In sum, while Adam is, according to Calvin, a genuine historical person, there is also a genuine sense in which Adam constitutes a symbol of every man (and woman). Adam’s sin and God’s response to it serve as a (prophetic) picture of every individual’s response to his or her guilt and God’s own, more radical... Continue Reading

A hermeneutic of suspicion appears to dominate those who hold to two separate, contradictory creation accounts from two different sources. It is true that the two chapters of Genesis view the creation event from two different angles or perspectives. Genesis 1 paints the creation of the cosmos in a sequential, broad stroke, whereas Genesis 2:4-25... Continue Reading

Our number one problem is our sinfulness—having sinned against God. Our number one problem is not our brokenness—others having sinned against us or facing suffering because of living in a fallen world. That’s why I have a significant problem with the first use of “brokenness”—where we use it to describe the underlying reason we sin. ... Continue Reading

Classic Dispensationalism has long held that the Pharisees had the right method of interpreting the Bible, they simply reached the wrong conclusions. It is the Dispensational-Premillennial belief that God made a promise to Abraham (Genesis chapters 15 and 17) that he would give to him an earthly, national people with the result that, in the... Continue Reading

Regardless how we spend our evenings or how hard we try, the pastor never completely checks out.  Even if the phone does not ring or no one stops by, the sermon is still on the mind and heart, that elderly saint’s battle with cancer still weighs on the shoulders, and there just is not a... Continue Reading

“Systematic Theology, by contrast with Biblical Theology, approaches the Bible as a completed divine revelation, taking account of all that has been said and carefully noting what has been superseded and what is ‘truth unchanged, unchanging’. This means that Systematic Theology gratefully accepts and assimilates all that Biblical Theology has to offer. But it also... Continue Reading

“This may sound like theological hair-splitting, but actually it is tied in with one of the most vexed issues of Christian experience that goes back to the earliest days of the New Testament church and further back still. Because that is so, we are reminded that every pastoral problem has theological dimensions and every theological... Continue Reading

“The Bible tells us explicitly and shows us implicitly that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. David knows this to be true. As broken as he is, he knows God and how God relates to penitent people. He understands that God never hates or despises a broken and contrite heart. This... Continue Reading

“No longer are we to offer sacrifices as required under the Old Covenant of Grace, but we are to keep the “Law of the Temple.” Regularly, we are to gather around Christ and recognize his free mercy and grace. In response, we are to regularly express our faith, repentance, godly sorrow, and trust in his atoning... Continue Reading

“Because God loves his enemies, God sent his Son to rescue messed up people like me from the misery of our sin and the punishment that our sin deserves. I deserved to be taken out, but Jesus died for me — in my place. And God did it because he loves me (Rom. 5:6-8).”  ... Continue Reading