“We must also confess that we do not determine the boundaries of salvation — God does. We must follow His lead and must not seek to have higher fellowship standards than He does. For example, did God fellowship with you and have communion with you before you understood these truths? Salvation is based on the …
Can the Old Heart Act Like the New Heart?
“If the Father does not do the drawing, if the Father does not give it, then a man cannot come. But does this mean that no one ever comes? No — it means that everyone who comes has been drawn by God. And further, when the Father draws, that drawing is inexorable: ‘All that the …
Lazarus Didn’t Help Do It
“A dead man is in no shape to prepare himself for resurrection. He is impotent. When Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, it was not a cooperative effort between the two. Christ raised him, and then Lazarus came forth” (The Paideia of God, pp. 62-63).
What Kind of Objection?
[Speaking of Acts 4:27-28] “They gathered together to commit a heinous crime, but they only did what God’s hand and purpose had settled beforehand. We therefore see that God can control sinful actions without being defiled by those sinful actions. Of course, objections crowd into our minds, but they are not textual objections — at …
Bungee Jumping With Frayed Cords
“Our lives are bounded by God. ‘Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass’ (Job 14:5). Until the time comes that God has established, every man is immortal. As far as God’s determination is concerned, we cannot lengthen and we …
Reformed Theology and Classical Christian Schools
“Recall that the Reformation had begun early in the sixteenth century, and we can see that the historic position of Protestants was well-established for two and a half centuries before there were really any non-Augustinian Protestants. This pervasive orthodoxy included the American colonies, and it did not begin to erode in our nation until the …
Kids Demanding Uniforms
“The Bible tells us that it is legitimate to mark someone’s position in a particular culture or society by how they dress. Having students on the way home from school recognized as students is fully in keeping with a general human pattern, and is observed in Scripture and seen regularly in other situations. To illustrate, …
The Centrality of Peripherals
“In all this, we must remember the centrality of peripherals. The point is not to favor the peripherals instead of the center. That would be the sin of majoring on minors, swallowing camels, and all the rest of it. Rather, the point is that on this question the Christian world has fallen into the fallacy …
Wearing Sweats Into the Throne Room
“We find that in Scripture, salvation is frequently pictured for us in the image of wonderful clothing: ‘Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you’ (Is. 52:1). Granted this is a metaphor, but …
Vocabulary of Obedience
“Put another way, the Bible does not tell us whether the British or the American military salute is ‘more proper’ than the other. But it does require the fact of the salute. Expressions of honor are common to all human societies, and the Bible requires that we honor others and maintain such expressions of honor. …