We have twenty-seven New Testament books in our Christian Bibles. More properly, we have twenty-seven historical records, accounts, and letters about Jesus the Christ and his church at work through the Holy Spirit in the first-century world. These, together with the Hebrew . . . Continue reading →
The old dispensation and the new are customarily distinguished as the dispensation of nationalism and that of universalism. Continue reading →
While election stresses the fact that God chose one of twin brothers, Jacob, not Esau (Rom 9:10-12), the doctrine of the covenant stresses the truth that in imparting saving grace to men, God, although not bound by family ties, graciously takes them . . . Continue reading →
Both at Babel and at Jerusalem God supernaturally caused men to speak in various tongues. But the consequences differed radically. At Babel there was confusion and division. Men were scattered abroad on all the face of the earth. That was the beginning . . . Continue reading →
Both at Babel and at Jerusalem God supernaturally caused men to speak in various tongues. But the consequences differed radically. At Babel there was confusion and division. Men were scattered abroad on all the face of the earth. That was the beginning . . . Continue reading →
If theocracy didn’t work in Israel, where God divinely instituted it, why do people insist on believing it will work in places where God manifestly has not instituted it? T. David Gordon | Why Johnny Can’t Preach: The Media Have Shaped the . . . Continue reading →
God has promised to be the God, not only of those who believe, but also of their seed, and that, hence, He is wont as a general rule to bestow saving grace on the children of believers. R. B. Kuiper | God . . . Continue reading →
Although Pentecost was not the birthday of the Christian church, it does mark a most significant turning point in the history of the church. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church implemented the transition from nationalism to universalism. R. B. . . . Continue reading →
Last time in Psalms 14 and 53, we looked at the psalmist David in his struggle with the workers of evil and with corrupt and perverse people everywhere in his midst. The Lord of great fortune was with him and with the . . . Continue reading →
“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”1 Does this sound familiar? Perhaps you have found yourself guilty of saying something like this. This was the programmatic catchphrase of Stuart Smalley, a fictional character played by Al Franken on . . . Continue reading →
“Thank God!” It rolls right off the tongue. It is so easy to say most times that you do not even need to think about it. But perhaps that is the problem. How often do we think about giving thanks? When and . . . Continue reading →
I am a junior high history teacher. For pre-teens and teenagers, history is not the most thrilling of school subjects. Gratefully, I teach at a Christian school, so my particular spin on history involves the triune God’s involvement. (This does not always . . . Continue reading →
We have been wrestling with the word Identity and what it means now for decades, especially in our modern Western contexts. We are obsessed, it seems, with identification markers and belonging. Continue reading →
The concept of covenant is found cover to cover in the Bible. It is not simply derived from the Hebrew and Greek words translated “covenant” in English (berit and diatheke, respectively). The covenantal structure goes far deeper into the biblical drama than . . . Continue reading →
The very God who is all in all, who has revealed himself covenantally through creation and redemption, commands due worship. With human beings as God’s pinnacle creatures, worship actually tends to our greatest blessing and should be our greatest joy. We are . . . Continue reading →
Thus, while amillennialism agrees with postmillennialism that Christ’s second coming will occur after the thousand years, it demurs from postmillennialism’s and premillenialism’s shared belief that Christians can expect a semi-curse-free, semi-suffering-free era within the context of the ‘first heaven and earth,’ prior . . . Continue reading →
The family that worships together, stays together—this quirky little phrase is packed with truth. The triune God of creation and redemption works through families. This is true in both testaments of the Christian church. But unlike a quickly turned phrase, the family . . . Continue reading →
In the last few years, we have seen a rise in the retrieval of historic Christianity. By “historic” Christianity, I mean, creedal, confessional, and catechetical: a communal dialogue of the faith once for all delivered to the saints. The return to an . . . Continue reading →
When I reflect back on my life as a Christian, Paul’s thoughts in this verse come to mind: “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he [Jesus] appeared also to me [Paul]” (1 Corinthians 15:8 ESV). I too was late to . . . Continue reading →