Can Salvation Be Lost Because of Sin?
My confidence rests in the intercession of Christ and God’s ability and promise to hold on to me
“I’m persuaded from a study of Scripture that we can have an assurance of our salvation not only for today but for all time. But the assurance that we have, or confidence in our future estate in salvation, must be based upon the right foundations.” The question of losing one’s salvation is one that... Continue Reading
What Causes Us To Worry?
Some have thought that worry is purely a physiological issue while others have concluded that it is purely spiritual.
The historic Christian categories of World, Flesh and Devil are entirely capable of providing a robust understanding of people and their problems, allowing us to avoid simplistic reductionism on either end of the spectrum. We don’t have to engage in either/or thinking and conclude that anxiety is either purely physiological or only spiritual. This means... Continue Reading
13 Reasons You Are Precious to God
Praise God today that he has made you precious and delightful to himself.
We who believe in Jesus can often be more aware of our sin and unworthiness than God’s love for and delight in us. We may believe that God accepts us in his son, but it’s hard to believe he takes pleasure in us and views us as precious to him. Yet 1 Peter 5:7 tells... Continue Reading
Learning Repentance from the Psalmist
When we feel the pain of conviction, a crushing weight that feels like broken bones, we can run to our Father and cry out to him in repentance.
One of the ways our emotions tell us something is wrong is in the case of our sin. When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, we feel the weight of it. It makes us grieve and feel sorrow. We feel anger toward ourselves for what we’ve done. We feel a nagging disquiet in our... Continue Reading
Witherspoon’s Pastoral Ministry
This public censure, though considered appropriate by his congregation, landed Witherspoon in a 14-year legal battle in which he faced opposition from a hostile presbytery and formal charges of libel and slander.
Church members presumed that clergy would not only preach on Sunday, but also visit the people from house to house and be intimately involved in their lives (even if they sometimes complained of the involvement).[13] So when scholars conclude that “Few aspects of the history of Scottish Presbyterianism are more repugnant to the modern mind... Continue Reading
Human Identity in Crisis
The removal of God from cultural consciousness has eliminated the true source of human identity.
Things have changed. The “Four Spiritual Laws” or “Evangelism Explosion” no longer work for many. People are losing their identity. They long for human rights and personal dignity, but these things only come from God the Creator, whom they reject. The Gospel is still the answer, which they unknowingly long to hear. The God who... Continue Reading
Theonomy, Bahnsen, and the Federal Vision – Part 3
The grace conveyed in baptism is effectual only for the elect.
The Westminster Confession of Faith limits its “high view of the efficacy of baptism” to the elect alone. Further, Westminster Confession of Faith 28:6 states: “The efficacy of baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is administered.” That is, baptism does not bestow regeneration on every recipient. What baptism does it... Continue Reading
I Can’t Believe Spurgeon Didn’t Say That
Can’t believe Spurgeon didn’t say this when so many quote him as saying it: “I take my text and make a beeline to the cross.”
In the process of our discussion he asked me if I could tell him where the original source is to the quote that inspired my book’s title. Charles Spurgeon is credited thousands of times by authors and theologians all over the world for saying, “I take my text and make a beeline to the cross.”... Continue Reading
Theonomy and Straw Men
The most strident criticism of Theonomy is based on straw men and erroneous readings of the Old Testament.
Theonomy has been mischaracterized in modern evangelicalism, mostly because people accept short retorts as truth. Actually, if you want to see the compassion and mercy of God, the Old Testament is a better place to go than observing what is going on in America today under the laws of Secular Pluralism. I’ll take God’s law... Continue Reading
Blessed Are the Pure in Heart, for They Shall See God
Jesus said that those who are pure at their very core are the ones who will see God
“The thing that keeps us from having the vision of God now is our impurity, our sin. John said that when we see Him, we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. The question remains as to whether God will glorify us in heaven, allowing us to see Him as... Continue Reading