Eternal Generation: Another Reason to Worship our God
Cheynell grounded the doctrine of Eternal Generation in the idea of God’s simplicity.
But in keeping with the doctrine of simplicity, Cheynell makes the point that just “as truth is not goodness, nor goodness truth, nor either of them unity, and yet all three are entity, so too the Father is not the Son, nor is the Son the Father, nor is either of them the Holy Spirit,... Continue Reading
When Angels Sing: When Believers Are Called Home to Glory
No matter how many times I've felt the loss of someone to death in the past the rawness seems a foreign emotion. Loss is like that.
We were created for eternity. The good news is the Good News, and that’s where I hold fast. Adam and Eve weren’t just sent out into the world to live, work and die in the dusty ground from which they were formed. God created a way back to Him through Jesus Christ. It’s in Christ’s... Continue Reading
Essential Tools for Preaching Christ (Part 3)
Preaching Christ is a devotionally necessary response to the preacher's relation to Christ
The nature of saving faith makes preaching Christ necessary devotionally. While saving faith receives the whole Word of God because it is God’s Word, “the principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace” (WCF 14.1). When... Continue Reading
The Pastor and Bible Translations
The pastor should find out which translations are being used in his congregation
“I have, over the years, read through a good number of the English translations available, including some of the more obscure ones. I have learned something from each one, and I have benefitted from each one.” Except in certain very conservative Christian circles, the KJV is no longer the exclusive Bible of the English-speaking... Continue Reading
What Is the Will of God for My Life?
If you want to know God’s will for your life, the Bible tells you: “This is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3).
So when people wonder whether to take a job in Cleveland or in San Francisco, or whether to marry Jane or Martha, they should study closely the preceptive will of God. They should study the law of God to learn the principles by which they are to live their lives from day to day. What... Continue Reading
The Origins of the Reformation Bible
Luther increasingly claimed that Christian doctrine should rest on biblical authority, a proposition made somewhat difficult if there is disagreement on which books can confer “biblical authority.”
But fourth-century Christians themselves disagreed on precisely which books constituted God’s authentic revelation. Especially with regard to the books most in dispute in the sixteenth century—the so-called deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament—the fourth century could provide no assured guide because even those ancient luminaries, St. Jerome and St. Augustine, disagreed particularly on the status... Continue Reading
Does It Bother You That God Barred Moses from the Promised Land?
Sometimes, the areas where God most offends us are the areas where we most need to grow.
It’s not good to stay in a place where you criticize God’s judgment or question his character. Whenever you read the Bible and find your sensibilities don’t line up with how God is described, you face a choice. You can reject God’s ways and stand in judgment over him, or you can submit to God’s... Continue Reading
What Is Love?
From God’s perspective, love is the chief of all virtues.
The bottom line is that the gifts of God can be used without love. When that happens, their value is destroyed. The essence of love, 1 Corinthians 13 tells us, is to seek the welfare of others. A person who reflects God’s love is driven to give of himself for others, not to wield his... Continue Reading
What Is God’s Holy Mountain?
Citizenship in God’s holy city belongs only to those who are sanctified by God.
Viewed in its broader literary context, the whole exodus-Sinai story looks forward to the restoration of the harmonious situation that existed between God and humanity prior to Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God in the Garden of Eden. With its emphasis upon the need to be made holy in order to ascend into God’s presence,... Continue Reading
How Bad is Bad? Reflections on Pervasive Depravity!
The answer must be "far worse than we think and as bad as we can conceive!"
We should not be surprised when Christians do bad things, or be shocked at the wickedness of some of the things they do. This is not at all to excuse evil in church. The last thing we should do is modify or adjust our standards. The Gospel raises the bar and calls us to holiness.... Continue Reading