Our struggle [against sin] emerges as all the more necessary because the remaining corruption in Christians may sometimes even get the upper hand – it ‘may much prevail’, at least ‘for a time’, as the pastors of the Westminster assembly remind us in the final paragraph of this chapter on sanctification. Our Lord claims us... Continue Reading

“Many other books could be added, and no doubt better selections are available. I deliberately avoided systematic theologies (except in the case of Aquinas) and tried to stick to more readily accessible material (except for Edwards, which is a tough read). I have also tried to reflect the broadness of the Christian intellectual tradition (though... Continue Reading

I’ve increasingly come into contact with people who are using the RP to argue against any place of the law in the Christian life. They hear RP teachers saying that Israel obeyed the law to merit the land, but the NT believer is no longer under that arrangement. Thus they conclude, we don’t need to... Continue Reading

The WCF says that under the covenant of works, man’s works are accepted and rewarded on the basis of perfect and personal obedience. However, in the covenant of grace, man’s sincere yet imperfect obedience is accepted and rewarded on a principle of grace – on the basis of the imputed righteousness of another (WCF 16.6)…The Republication... Continue Reading

John Piper points to an “inner circle” and an “outer circle” of traits. The inner circle is “the absolute bare essentials,” or what must happen in the leader’s own soul if he is going to take even the first step in leading others spiritually… The outer circle, then, is comprised of “qualities that characterize both... Continue Reading

What’s foundational to the covenants? Law or grace? John Murray’s answer: The succession of covenants in the Bible was a sovereign administration of grace and promise (this includes the Mosaic covenant). Meredith Kline’s answer: Law rather than grace was foundational (including a works principle in the Mosaic covenant).   I want to outline and assess... Continue Reading

Clay Werner, a pastor in the PCA (Presbyterian Church of America), has been through the pastoral ringer and lived to write about it in his new book, On The Brink: Grace for the Burned-Out Pastor (Phillipsburg: P&R, 2014).  If you’re a pastor who feels overwhelmed with the workload, difficulties, disappointments, and hardships in the ministry, you’ll need... Continue Reading

Like many Anglicans, including evangelical luminaries such as George Whitefield, Le Jau was sensitive to the particulars of slave mistreatment, but did not see chattel slavery’s inherent indignity. Thus, some of the most evangelistically-minded Christians of the eighteenth century bolstered the institution of slavery.   I recently read Travis Glasson’s excellent book Mastering Christianity: Missionary Anglicanism... Continue Reading

Chandler and Snetzer are very clear that sanctification – growing holy in heart and habit – is not what makes us God’s children, but exhibits that God has made us his. They rightly grasp that while justification is a 100% work of God, sanctification is a 100% work of God and 100% work of God’s... Continue Reading

Erotica is dangerous because it is a type of fantasy that manipulates moral and relational laws. “Right and wrong get morphed into a morally grey universe that becomes impossible to untwist (26).” And this this redefining of morality is no accident … . Erotic fantasy is unreal, deceptive, and it makes you want more. But... Continue Reading