Studying the Confession: The Doctrine of Assurance
The struggling believer can come and receive grace, encouragement, strength and victory!
Yet so many believers today haven’t been taught this, much less do they believe it! Yet, believers have the tools they need. The Westminster Confession of Faith … What is it? Is it a document that presents cold intellectual faith? Dead Orthodoxy as it seems to some… Is it a historical artifact that has... Continue Reading
Why Every Healthy Church Emphasizes Preaching and Teaching
Over and again, Jesus proved that his word had the power to heal and to give life
“When God gives life—either physical or spiritual—he does so through the power of his Word. This means pastors who want to have a life-giving ministry have no viable option other than the preaching and teaching of Scripture. Yes, small groups, fellowship, and various programs can be good tools for discipleship and evangelism. But none of... Continue Reading
God the Redeemer
As a result of their disobedience, our first parents plunged themselves and their posterity into inconceivable ruin and misery.
But the Bible speaks of another Adam—the last Adam—Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He succeeds where the first Adam failed. He comes and does what the first Adam failed to do. He comes and rescues and renews our race from the ruin that resulted from the rebellion of the first Adam. The last Adam... Continue Reading
Where Evangelism Fails
The emphasis fell on the divine offer, not the human response: “I offered them Christ.”
This “supply-side” focus (rather than “results-driven” ministry) is so healthy, clarifying, and joy-giving. As an evangelist, nothing brings home to me the graciousness of my Lord so much as offering him to others. The givenness of Jesus is so tangible when you lift him up before people and say: “Turn and receive this Lord; he has given... Continue Reading
The Puritan Passion for Philosophy and Science
The Puritans’ enthusiasm for natural theology “went hand in hand with their adamant insistence that ministers not only be trained in the Scriptures and in systematic theology but also...the study of logic, philosophy and the classics.”
One of the consequences of the Puritans’ commitment to natural theology was their unusual degree of interest in science. Instead of being opposed to it, the Puritans, says Marshall, were “markedly enthusiastic about the study of the natural world” and as a result they “befriended science.” Yesterday I highlighted my surprising recent discovery that ”the... Continue Reading
Jesus, the Shema, and the Glorious Trinity
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God; the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
The text was of great significance during the New Testament period, a significance that seems understood between Jesus and His interlocutors. Students of the Bible who read the New Testament with an ear for the Shema will find references to it elsewhere among the new covenant writings. For instance, the Apostle Paul develops the Shema in 1 Corinthians 8:6... Continue Reading
Stop Photobombing Jesus
There is a fine line between wanting God to use you for his glory and wanting everyone to know it.
John the Baptist would never have photobombed Jesus. Crowds flocked to John, but he had one mission—make Jesus known. “I am not the Christ,” he declared. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:28–30). John was content serving offstage so that Jesus could be seen more clearly. pho·to·bomb (verb): To spoil a photograph by appearing in the... Continue Reading
A Concise Resource on Justification by Faith Alone from Romans 4:3-5
The Scriptures teach and history shows that confusion on this subject invariably leads to a distorted gospel of justification by works.
Any of the following types of theological confusion, such as 1) mingling justification with sanctification; 2) equating justification with church membership; 3) describing saving faith in terms of a saving faithfulness; 4) teaching that faith or righteousness is conferred by a sacrament rather than that faith is sealed by a sacrament; or 5) claiming that... Continue Reading
A Proverb for Social Media
Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips. Proverbs 27:2
“Self-seeking is a shameful blot upon Christian profession. Shall one that has said before God, ‘Behold, I am vile!’ be ready to say before his fellow-men, ‘Come, see my zeal for the Lord! Come, see how humble I am!’ Oh for the self-abased spirit of our glorious Master – ever ready to endure reproach, never... Continue Reading
Attending the School of God
We live in a culture that is a quick and dirty culture. We want to become mature Christians in five easy lessons.
Attending the school of God takes time and labor and energy and deeply committing oneself to prayer, to the study of Scripture, to fellowship with other believers, to ministry within the life of the church. We need to listen to Paul: “When I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in... Continue Reading