My recent post on old school marriage has generated some questions about the biblical necessity of marriage vows. I had argued that a marriage is constituted when two elements are both present — a sexual union and a socially recognized commitment and bond (vows), which result in a particular legal status for that couple. In …
Baptized Into Promise, Not Law
“Circumcision began with the promise, to use Paul’s terms, and not with the law. It is part of the promise to Abraham, and was not instituted at Sinai” (To a Thousand Generations, p. 22)
Preach Biography
“God is the great, original, and continual biographical preacher . . . God did not reveal himself in abstract truth, but in a life — in the life of his son Jesus Christ” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 121).
Sexual Intercourse, Old School
In order to do a better job defending marriage we have to do a better job defining it. What is marriage anyway? Because false understandings of marriage are common, even among conservative Christians, we are frequently caught flatfooted when it comes to things like the gay marriage debate. A marriage requires two components or elements. …
Little Saints
“But how do we know someone to be unregenerate? The Bible gives us only one criterion — fruit, which is seen in the various works of the flesh. But infancy in a godly household is not a work of the flesh . . . The children of at least one believer are described as holy …
Even If You Use a Spatula
Lust is a demand for a finite thing to provide what only the infinite can actually provide. God has placed eternity in our hearts (Ecc. 3:11, ESV), and that God-shaped vacuum — to use Pascal’s phrase for it — can only be filled by the infinite torrential waterfall that is the triune God. He is …
Children Who Are Brought, Come
[Speaking of Mt. 19:14, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:15-16] “Jesus says that little children are are brought by another are little children who come to Him. It may be protested that there is no water, no baptism, in these passages. This is cheerfully acknowledged. We are not talking about baptism; we are talking about the relationship …
Ow
“One of the men of the French court once said to a famous court preacher, ‘Sire, your sermons terrify me, but your life reassures me'” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 113).
Audio Reading of Post
Bright Lights and Big Bugs
David Bahnsen and I have a cordial relationship, and we have agreed that I will interact with his latest post on Ron Paul. So here it is, but you should first go and read what he has to say about it here. I am writing as one who appreciates Ron Paul’s presence among us. I …
Ye Solons of the Earth
I can’t let the Israel imbroglio, caused by Obama’s 1967 comments, pass without making just a quick comment. The situation between Israel and the Palestinians is intractable, meaning by this that there is no political solution. Apart from a supernatural intervention that topples all the idols, the inevitable consequence will be war. The more people …