Steak for Lent: A Primer on the Active Obedience of Christ (Part One)

Many of us have family, friends, or co-workers who show up to events with ash on their foreheads or announce the fact that they are fasting and cannot eat certain foods on certain days. Is that what this time of the year is all about? Letting people know that you are fasting? Showing up to work or social events with ash on your forehead? What should Reformed Christians be doing at this time of the year? Continue reading →

More Than The Sinner’s Prayer

If potential converts (children or adults) are so unfamiliar with basic Bible doctrine that they can understand nothing more than “asking Jesus into their heart,” they probably should wait to make a commitment, until they understand the gravity of sin, and Christ’s . . . Continue reading →

Lordship Salvation, The Federal Vision, And The Covenant Theology That The Reformation Rejected

Or Why History Is Useful

More than twenty years ago, in the summer of 2001, Mike Horton and I were sitting beside a hotel swimming pool one evening during Synod Escondido, along with several ministers from our federation (denomination) of churches (the United Reformed Churches in North . . . Continue reading →

Embracing The Reformation Doctrine Of Salvation Is Not “Wearying From The Battle”

John MacArthur is the old lion of modified Dispensationalism, which has been a gateway for many into the Reformation, but which has also been an obstacle to the Reformation. State Of The Controversy One way in which that has been true is . . . Continue reading →

The Point Of The Rich Man And Lazarus Might Not Be What You Think (Pt 2)

According to Josephus and three of the four Gospel writers, Caiaphas was Israel’s high priest during the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry.7 Further, as it turns out, he was the son-in-law of Annas, who had also reigned as high priest some years . . . Continue reading →

The Point Of The Rich Man And Lazarus Might Not Be What You Think (Pt 1)

In Luke 16, Jesus tells a fascinating story about two contrasting characters: one who lives in luxury, and the other who lives in extreme poverty and, unlike all the other parables Jesus tells, in this particular narrative, one of the characters is . . . Continue reading →

A Debtor’s Ethic

John Piper has complained that the historic Reformed understanding of the Christian faith and life produces what he calls a “debtor’s ethic.” The assumption is that a “debtor’s ethic” is something that we are supposed to reject out of hand. I have . . . Continue reading →

Faith, Love, and Piper: Distinguishing Reformed Categories

What’s love got to do with it? According to John Piper’s recent book What is Saving Faith?, affectional elements, including one’s love, satisfaction in and treasuring of God, are included in the definition of justifying faith itself—though, this may not come as a . . . Continue reading →