INTRODUCTION: Why is the issue of faith and works so complicated? The answer is that it is not—it is the sinful human heart that is complicated. Because of that, we take something straightforward—trust God in all things—and tie it up into knots. But the issues outside the heart are simple. They binary. Either you will …
Saving the Remnant/Romans 35
INTRODUCTION: In order to understand Scripture rightly, we have to understand the flow of redemptive history. God’s revelation to us is progressive, and it unfolds over centuries. If we treat the Bible as the book that fell from the sky, we are going to have a terrible time comprehending it rightly. The works of God’s …
Bad Puppet!/Romans 34
INTRODUCTION: We now come to some hard words, whether they are hard to understand or simply hard to take. And as we seek to be faithful to what God has given us here, we have to be mindful of Peter’s caution—there are places in Paul’s epistles where it is not safe for ignorant or unstable …
Jacob Have I Loved/Romans 33
INTRODUCTION: We come now to the central lesson of all evangelical religion. We come now to the glorious revelation of the sovereign grace of God, as revealed in the gospel, and only through the gospel. We come now to the promises, which are great and precious. THE TEXT: “Neither, because they are the seed of …
Not All Israel Is Israel/Romans 32
Introduction It may not be immediately obvious, but it appears as though the apostle Paul painted himself into a corner. He began to wax a little too eloquent at the end of chapter 8, showing how absolutely nothing can separate the elect of God from the love of Christ. Who can lay a charge against …
Refugees and Apostles
INTRODUCTION: As we seek to live our lives as faithful Christians, informed by the Word of God, we soon discover that it is not a simple process. It is not as though the Spirit gave us a rule book, in outline form, fully indexed. He gave us laws, principles, stories, and parables, strewn across various …
Never Trust a Theologian . . .
Yesterday at church I saw a bumper sticker on a friend’s car that summarizes a lot of things wonderfully. “Never trust a theologian who hasn’t been executed.” Of course if we understand the spirit of the thing, we would not just limit ourselves to men like Cranmer, burned at the stake, but could also include …
Father of Mercies
INTRODUCTION: Under the direction of God, in recent years we have been led to redouble our efforts and emphases on what we call mercy ministry. Whether it is a continuation of our labor in the Ivory Coast, or a new field for mercy work in Myanmar, or locally through Sabbath House, we have been given …
Untouchable/Romans 31
INTRODUCTION: The conclusion of this chapter ties in nicely with the way it begins—the chapter begins with no condemnation, and it ends with no possible condemnation. And the basis for this glorious and exalted grace is the entire argument of Romans up to this point—the free gift, justification, and the love of God. This is …
What Shall We Then Say?/Romans 30
INTRODUCTION: We come now to the beating heart of what has been nicknamed Calvinism. But of course, Calvin—a faithful servant of God—did not concoct these doctrines. He taught that where Scripture is silent, we ought not to pry (Dt. 29:29). But he also taught, following Augustine, that Scripture is always a safe guide. The same …