ChatGPT and similar tools that generate text or images are one example of advances in technology that use algorithms built from data rather than being human-handcrafted. You probably have used some of them: Data-generated algorithms can identify faces in photographs, control autonomous . . . Continue reading →
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Riddlebarger: The Headcrusher Must Himself Be Crushed
The entire Old Testament is filled with the expectation and promise of a coming Redeemer. He would crush the serpent but would be bruised himself. He would come from the seed of the woman (a veiled reference to the virginal conception), be . . . Continue reading →
Of Choirs And Praise Bands
Choirs (and their casual, modern descendants worship teams and praise bands) have been near-ubiquitous in Reformed churches for less than two centuries, but just like government programs, once instituted these groups are difficult to disband even though their historical pedigree is weak. Arrangements may be . . . Continue reading →
Luther: The Law And Gospel Are Found Throughout Scripture
But you might say, “Isn’t there also much Law in the Gospels and in the Epistles of Paul, and again many promises in the books of Moses and the prophets?” Answer: There is no book in the Bible in which both are . . . Continue reading →
Perkins On The First Mark Of Faith
The second question is, when faith begins first to breed in the heart? Answer. When a man begins to be touched in his conscience for his sins, and, upon feeling of his own spiritual poverty, earnestly hungers and thirsts after Christ and . . . Continue reading →
Being A Witness In A Hostile Workplace
I have a Christian friend who works in human resources for a large financial services institution. She recently shared with me that, for the sake of diversity and inclusion, employees are now strictly prohibited from discussing matters of religion in the office. . . . Continue reading →
There Is Hope!
In Proverbs 13:12, we read that, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick . . .” Thousands of counseling hours over more than ten years at Baylight have made this biblical truth visibly evident. Life’s dominating circumstances can surely weigh anyone down, but nothing . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger: Christ Is Our Prophet, Priest, And King
As the story of redemption unfolded in the Old Testament, the offices of prophet, priest, and king repeatedly came into view. Moses prophesied that “the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. . . . Continue reading →
The Second Commandment Is God’s Word
In recent decades, there has been a renewed appreciation for and embrace of a “Calvinistic” (i.e. Biblical) soteriology in which God is recognized as sovereign in all the affairs of men and even in salvation. Dr. T. David Gordon suggests this phenomenon . . . Continue reading →
Luther On The Two Words
The second word of God is neither Law nor command and demands nothing of us. But when the first word of the Law has worked misery and poverty in the heart, then He comes and offers us His blessed and life-giving Word. . . . Continue reading →
Perkins On The Privilege Of Adoption
What is the excellency of this benefit [of adoption by God’s grace]? Answer. Great every way (John 1:12). He which is the child of God is heir and fellow-heir with Christ (Rom. 8:17), and that of the kingdom of heaven, and of . . . Continue reading →
Johnson On The Timing Of The Kingdom
Jesus’ parables sometimes send mixed messages about the timing of the coming kingdom. He speaks the parable of the wedding banquet in response to a fellow dinner guest’s pious-sounding beatitude that seemed to envision a distant future age, “Blessed is everyone who . . . Continue reading →
Biblicism Never Dies
In 2016, there was an eruption in conservative Evangelical and Reformed theologians surrounding the doctrine of the Eternal Functional Subordination of the Son (EFS). There’s no need to rehash what has already been said, as that has been summarized helpfully elsewhere. Needless to . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger: Christ Is The Central Character
The central character of the story, even in the Old Testament, was the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the only mediator between God and sinful humans (1 Tim. 2:5). He lay hidden in Old Testament shadows but was revealed in the New. Seeing the . . . Continue reading →
The CIA Considered Using Clergy As Intelligence Operatives
Further, as the committee knows, I have found no circumstances while I am Director of Central Intelligence, that have caused me to do either. But, Mr. Chairman, as the Director of Central Intelligence, I must be in a position to assure the . . . Continue reading →
Luther: We Have Nothing Apart From Christ
The word “Gospel” is Greek and signifies “joyous news,” because it proclaims the wholesome doctrine of life by divine promise and offers grace and forgiveness of sin. Therefore, works do not belong to the Gospel, for it is not Law; rather, only . . . Continue reading →
Perkins On The Abrogation Of The Law
…how far forth the law is abrogated? Answer. The law is threefold: moral, ceremonial, judicial. Moral is the law of God concerning manners or duties to God and man. Now the moral law is abrogated in respect of the church and them . . . Continue reading →
How Did The Substitutionary Atonement Work?
On the surface the logic of the atonement is straightforward. We sin and are therefore under God’s wrath. When Jesus died on the cross, he suffered the punishment that sin deserves. If we put our faith in Christ, we have eternal life. . . . Continue reading →
Luther: Meditation On The Law Teaches What We Are Apart From Christ
Overconfidence follows when a man strives to fulfill the Law by works, by trying hard to do as the words of the Law command. He serves God, doesn’t swear, honors father and mother, doesn’t kill, doesn’t commit adultery, and the like. But . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: The Spirit Feeds The Soul On Christ’s Body
In the Supper of the Lord, the external minister holds forth the external symbols, the bread of the Lord and the wine of the Lord, which are perceived by the organs of our body, consumed and swallowed. The internal minister, the Holy . . . Continue reading →