Love and Anger at the Cross?
Is it unorthodox to believe that, in some sense, the Father was angry with the Son when He hung on the cross in the place of His people to propitiate the wrath of the Father?
That the Father never stopped loving the Son–even when he hung on the cross–is one of the most important Christological truths upon which we can meditate. After all, it was Jesus who said, “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again” (John 10:17). Herman Witsius, the... Continue Reading
The Puritans on the Lord’s Supper (7)
The devil “will be with you at the sacrament to rob you of the comfort and hinder you from that joy that there you might be filled with.”
Reynolds said the Supper was ordained “to exhibit Christ” so as “to increase the mystical union of the church unto Christ their head.” Just as natural food strengthens our bodies by becoming part of them, so we receive “spiritual nourishment” from the Supper in “the vital Spirit of Christ” so that “Christ, being united unto... Continue Reading
Hell: What Sort of Place?
Hell is terrible beyond words precisely because it is not heaven.
Contrary to the teachings of some Christians, the Bible gives us every reason to believe that hell is a physical place that affects our physical bodies, in addition to its mental and spiritual torments. Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him... Continue Reading
Canons Of Dort (17): The Offer Of The Gospel Is Genuine But So Is Unbelief
For the Remonstrants, the gospel is that Christ’s death created the possibility, the potential of salvation but by it he did not actually save anyone.
The Psalmist says, “Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death” (Ps 68:20; ESV). Salvation does not belong to us. It is not ours to actuate, if only we will. It is ours to receive with an empty, open hand, which the Spirit of God freely gives... Continue Reading
Union with Christ: A Neglected Truth
Very often our union with Christ exerts a profound but unexamined influence.
A brief survey of the New Testament will quickly reveal the importance of the idea of union with Christ. This idea is given special emphasis in the writings of Paul, as one finds the Apostle describing virtually every aspect of Christian privilege and experience as “in Christ” or “in Him.” I was born and... Continue Reading
10 Things You Should Know about the “Jezebel Spirit”
Although the first Jezebel had been dead for over 1,000 years, her spirit had, as it were, found new life in this woman of Thyatira.
“But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.” Is there any such... Continue Reading
Is Saving the Earth More Important than Saving Souls? (The 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity #10).
We finally come to the tenth and last “commandment” of progressive Christianity and this one is a classic: “Life in This World is More Important than the Afterlife.”
It’s hard to imagine a statement that better captures the ethos of progressive Christianity than this one. It marks a profound pivot away from matters eternal and toward matters earthly. Let’s not worry ourselves about what happens after death, we are told, because no one knows anyway. All that matters is helping the poor, feeding... Continue Reading
Holding on to Hope
Even though many of their contemporaries and others who had gone before them lost their appetite for God’s Word, Simeon and Anna clung to it in faith.
There had been four centuries of divine silence in Israel. The God who had progressively revealed his plan and purpose in redemption through the pages of Holy Scripture, had added nothing to his revealed word throughout this time. Even though it was a period marked with major national and international crises that affected God’s people... Continue Reading
Come Away and Rest
The Sabbath rest was a creation command and gift and the Ten Commandments are the moral law for all humanity.
Every seven days Adam and Eve would stop their pleasant work of tending the garden and studying the animal and plant life, to spend the day in meditation on the works and the word of Almighty God. Perhaps, especially on this day, they would commune with their Creator as he walked with them in the... Continue Reading
5 Ways the Gospel Can Rescue Your Marriage
The good news for marriage is the good news for all of life: the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Human marriage can be a beautiful gift. But Paul talks about marriage in the context of Christ’s gift to the church to teach us that the best human marriages are but shadows of the glorious marriage between Christ and believers (Eph. 5:32–33). In the gospel, Christ gives himself as the new life we need. He... Continue Reading