INTRODUCTION: The resurrection of the Lord Jesus was no isolated event. His return from the dead entailed with it the resurrection of all things from the dead. The power of death, which had held the entire world in thrall, was reversed at that point, two millennia ago, and the power of His new life has …
Giving Away the Store
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 40 God blesses open-handedness, and yet there is such a thing as giving away the store. What is the difference between the two? The law of God requires open-handedness, and a generous spirit. The gleaning laws of the Old Testament, …
The Conscience of Saul of Tarsus
Before his conversion on the Damascus road, did Saul of Tarsus wrestle with a troubled conscience? Now I believe that he did, and have argued for this take in the special issue of Credenda entitled “A Pauline Take on the New Perspective.” I am happy to grant that a troubled conscience in a Pharisee like …
God And Your Stuff
In this portion of His great sermon, Christ brings us to the subject of our material possessions, and our attitudes towards them. The teaching of this section can perhaps be summarized this way. God does not mind His people having things; He forbids things having His people. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on …
Saul As Torah-Breaker
I am continuing with some occasional remarks on various aspects of N.T. Wright’s work. “What, then, was the agenda of Saul of Tarsus? We may draw it together in three points. First, he was zealous for Israel’s God and for the Torah. This was a matter of personal piety, no doubt, and of fervent prayer …
The Risen Lord
Minister: He is risen! Congregation: He is risen indeed! God of everlasting life, we pray to You in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. As Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Lord Jesus spent three days and three nights in the heart …
Death Reversed
Jesus rose from the dead, and defeated the power of death forever. He did not do this in one moment of time, with all the effects of His work immediately evident, but the central thing was done at that one moment of time. His resurrection was the first fruits of what will be a glorious …
Protection and the Sacrament
As was noted at the Good Friday service, the Lord Jesus at the Last Supper gave bread to Judas. The apostle John says that after this identification of him, Satan entered him and he went out into the night. There is an important sense in which we should fence the Table, and this is what …
Good Friday Homily 2005
This is the day in our calendar when we commemorate the time when the mangled body of our Lord Jesus was nailed to a cross of wood. Not only do we commemorate this, we exult in it. In this divine humiliation, we have learned to see the beauty of the Lord, the wisdom of God, …
Reprobation and Preterition
We must begin by understanding that there are two distinct aspects to reprobation. It is important to keep these distinctions in mind all the time. Preterition comes from the Latin, and means “to pass by.” It is flip side to election and has nothing whatever to do with the merits or demerits of the person …