Ordered Liberty After the Protestant Public Square
Reflections on Christian Nationalism, Protestant Institutionalism, and the Church’s Limits
The church can teach that liberty must be ordered without claiming the state’s office. The church can declare that rulers are accountable to God without giving the magistrate the keys of the kingdom. This article is not intended to replace, summarize, or correct the PCA’s ongoing study of Christian Nationalism. That work deserves careful... Continue Reading
The Ordinary and Enduring Gifts of the Spirit
All God-given gifts are to be used to serve the body of Christ, not to build ourselves up.
God calls us to use the “ordinary” gifts that He has given us, cheerfully, for the good of others and for His own glory. Scripture teaches that when Christ ascended, “he gave gifts” to all His people (Eph. 4:8). These gifts were given to strengthen and build up the church, the body of Christ.... Continue Reading
Assembly Declares Israel’s War in Gaza a Genocide
After hearing emotional testimony from a former GA moderator who recalled fleeing his home as a child, commissioners voted 454-15 to approve the measure.
As amended, RIW-04 states that Israel’s war in Gaza constitutes genocide and condemns what it calls Israel’s violation of the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. MILWAUKEE—The 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted last week 454-15 to adopt RIW-04, declaring that the government of Israel... Continue Reading
Christ and the Third Use of the Law
Correct and discipline your child, but never fail to remind her of the source of her obedience—of Christ and his gospel.
Apart from Christ, we have no ability to live the Christian life—to love others. We must constantly hear the indicatives—who we are in Christ and what he has done on our behalf. We must hear of the Spirit’s work in our hearts and lay hold of the life-giving words of the gospel in order to... Continue Reading
Three Gauges Every Pastor Should Watch
Burnout can be an overused word, so we should use it carefully and not confuse it with ordinary fatigue.
Many pastors can carry seasons of intense labor without burning out, as long as there’s meaning, support, recovery, and a shared load. Burnout tends to take root when the work becomes unrelenting, when our hearts begin to grow cold, and when we start to believe that our work doesn’t make a difference. So pay attention.... Continue Reading
Why Jesus’ Incarnation Stands Alone Among All Faiths
The incarnation accomplishes one saving purpose: God restores sinners to himself, brings them into his holy family, and is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.
Salvation is not merely forgiveness. The child born to Mary is also Immanuel (Matt 1:23). Sin separated humanity from God’s presence; to restore God’s presence, sin first had to be dealt with. The incarnation begins the saving work that removes the barrier between God and humanity. John says the Word became flesh and “made his... Continue Reading
Shutting Down Christian Speech
A counseling bill in the United Kingdom shows that British Christians cannot escape the culture war.
Principled Christians here in the United States are better protected for now, as we saw in the hopeful precedent set by SCOTUS’s ruling in favor of therapist Kaley Chiles. In Colorado, an attempted ban on so-called “conversion practices” was struck down as an infringement on Chiles’ freedom of speech. Like Pilkington, Chiles used talk therapy... Continue Reading
The Jews, the Church, and Two Ditches to Avoid
What do Gentile Christians actually owe the Jewish people?
Romans 11 is not about foreign policy, it simply exhorts Gentile Christians to not be arrogant towards the Jews. It says maintain humility about your position as a wild olive shoot grafted into a tree you did not plant. None of that translates into a requirement to support any particular nation’s foreign policy. The only... Continue Reading
Giving Gifts to Men: Christ’s Provision for His Church
Gifts should be more about the well-being of the whole church than the preoccupations of its individual members.
Like many lights illuminating a large room, the triune God shines more brilliantly through Christians gathered together than apart. Gifted grace fosters “humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love” and being “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (4:2). Graces are others-centered, which means that... Continue Reading
Carl Trueman’s Royal Elegy: A Confessional Reformed Critique
Over-reliance upon description over prescription reduces scholarship to a mere diagnosis of the disease rather than a theological cure for a godless society.
Even within a deeply pluralized, multi-faith setting, historic Reformed theology does not default to the compromise King Charles has chosen. The civil ruler still bears an office of divinely ordained authority and is morally restricted from using that authority to equate the Christian faith with false religions or to relativize absolute truth claims. The transition... Continue Reading
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