In this psalm, David recounts his fight with the heathen who had invaded his nation. David writes during the course of a brief respite in the battle. He celebrates a great deliverance in the first part of the psalm (vv. 1-12), and calls for further deliverance in the remainder of the psalm (vv. 13-20). “I …
Yelling At My Windshield
I have begun listening to the audio recordings of the recent conference at Westminster West on The Foolishness of the Gospel, and will make a few comments here from time to time as circumstances warrant. Initially, just a few remarks. While it is quite true that Scripture speaks of the foolishness of the gospel, it …
Worship As A Shield
God has never done a work of reformation in the world where that work had no critics. One of the signs of thorough-going reformation is when those involved in the work of reformation respond in grace and wisdom. This is not the same as agreeing with the critics and joining them, but it is the …
Subsequent Generations
Our gracious God and Father in heaven, we rejoice before You now. We thank You for all the children You have given us, and the grandchildren also. We gather before You as a redeemed family, and we look forward to this redemption continuing to subsequent generations. We know that You keep covenant to a thousand …
Church of the Firstborn
Jesus Christ, the firstborn, is therefore head of the Church of the firstborn (Heb. 12:23). All of this is indicated in Paul’s interpretation of the second psalm— And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that …
Born Again from the Dead
Christ was born again from the dead. Because of this, the whole created order was born again from the dead. Because of this, Israel was born again from the dead, and is now the Church. Because of this, a man can be born again and enter the Church. If he was already in the Church, …
Auburn Avenue Kerfluffle (AAK) and Transitive Verbs
Always trying to be helpful, I would like to suggest something else that might help good Reformed folks out of the impasse we have gotten ourselves into. In the current debate over faith alone, obedient faith, faith and obedience, and so on, we have a tendency to reify things like faith and obedience, and then …
New Nation, New Members
As we talk about what it means to be “born again,” we have to preserve the scriptural pattern and order. First, as the cornerstone of all doctrines of regeneration, Jesus was born again from the dead (Col. 1:18). Because of Christ’s birth from among the dead, the whole created order was made new in Him. …
From Greater to Lesser
There is an important sense in which regeneration has to be understood as applied to individuals. But this is not the primary thrust of the scriptural emphasis. If we emphasize individual regeneration alone, we will lose the glory of the biblical message of Regeneration. But if we keep the scriptural emphasis, we lose nothing with …
The Politics of Sodomy: Not Whether But Which
INTRODUCTION In many respects, we are like a man who lives in a house that is increasingly cluttered and trashed. When the day finally arrives when it becomes obvious that he must do something, it is equally obvious at the same time, that he has no idea what to do, or where to start. He …