with a preparation mentality – and with a destiny hermeneutic.
You can’t interpret personal suffering and societal brokenness without remembering that God is not satisfied with the world as it is. The Creator – who made this world and rules everything in it and who is the definition of goodness, wisdom, love, and truth – has promised to one day make all things new. ... Continue Reading
Basic to Abiding
Just as we draw near to God through His revelation of Himself in His Word, so we draw near to abide in Christ through the ways He is revealed in the Bible.
How do we abide? We abide in three primary ways: knowing Christ, letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly, and drawing upon Christ through prayer. Basic and central to all these aspects of abiding is fellowship with the living Christ. Peter characterizes our spiritual development as growing in “the grace and knowledge of our Lord and... Continue Reading
Does God Suffer?
The Comfort of Divine Beatitude
The Holy Scriptures teach that God is happy and has no sorrows. Paul preaches “the gospel of the glory of the blessed God” (1 Tim. 1:11). The word translated “blessed” (makarios) tells us that God possesses all that is necessary for true happiness or “beatitude.” This enriches our appreciation of the gospel. It has... Continue Reading
When You Feel Like a Burden…
His grace is sufficient for you and his power is being made perfect in your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
I remember being livid at my daughter, when she realized she had forgotten her ballet shoes as I dropped her off at her recital. I had apologized later, but in the heat of the moment, I had lashed out, exhausted and wondering whether I could be back in time. As I brought these thoughts and... Continue Reading
10 Things You Should Know About the Antichrist(s) in 1 John
Interestingly, the only place in the NT where the word “antichrist” appears is in the Johannine Epistles, not in Revelation.
Nowhere in Revelation is the “beast” ever called “antichrist”. In his first epistle John emphatically states (1 John 2:18) that we may know this is (the) last hour because of the existence and activity of many antichrists. He says: “Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so... Continue Reading