Hide No Longer
We do wrong and harm ourselves when we hide ourselves from the Scriptures
“Whatever our sins, let us come out of the closet, agree with God and his law about our hellish thoughts and actions, and relish the fact that we are troubled by our offense towards His Holiness. Then, let us be immediately warmed by God’s unconditional grace.” There are times when it is profitable to hide. Joseph ran from... Continue Reading
Abelard & Anselm; or How to Throw Yourself in Front of a Bus
While the cross is absolutely this crucial to our theology it is not strictly necessary to understand precisely how Christ's death saves sinners to benefit from it
“Because the Son’s sinless, voluntary, and sacrificial gift of himself to the Father has infinite worth it not only satisfies the offended honor of God but also wins a reward that is graciously lavished on us. In this way, Anselm’s theory of vicarious satisfaction of divine honor is compatible with the medieval scheme of merit... Continue Reading
Awakening Sin to Kill It
By awakening sin Owen means we are to become aware of it by exposing it for what it really is.
As Paul states in Romans 7:9, “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.” When we come to a point where we see sin for the awful thing it is, it makes us die or, in other words, repulses us to the point we want... Continue Reading
Seven Principles for Angry Parents Disciplining Angry Children
Commenting on Ephesians 6:4, Martyn Lloyd-Jones offers seven principles to govern our disciplinary action as parents
“Discipline must never be too severe. Here is perhaps the danger that confronts many good parents at the present time as they see the utter lawlessness about them, and as they rightly bemoan it and condemn it. Their danger is to be so deeply influenced by their revulsions as to go right over to this... Continue Reading
A High View of Preaching
The Puritans and the Westminster Divines had a high view of preaching. One that the church (along with preachers and hearers!) would do well to recover.
A little known fact – at least to some – is that the Westminster Assembly also published a document called “The Directory for the Publick Worship of God” (please excuse the old English!). Even though this document is not a part of our church’s confessional standards, it contains excellent principles and valuable instruction for worship... Continue Reading
Van Til’s Critique of Barth’s Christology (Part 1)
In order to show the accuracy of Van Til's analysis of Barth, we will take his critique of Barth's Christology as a test case.
First, according to Van Til, Barth’s Christology results in a functional Eutychianism. In the one act of God in Christ the creature is collapsed into the Creator; man is as highly exalted above time as is God. In other words, in the incarnation “… God is no longer qualitatively distinct from man. Modern theology holds... Continue Reading
Sin is Irrational
Sin doesn’t make sense, not in the smallest sense.
Adam and Eve were well aware of the results of their sin and yet they did it willfully. They had been told that the wages of sin is death (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 6:23). And they also understood that they would be under God’s wrath when they sinned (hence they hid from him). And so if... Continue Reading
Endless, Bottomless, Boundless Grace and Compassion
The New Testament’s most frequent, and indeed most basic, description of the believer is that he or she is a person “in Christ.”
If all the world (if I may so say) set themselves to drink free grace, mercy, and pardon, drawing water continually from the wells of salvation; if they should set themselves to draw from one single promise, an angel standing by and crying, “Drink, O my friends, yea, drink abundantly, take so much grace and... Continue Reading
The Role of Science in Biblical Counseling
How do we determine if certain kinds of depression and anxiety have a physical or spiritual cause?
Let me use an obvious example to illustrate my point. Scripture is not designed to counsel Christians out of cancer. Cancer’s root cause must be addressed by surgery, chemotherapy, etc. But the Bible is sufficient to counsel Christians through cancer. The only way we know that cancer should be placed in this category, however, is... Continue Reading
How Can I Know Which Bible Promises Apply to Me?
When God promises to give something specific, look more closely at the context to see if He’s promising it in a unique situation
Here’s how I would apply that approach in the case of Jeremiah 29:11. In Jeremiah 29:11, we learn that God cares for His people and doesn’t abandon them, and that He hasn’t abandoned them even if it seems everything has gone wrong in their lives. We see that His good purposes are still moving forward,... Continue Reading