The formal question of the Protestant Reformation was that of authority: What is the principal source of authority for the Christian faith and the Christian life? The Roman communion claimed that the church produced the Scriptures and thus the authority of the . . . Continue reading →
“Most of the current controversy regarding the gospel hinges on the definitions of a few key words, including repentance, faith, discipleship, and Lord.”186 So writes John MacArthur in his chapter on repentance.187 He notes that our Lord’s preaching of the Kingdom of . . . Continue reading →
Thus we see that Christ does not make a distinction between those who are weak and strong in faith and rejects no one, for small faith is also faith, and if it only continues, it will always become stronger. Christ came into . . . Continue reading →
Throughout this series, however it might seem to devoted fans of John MacArthur, I have endeavored to be honest and fair—both of which require me to acknowledge, as I have before, that chapters 14 and 15 are quite edifying. The beginning of . . . Continue reading →
Dispensationalism is as much a theory of the church as it is of dispensations. Or rather, dispensationalism divides humanity into three distinct groups: Israel, the church, and the nations. The first two are in covenant with God. Israel has the starring role . . . Continue reading →
In MacArthur’s account of the parables of the kingdom of God, the nature of saving faith, and in his use of sources, we face three interesting sets of questions and some recurring problems in chapter 13 of The Gospel According to Jesus. . . . Continue reading →
All the rich benefits which Christ gives to His believers on earth receive their fulfillment and their crown in the glorification which accrues to them in part upon death but only in its fulness after the day of judgment. But this benefit . . . Continue reading →
In chapter 15 of GAJ, MacArthur’s critique of Dispensational antinomianism (and particularly of the “carnal Christian” doctrine, which we addressed last time) turns to the parable of the sower (Matt 13:24–30). He complains about the undisciplined character of so much of contemporary . . . Continue reading →
No chapter in this volume, so far, relies on MacArthur’s debt to Dispensationalism more than chapter 11, where he addresses the parable of the soils in Matthew 13. The Problem Of Dispensationalism He begins by recalling our Lord’s words, which he addressed . . . Continue reading →
How may believers be assured that they have eternal life? What impact do faith, good works, commitment, apostasy, and baptism have on our formulation of the biblical doctrine of assurance? Continue reading →
Many years ago, at an ecclesiastical meeting, there was a worship service. The minister preaching was retired but something of a hero in the denomination. He and others had stood for the truth when many others had taken an easier and more . . . Continue reading →
True, we speak of an old and a new man in the believer, and so we give expression to the fact that in the new life the whole man has in principle been changed, and that nevertheless the power of sin continues . . . Continue reading →
Because the MacArthurite sect of Dispensationalism (we might say post-modified Dispensationalism but not quite Progressive Dispensationalism) intersects only occasionally and tangentially with the Reformation, the defenders of Lordship Salvation assume that any critique of the system is necessarily a defense of Zane . . . Continue reading →
Although Old Testament anticipation (whether in prophetic words or in “types,” those “incarnated prophecies” embedded in Israel’s concrete historical experience) and New Testament fulfillment are bound together by strands of similarity, the move from promise to fulfillment, from “shadow” to “reality” (in . . . Continue reading →
One of the unfortunate aspects of the intra-Dispensational argument—that is, the Lordship Salvation controversy—is that both sides appealed to the Reformation, but neither side represented the Reformation theology, piety, and practice. Dispensationalism is a nineteenth-century phenomenon. Its roots are in the holiness . . . Continue reading →
The righteousness of Jesus Christ by which we are justified before God is the most perfect obedience to the whole divine law, consisting of most exact conformity of the whole human nature of Christ and of all His actions and sufferings, internal . . . Continue reading →
The overarching theme of this series has been that the Lordship Salvation doctrine confuses the law and the gospel.95 Nowhere is that confusion more evident than in his handling of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16–22: And behold, a man came . . . Continue reading →
Because it seems that advocates of the Dispensational Lordship doctrine suspect anyone who critiques them of latent antinomianism, let me say here that I agree entirely with MacArthur when he writes, “and any ‘salvation’ that does not alter a lifestyle of sin . . . Continue reading →
In a controversy, the temptation is to become competitive and to try to defeat one’s opponent, rather than to seek the truth. Controversy is an opportunity for the mortification (putting to death) of sin and vivification (the making alive of the new . . . Continue reading →
In chapter three, MacArthur turns to Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus in John 3. Since I have been primarily critical of his methods and conclusions, let me begin with some areas of agreement. When he writes, “the central theme of the Old Testament . . . Continue reading →