Just What is Involved in Protestants Going Back to Basics? Reflections Spurred by Carl Trueman’s Recent Appeal
Going back to basics requires clearer definitions.
Which councils are we to accept, and which are we to reject? Evangelicals have a coherent, practical answer: we are to “test everything” in light of Scripture and “hold fast what is good” and abhor “what is evil,” including all falsehood (1 Thess. 5:21; Rom. 12:9; Eph. 4:25). Those who wish to embrace the Great... Continue Reading
Doxological Cohesion & Comprehensiveness
Psalm 144 for Worship-Its ability to bring together various elements of the Christian faith cooperatively that are often made out to be irreconcilable dichotomies.
My ongoing pastoral concern is that our doxology and praise is inadvertently introducing competitions and cancellations of various parts of the counsel of God. God does not deny Himself, and neither does His Word deny itself. Psalm 144 is a wonderful, tutorial, doxological look that consolidates various features of the Christian life that we have... Continue Reading
WCF 16: Of Good Works
Our “ability to do good works is … wholly from the Spirit of Christ” (see Phil. 2:13)
God is glorified in two ways by our works. First, by doing them we faintly reflect his glory. God is loving, joyful, kind, faithful, and self-controlled. The God who shows his goodness through tangible works of service every day loves to see his children growing up to be like him (Matt. 5:44–45; Heb. 13:20, 21). Jesus put... Continue Reading
Majoring in the Minors: Jonah
Jonah provides a wealth of Gospel connections that both foreshadow the person and ministry of Jesus Christ but also the inbreaking of Christ’s world-wide Kingdom.
Paul views Jesus in Jonah-like terms, one who is both a true Israelite and true Israel himself, and in whom even the godless and uncircumcised Gentiles can find reconciliation. What was there in God’s call to Jonah was only a dimly-lit picture, a veiled foreshadowing of something greater – it was, in the Biblical sense,... Continue Reading
Without the Trinity the Doctrine of the Atonement Goes off the Rails
The atonement is the apex of the triune mission of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working together to reconcile sinners and renew creation.
We need to recognize that, through and through, the doctrine of atonement needs to be thoroughly Trinitarian. It’s centered on Christ. Jesus is the Son of the Father who is empowered by the Spirit. The Apex of God’s Mission The atonement is the apex of the triune mission of God: Father, Son, and Holy... Continue Reading
A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken—Hebrews 12:25-29
The author of Hebrews warns that the unparalleled display of God’s grace goes hand-in-hand with an unparalleled display of His judgment that is still to come.
Only God’s kingdom will endure the dissolving and remaking of the cosmos. As mighty as the kingdoms of earth may seem for the moment, they cannot endure the passage of time, let alone the day of judgment! See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused... Continue Reading
What Is the Best Thing about Marriage? (Mark 10:1–12)
Marriage gives us a glimpse of the infinite love God wants people to experience in Him.
Christians are not to grieve the Holy Spirit with bitterness, but to be kind, compassionate and forgiving. We are to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. To sustain our marriage, we have to daily remind ourselves of the gospel of God’s forgiveness. What’s the best thing about marriage? I think as a teenager I... Continue Reading
The Psalms Are a Little Bible
Demonstrating the truth of Martin Luther’s claim.
The Psalms teach us about salvation. There is no salvation to be found in chariots or spears or horsemen or political power. Salvation is from the Lord. When God saves sinners, he forgives their sins. He counts righteousness to them through faith. God is the refuge and the rock of his people. He pulls them... Continue Reading
No, I *AM* Spiritually Closer With Evangelicals Who Reject Certain Tenets Of “Classical Theism” Than With Classical Trinitarians Who Reject The Reformed Doctrine Of Justification
The church must be vigilant and never forget that Rome affirms the person of Christ while denying the work of Christ, which makes her an enemy of Christ and no amount of Trinitarian orthodoxy can remedy that reality.
Fellowship among evangelicals will always be along a vast theological continuum of spiritual closeness whereas with devout Roman Catholics spiritual closeness is a binary consideration. There is none. Let us not confuse sanctification and fellowship within the body with evangelizing those outside the evangelical church. Our personal spiritual affinity toward other professing Christians should be... Continue Reading
G. K. Beale on the Expected Universalization of the Old Testament Land Promises
It is now in Christ, the Last Adam and true Israel, and the church, in union with the Last Adam and true Israel, that Eden will finally be expanded to the ends of the earth.
The New Testament understands the land promise as a promise that Israel’s land would be expanded to encompass the entire world. For example, Romans 4:13 says, “For the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law . . .” (so also Heb. 11:8–16;... Continue Reading
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