We have no hope without the fact that by grace through faith alone God has justified us entirely upon the merits of Jesus. The contemporary grace movement gets this right. But as Phillips points out, the contemporary grace movement has a troubling habit of reducing salvation to justification only. In other words instead of a... Continue Reading

Bottom line: when it comes to our God’s glorious plan of salvation, we do well to step away from his throne by letting the clear testimony of Scripture speak, permitting him to choose, ordain, predestine, and foreknew whom he wishes from a hopelessly rebellious human race.   Chances are you’ve discussed it lately. Who chose... Continue Reading

The formula is not meant to say that essence and person are the same things. Essence refers to the being of God, while person is used here as substance within being. Essence is primary and persona is secondary. Essence is the similarity, while personal is the dissimilarity in the nature of God. He is unified in... Continue Reading

Backed by a strong commitment to freedom of expression and academic freedom, faculty could challenge one another, their students and the public to consider new possibilities, without fear of reprisal. Students would no longer face punishment for exercising their right to speak out freely about the issues most important to them. Instead of learning that... Continue Reading

While papal visits to the United States are increasingly common, what is uncommon is to see political-ideological battle lines drawn around a pope. The tendency this time is especially acute among liberals, who eagerly frame Francis as one of them—a categorization Francis has resisted. “I’m sure that I haven’t said anything more than what’s written... Continue Reading

How far to go with them is the question that awaits the pope in Rome this fall, and that hangs over the springtime for liberal Christianity his pontificate has nurtured. How it’s answered, and what follows, will determine whether we’re watching something genuinely new and fresh emerge — or whether, after the cheering ends, the... Continue Reading

It seems evident from Hebrews 12 that our obedience is the logically and morally necessary product of our faith, our union with Christ, and that gracious sanctification. Certainly we do struggle against sin. Certainly we do freely exert ourselves against sin and toward godliness but we do so as those who are being graciously sanctified... Continue Reading

In light of these videos, clearly both of these mothers are heating up the rhetoric to express their views. They reflect that the very nature of the subject is bringing to the surface the rawest of human emotion. Culturally things appear to be reaching a boiling point. We need to pray that the Lord has... Continue Reading

For example, the Roman Catholic Church, the New Perspective on Paul, and legalism in its many forms add to the gospel. Even if there is an acknowledgement of what Christ has done, it is not all sufficient to make us right with God. However, liberal theology takes way from the gospel by teaching that we... Continue Reading

The Bible does not offer us any spiritual placebo effect, by which a sugar tablet of good wishes just might have the same effect as the penicillin of prayer. Prayer is the thing that weak, sick, anxious, sinful, needy Christians must have. Do not substitute.   On Thursday, Pope Francis stood on the balcony of... Continue Reading