Solving the Puzzle of the Proverbs
So if we read Proverbs’ various statements on a subject all together, we can see many larger points.
Proverbs 29:19 says that servants simply can’t understand the reason they should do things, so you just have to be strict with them. This seems to be a sweeping statement about their capabilities, but Proverbs 17:2 tells us that a wise servant can end up being better than a family member. Only when the two are placed together... Continue Reading
10 Things You Should Know About the 144,000 in the Book of Revelation
The 144,000 are the redeemed standing on the brink of battle while still on earth, while the innumerable multitude are the redeemed enjoying their heavenly reward.
So the 144,000 and the innumerable multitude are the same. The 144,000 are portrayed as a Messianic army waging spiritual war while yet on earth while the multitude are the redeemed of all ages in heaven enjoying their reward in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Will the debate ever end about the... Continue Reading
Why We Can Rejoice that Marriage Will End
How can heaven be better than earth if we are married on earth but unmarried in heaven?
The key to the matter is understanding what marriage is all about. We know from the book of Ephesians that there is a mystery at the heart of marriage. There is a meaning to it. Marriage exists to point beyond itself, to give us words and concepts that allow us to begin to grasp something... Continue Reading
Psalm 92: A Song for the Sabbath
God declared that He had grounded the sanctity of the Sabbath in His creation (Gen. 2:3; Ex. 20:8–11) and in His redemptive work (Deut. 5:12–15).
The Sabbath psalm does not celebrate the Sabbath itself. It knows that from the beginning the Sabbath was not an end in itself but a means to an end. As Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). The Sabbath was made for a day of rest so... Continue Reading
The Heresy of Orthodoxy: Who is Walter Bauer and Why Write a Book About Him?
Critiquing Walter Bauer’s landmark work entitled Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity.
Bauer’s core thesis was that early Christianity was profoundly diverse in terms of its theological commitments. Various Christian groups believed all sorts of contradictory things about Jesus, salvation, creation and a myriad of other Christian doctrines. Simply put, in the earliest stages there was no Christianity. Instead there were Christianities (plural)–all in competition with one another... Continue Reading
Something to Hate
While hate is a strong word, it is a necessary word.
It is necessary to speak the truth about what is evil. We need to use it to think about, talk about, and act against sin. In doing so, it will help us see sin for what it is: an affront against a holy, perfect, and righteous God. Hating sin helps us take it seriously. It... Continue Reading
Believers Are Not Out On Bail
The good news is that Christ fulfilled the covenant of works for us and that fulfillment is ours by faith alone.
We are not nervously awaiting a final adjudication. We are not on probation. Our salvation is not provisional. It is not retained nor maintained nor continued by good works. It is “apart from the works of the law.” Give thanks today and seek to grow in sanctity and in consequent love and good works not... Continue Reading
The Very Heart of the Reformation
How can an unjust person ever be justified in the presence of a righteous and holy God?
When we say that the Reformation view of justification is synthetic, we mean that when God declares a person to be just in His sight, it is not because of what He finds in that person under His analysis. Rather, it is on the basis of something that is added to the person. That something... Continue Reading
Replacement Theology or Inclusion Theology?
The church doesn’t replace Israel. The church IS Israel as God always intended it to be.
I believe that what we see in the NT isn’t the replacement of Israel but an expanded definition of who Israel is. During the time of the old testament one was an Israelite (primarily) because one was a physical, biological descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. One’s ethnicity was the deciding factor. But with the coming of... Continue Reading
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
When God showed his love for sinners, it was rated R.
The gospel has a far better word for us than our fickle feelings: The Light of the world was snuffed; the Bread of life, broken; the King of kings, executed; the Lamb of God, slain; the Son of Man, tortured; the Son of God, forsaken; the Rock of ages, stricken; the blood of Christ, shed: Oh, how... Continue Reading