Are Science and Faith Compatible? Concept 3: The Programming Paradox
There must be a Programmer for these biological software codes just as there must be a programmer for computer software codes.
We ask the question, “What is required today to write a meaningful software program?” Answer: An intelligent mind. Looking to the past, obviously a programmed code “far, far more advanced than any software ever created” also required an intelligent source, a divine mind, God. Indeed, God is worthy of our praise for we are “fearfully... Continue Reading
If Our Ethics Are Steering the Wheel, We Shouldn’t Be Surprised by the State of Theology
We should care about social issues and sexuality because of what we know about God and salvation.
If our ethics are steering the wheel, we will lose our orthodoxy and the ethics will all loosen anyway. I care very much about social issues. But they come from my theological convictions. I’m concerned about how low or bad doctrine has been accepted and promoted for the sake of our social stances. I... Continue Reading
What Is Calvinism?
Since "Calvinism" is widespread and widely used, it should continue to be used, with a few caveats.
In addition to the Holy Scriptures as the most important norm, Calvinism serves, apart from Calvin’s own theology, as an independent continuation of the theological work of others including that of Augustine and Luther, as well as the works of Reformers such as Philip Melanchthon, Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger, and Theodore Beza, all of whom... Continue Reading
Going to Rome By Way of Corinth: The Truth about Concupiscence – Part 1 of 2
Like every other human activity, sexuality too possesses a telos; it concerns the heart’s hopes and its goals.
Biblical teaching concerning the sinful tickling desires (epithumia, Greek; concupiscentia, Latin) cuts through the contemporary fog concerning self and sexuality. The collective fetish over idolizing our own identity—or better, our perception of identity—drives much contemporary moral discussion. This lust for self-determination takes on gospel-like scope and authority: “In the beginning was my desire. My desire was... Continue Reading
Satisfied in the Arms of Another
Four Lessons for Same-Sex-Attracted Christians
Since the first time I wrote about my journey and struggle, I have received hundreds of emails from men and women from all over the world asking essentially the same question: How? How do I practically live — as a follower of Jesus Christ — who experiences homosexual longings for intimacy? How do I deal with the nearly crippling... Continue Reading
Why Evangelicals Need to Stop Saying ‘It’s a Relationship, Not a Religion’
While God's essence and divine character may be holy and fixed, His relatability to humanity is capable of being swayed.
To put it differently, God’s actuality adapts to humanity’s actions, prayers, sins, and cultural changes. He is divine, yet He is also relatable and personal. It is precisely this thinking that provides a foundation for the well-intentioned, but cringe-worthy, Christian catch-phrase, “It’s a relationship, not a religion”. There are movements within Evangelical Christianity that are... Continue Reading
What to Do When the New Testament Quotes the Old
If we read our Bibles only like 21st century students at institutions of higher education, we will not be reading them like 1st century commoners, or even nobility, receiving these remarkable works of literature from the hands of Jesus’ first followers.
When a NT author quotes the OT, he believes the OT passage has an argument to make that he now commandeers for his own use. The quotes are not window dressing, with the real argument coming before or after the quote. No, the quotes are a fundamental part of the argument. The quotes contain the... Continue Reading
No Ordinary Mercy
The gift of salvation is no ordinary mercy.
Lazarus was dead. His heart had been motionless and his brain dead for four days. His body could neither move nor will to move. The supernatural power that raised him from the grave is the same omnipotent power that raises us from our spiritual deadness. If you are a Christian, you have been raised from... Continue Reading
The Spirit and Union with Christ
Our Spirit-wrought union with Christ is now the defining feature of our lives.
Ferguson reminds us that “union with Christ by the Spirit is grounded in his union with us in our humanity.” In other words, Jesus became flesh in order to become the firstborn of a saved humanity. Therefore, the Spirit’s work of uniting us to Christ is equally a work of returning and restoring to us... Continue Reading
Dangers of Non-Christocentric Preaching: Misapplied Sermons
Our goal must be to seek to know how, through Christ, we can walk in line with the gospel and render the obedience of faith.
There are various saviors in the Bible who serve as types of the promised skull-crushing Savior, and Judges is no different. The Holy Spirit records that, although these warrior-saviors were often flawed in action, they were not so flawed in faith (Heb 11:32-35). Applying one’s life to the truth of a biblical text can never... Continue Reading