Today, as we well know, the Court is sharply divided between liberals and conservatives, the appointment of justices subject to politicization like never before. The suspicion and bitterness of the culture wars is in no small part due to conservatives’ feelings of betrayal by the judicial establishment, feelings that go back to 1937 but that run through numerous controversial cases in the following decades, the most divisive of which is perhaps Roe v. Wade.

On three great bonds of love do all cultures depend: the love between man and woman in marriage; the love between a mother and her child; and the camaraderie among men, a bond that used to be strong enough to move mountains. The first two have suffered greatly; the third has almost ceased to exist.... Continue Reading

  These categories of “death” with Christ and “new life” indicate a decisive, divinely wrought, break with life before Christ. They signal an inauguration, a beginning, of new things. They do not, however, signal the completion of all things…The principle (beginning) of the end has been introduced and is at work in us, by grace... Continue Reading

With all this coverage, I just have one question. Why is it that I have yet to hear or read anyone refer to her unborn child as the “royal fetus”? Oh, I’m sure someone has used the term “fetus,” but it seems to me that the preferred term is “royal baby” or “child,” even though... Continue Reading

In light of these passages we see that to downplay sanctification is to undercut a large portion of the biblical basis of assurance. I hope these remarks are helpful in clearing up what I think are misconceptions about justification and sanctification.

I condemn adultery, and my guess is anyone who’s been personally affected by its damaging effects will hate this particular sin with a special kind of hatred. I think I can land a book deal if I spend a year advocating death for adulterers, blasphemers, and Sabbath-breakers. What do you think?

To say that Christians are able (by God’s grace in Christ) to exert effort towards sanctification, and to experience increased strength and competency in doing so, is not a sub-biblical approach to sanctification that should be suspected of self-reliance. Rather, it is the essential biblical doctrine of sanctification.   I was glad to see some... Continue Reading

This does not excuse the disrespectful things that congregants say. Such disrespect is a pernicious evil that we can leave for another day. At this point, please be encouraged that you are experiencing some of the natural overflow of the sufferings of Jesus, which means you are honored. Those who dishonor you are the ones who will be called to account.

While the old tolerance was in some ways a parasitic virtue-that is, it depended for its life on decisions as to how much leeway might be allowed to a person who wished to advocate or take up a position outside the accepted norms and laws of a society… the new tolerance is not parasitic on... Continue Reading

Paul does not say that Christ emptied himself of his omnipotence, or of his omniscience, or even of his deity…the emptying of Christ includes the fact that he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped…Christ’s voluntary self-emptying was by addition, not by subtraction. He emptied himself, not by subtracting his deity (which... Continue Reading