INTRODUCTION: We are coming now to a place in this book where Amos begins hitting his stride. His central condemnation here is directed at that corruption of worship which results in the idolatry of opulent violence. The prophet here takes his stand against monsters who sleep on satin sheets, apes dressed in purple. THE TEXT: …
Jumping and Obeying
I made a comment in passing about how the language of obedience to the gospel comes naturally to Paul’s pen. Lane picked up on this, and interacted with one of those places, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-8. [Which is] a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom …
Propitiation: The Display Case of Love
Not only is the verb for sinning common in 1 John, so is the noun. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from sin (1:7). If we say that we have no need of this cleansing, the truth is not in us, and the sin we deny we have is in us (1:8). But if …
Stoop to Conquer
“If they sneer at anecdotes, we smile at them and their sneers, and wish them more sense and less starch” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 362).
Religion, Civil or Biblical?
“A religious statement, on the other hand, which says, ‘do not be conformed to the values of society’ swings an axe at the trunk of civil religion. Civil religion eases tensions, where biblical religion creates them. Civil religion papers over the cracks of evil, and biblical religion strips away the covering, exposing the nasty places. …
Protesting Catholics
“Many modern readers of history fail to see the catholicity of the Reformation. In no way did the reformers desire to found ‘a denomination’ in the modern sense; rather, they desired the reformation of the one Church. They were one party within the Church; the other party was the papal faction” (For Kirk and Covenant, …
Let Me Think About It, No
Today is the last day of primaries in the Democratic contest for the presidential nomination, and it looks like Hillary will be out of that contest this week. It is possible that she will stay in formally in order to be able to challenge the Michigan and Florida apportionment of delegates, but whether she gets …
Sin Unto Death
In his first epistle, John uses the verb hamartano a number of times. If we claim that we have not sinned, we are representing God to be a liar, because He says that we have sinned (1:10). John writes so that we will not sin (2:1), but if we do sin (2:1), we have an …
Metaphors Are Fun That Way
“You may build up laborious definitions and explanations and yet leave your hearers in the dark as to your meaning; but a thoroughly suitable metaphor will wonderfully clear the sense” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 349).
The Key to Eternal Relevance
“Examining the economic pronouncements of the church leaders, one is reminded of Chesterton’s remark that the morality of most moralists has been ‘one solid and polished cataract of platitudes flowing forever and ever.’ Having convinced themselves, rightly, that the biblical tradition has much to say about economics, the church intellectuals make theological statements serve as …