And that thou mayest live long on the earth. Moses expressly mentions the land of Canaan, “that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (Exod. 20:12.) Beyond this the Jews could not conceive of . . . Continue reading →
Eschatology
Interview With TruNews’ Rick Wiles: On The Secret Rapture
It was a pleasure to talk with Rick Wiles on TruNews today. Rick’s show is heard on radio stations all over America, across the globe, and on the web at TruNews.com. Here is the full episode. Here is the audio from the . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 58: Bored By Heaven? (2)
58. What comfort do we have from the article of “life everlasting”? That, inasmuch as I now feel in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, I shall after this life possess complete bliss, such as eye has not seen, nor ear . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 58: Bored By Heaven? (1)
58. What comfort do we have from the article of “life everlasting”? That, inasmuch as I now feel in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, I shall after this life possess complete bliss, such as eye has not seen, nor ear . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 57: The Comfort Of Resurrection And Glorification
The European Enlightenment(s) posed as world-expanding, mind-expanding movements. They promised to free us from the shackles of a benighted, narrow view of the world. Ironically, however, the Enlightenments did just the opposite. Whether through rationalism (what the human intellect cannot comprehend cannot . . . Continue reading →
The Spirit Of Our Age
…Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. —Deut 12:8; Judges 17:6; 21:25; Prov 12:15; 21:2
Heidelberg 52: When The Final Judgment Is Good News
…when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus (Rom 2:15–16.). The world gospel means good news. The verbal form of the noun (εὐαγγέλιόν) Paul uses in v. 16 in secular Greek “is always used in a . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 51: The Glory Of A King Distant And Near
Difficult as it may be for those who live within “the Beltway” (as if there is only one city in the world with a beltway) to imagine, many Americans have never visited the American capitol. For many Americans the capitol is distant . . . Continue reading →
Utopia Always Morphs To Dystopia
As long as human beings are unique, as long as even one of them thinks independently of others, Utopia is a total pipe dream. Compliance must be forced. Or human beings must cease to be human by giving up their uniqueness. Either . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 50: Christ Reigns Now (2)
Last time we looked briefly at some of the reasons some evangelicals (Dispensationalists) have had difficulty with the biblical and historic Christian doctrine that Jesus is presently reigning over all things and particularly his church. That view is in contrast to the . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 50: Christ Reigns Now (1)
It is basic to historic Christian teaching and confession that Jesus is reigning and ruling now. In the sixth article of the Apostles’ Creed all Christians confess, “He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 45: Three Benefits Of Christ’s Resurrection (4)
Be4 I sign off learned a new word in church today: Eschatology. Anyone? — Katie Couric (@katiecouric) December 1, 2014 Couric, a television host took a lot of heat for admitting that she did not know what “eschatology” means. That’s unfortunate because . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 45: Three Benefits Of Christ’s Resurrection (2)
In part 1 we considered some of the difficulties with asserting that God raised Jesus from the dead. The Enlightenment movements have catechized most of us in a closed, mechanical universe. Some, since the 19th century, have reacted to this view of . . . Continue reading →
Christ’s Humanity: Not Deified But Glorified
He rose the same person, the same Jesus Christ, very God and very man, which had died; he rose according to the nature in which he had suffered, which was his human nature, his true human nature, the very same which it . . . Continue reading →
Chiliasm And Soul Sleep
Our study began with Irenaeus’ contention that the belief in an immediate removal of the soul to the presence of God and Christ at death was a stumbling block to orthodox acceptance of chiliasm, and with his counter proposal that the chiliastic . . . Continue reading →
Two Points On Left Behind And The Secret Rapture
I’m not certain how many “Left Behind” films there have been so far but since the 1970s there have been several evangelical thrillers—beginning with “Thief In The Night”—based on the eschatology of John Nelson Darby (1800–82) et al that anticipate a “secret . . . Continue reading →
Augustine On Romans 2:13
Now he could not mean to contradict himself in saying, “The doers of the law shall be justified,” as if their justification came through their works, and not through grace; since he declares that a man is justified freely by His grace . . . Continue reading →
Calvin On Romans 2:13 In His Institutes
That they indeed quote Paul in the same sense does them very little good: “The doers of the law, not the hearers, are justified” [Rom. 2:13 p.]. I do not intend to evade the question through Ambrose’s solution: that this was said . . . Continue reading →
Charles Hodge On Romans 2:13
VERSE 13. For not the hearers of the law. This verse is connected with the last clause of the preceding, and assigns the reason why the Jews shall be judged or punished according to the law; the mere possession or knowledge of . . . Continue reading →
Romans 2:13—Justified Through Our Faithfulness? (4)
In part 3 we began looking at a document, from 1978, which proposed a two-stage doctrine of justification. It recognized that there is some risk, some difficulty, in speaking of a present justification and a future justification. Nevertheless, the document contends that . . . Continue reading →