“We are not permitted to draw contrasts where the New Testament draws parallels. The Corinthians were tempted to put on airs over against the Jews. We have spiritual food. We have spiritual drink. So did the Jews, Paul replies bluntly. You can have religious ceremonial, God-given ritual, whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, baptism in the …
Pulpitoons
As we argue, urge, mobilize, vote, write and so forth, we need to remember that all these things, however righteous they are in themselves — and they are — cannot supply an essential element of cultural reformation. In order to turn our culture back from the brink, we need to pray for the arrival of …
Inescapable Need for Grace
“Regeneration enables us to use biblical ordinances rightly; it does not eliminate the need for them. It only eliminates the spiritually stupid use of them” (Against the Church, p. 19).
Put an Egg in Their Shoe
In just a moment I would like to interact with a post by Kirsten Powers and Jonathan Merritt, which you can read here if you haven’t already. In one sense, I wish they hadn’t written that thing together, because I have some respect for Kirsten Powers. She has done some very fine against-the-tide work on …
If Quantity Were the Thing . . .
“True baptism is of the internal man, by the Holy Spirit, and if that is missing you do not have a Christian inwardly. You do not have a true Christian, but rather a wet member of the visible covenant. The only thing we control (with the variations we have in our rituals) is how wet …
When Itching Ears Tingle
“YHWH makes our ears to tingle (1 Sam. 3:11; 2 Kings 2:12; Jer. 19:3). He did it at Shiloh. He did it to Solomon’s temple. He did it to Nehushtan. He did it to Herod’s temple. And the holy prophets of old used the kind of language in declaring the righteousness of such judgments that …
A Sampling
Free Fall
When a culture spirals out of control, at some point it will begin to dawn on the remaining faithful Levites (who are waiting for Moses to come down off the mountain) that the point of no return has been passed by those caught up in the moment. These things can be stopped, but only in …
The Greatest Iconoclast
“We should know that God is the great maker of icons. As the Creator of a world full of His image-bearers, He has made billions of them . . . And this is why it is necessary for us to confess that God is also the greatest iconoclast. As the Judge who governs a sinful …
Working Doesn’t Work
“Unconverted Protestants have figured out their own ways of offending God. Someone who is born again knows that God cannot be ‘worked.’ He knows that it is not our task to assemble before the Almighty in order to blow smoke at Him — whether or not thuribles are involved” (Against the Church, p. 15).