No serious participant in this debate denies that men are free, responsible agents, and that they are fully accountable for what they do. There is, however, much debate on what the word freedom means. How Does the Will Operate? Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and …
A True Fast
In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ is continuing His general point that genuine Christian living is to be before the Father, and not primarily before men. The point He makes about fasting is the same point he has already made about giving and prayer. “Moreover, when you fast, do not be …
Oops
As I have looked through my notes on the Sermon on the Mount, those going with the Lord’s Prayer have somehow vanished. So the next post will pick up at verse 16.
Providence and Predestination
We come now to a discussion of God’s control over everything. Obviously, this includes our salvation, but is not limited to that. Now most Christians do not have a problem in acknowledging God’s control over the physical creation. Not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from the Father, and He know the numbers of …
And the Table Underneath
Our gracious heavenly Father, we thank You now in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You for this food, the hands that prepared it, the fellowship around it, and the table underneath it. We give all thanks back to You, knowing that without Your Spirit, we could not live in the Sabbath rest that You …
Theological Tool Words
Some are troubled by the idea of definitive justification at the beginning of our Christian lives and another eschatological “justification” at the end of history. They are right to be wary about any attempt to smuggle autonomous works into the equation, but wrong in not realizing that eternity/time transactions cannot always be tidily represented on …
Even the Stones Know
The Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem in great triumph. His majesty and rightful claim to the throne of David were manifest . . . to His disciples. But the established powers in Jerusalem refused to know what they had a responsibility to know. And in this, the very rocks were more spiritually astute than the Pharisees. …
Even the Stones Know/Palm Sunday 2005
INTRODUCTION: The Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem in great triumph. His majesty and rightful claim to the throne of David were manifest . . . to His disciples. But the established powers in Jerusalem refused to know what they had a responsibility to know. And in this, the very rocks were more spiritually astute than the …
Three Stumbling Blocks
When it appears that the Holy Spirit has begun to create new wine in the church, why do Christian leaders sometimes fail to drink it? Let us begin by acknowledging that sometimes it is because they are courageous and insightful. Athanasius was against the world, and the new wine of Arianism was actually stump water …
Palm Sunday and a Crown by Faith
In the Triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, we see that the cross is very much in view. At the same time, it is a triumphal entry because the resurrection is equally central. We might even say that the death of Christ is surrounded by resurrection. On the next day much people that were come …