INTRODUCTION: On a number of different occasions, we have considered the importance of having our times and seasons defined in relation to Jesus Christ. The only alternative to this is to have them defined in reference to someone or something else, and this is obviously an unacceptable alternative to all faithful Christians. Jesus Christ really …
Yeah, Uh Huh Faith
John Robbins says the following, in an ostensible defense of Protestant orthodoxy. Gordon Clark apparently closed the back door “through which much of this Neolegalism has entered the churches: the notions that saving faith is different from belief, and more than belief, and that it is ‘commitment’ as well” (The Current Justification Controversy, p. 74). …
Judge Me, O God/Psalm 26
Without the confession of sin found in the previous psalm, this psalm taken by itself could be seen as arrogant or self-righteous. We always need the whole counsel of God. But in our day, we are far more likely to ignore the sentiments found here than we are to neglect the sentiments that urge us …
Federal Audio Stuff Available
A week or so ago I mentioned that the folks at St. Anne’s Public House had interviewed me together with Michael Horton on issues related to the Federal Vision. Well, the glad day when that interview can be made available has arrived, and so here it is. Of course, I was there when we recorded …
Surplus Praise
Great God of heaven, we come into Your presence with thanksgiving and praise, and we ask You to receive our joy because we offer it up to You in the joy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are in the Advent season, and we ask You to prepare our hearts with the kind …
History as Wedding Preparation
We have come to the third Lord’s Day of Advent, and so we continue to prepare our hearts. This is not just a religious festival that we Christians observe. In all that we do in the presence of non-believers, we are making cosmic claims, and we believe them to be true. Put another way, the …
Feeding or Devouring
When we come to this Table in the demeanor of faith, we are not just nourishing ourselves. Rather, the entire Body is being nourished and built up to the extent that various parts of the Body are receiving this gift in true evangelical faith. Coming to the Lord’s Table rightly is not a way for …
A Father Forever
In the Bible, personal identity is not primarily a question of some substance inside a man. But each man still has a nature, inherited from his father. So ontology is not a philosophical problem in the Bible, but rather a problem of generation. And when this generation is sinful, the only solution to the problem …
You Shall Not Commit Murder
It would be easy for Christians to assume that there is not much to say with regard to this commandment — God says not to murder people. But as is true with so many other things, we are most prone to error in the things we think we know. The Word of God says that …
The Privilege of Persecution
There are some things which the natural man is simply incapable of doing. If we are thinking carefully, we should recognize that obedience to the words of Christ in this passage heads the list. This inability of the non-believing is important for us as we consider the passage. Christ gives the last Beatitude, and then …