The Psalms were written by many poets and at many different dates. Some, I believe, are allowed to go back to the reign of David; I think certain scholars allow that Psalm 18 (of which a slightly different version occurs in 1 . . . Continue reading →
There are real, substantive differences between the way MacArthur writes in The Gospel According to Jesus and the way those of us in the confessional Reformation traditions speak about good works and salvation. This does not mean that MacArthur does not say . . . Continue reading →
Since we have given this wonderful Psalm an exegetical, expositional, and pastoral survey in our previous three installments, we return one last time for a fourth wherein we consider some further implications of this psalm. With great indebtedness to the pastoral insight . . . Continue reading →
Nevertheless in like manner also these false teachers by being dreamers, on the one hand defile the flesh, but also rebel against authority, but further blaspheme the glorious angels. 9Now, Michael the archangel, while deliberating with the devil, disputed about Moses’ body, . . . Continue reading →
As we engage the book proper, it is useful to remember that GAJ is organized in five parts: 1) Today’s Gospel: Good News or Bad?; 2) Jesus Heralds His Gospel; 3) Jesus Illustrates His Gospel; 4) Jesus Explains His Gospel; 5) Jesus . . . Continue reading →
As noted in our previous installments, Psalm 1 is a psalm appropriate for any season of life because we, as Christians, live in a world where sin seems normal and holiness seems weird, where wickedness is celebrated and wisdom is mocked. We . . . Continue reading →
In his introduction, MacArthur asks what is perhaps the central question in this debate: “What is the gospel?”36 He says that it is not merely an academic question (and all God’s people say, Amen!). He is exactly right when he writes, “And . . . Continue reading →
As we noted in our previous installment, Psalm 1 is a psalm appropriate for any season of life. Why? Because you, Christian, live in a world where sin seems normal, and holiness seems weird. What your grandparents may have considered warped and . . . Continue reading →
In his preface to the anniversary edition of GAJ (2008), MacArthur tells the story of how this volume came to be—emerging from a series of 226 sermons in the Gospel of Matthew, over the span of seven and one-half years.31 For what . . . Continue reading →
Nevertheless in like manner also these false teachers by being dreamers, on the one hand defile the flesh, but also rebel against authority, but further blaspheme the glorious angels. Jude 8 (author’s translation) GPS, especially as we have it on our phones, . . . Continue reading →
Before we dive into the preface of GAJ, we should shore up two points from the first installment: 1) The Modernity of Dispensationalism; and 2) The fundamental nature of the distinction between law and gospel. Dispensationalism: A Modern Paradigm Dispensationalism is a Modern . . . Continue reading →
Psalm 1 is one of those passages that folks like to preach at the beginning of a new calendar year or ponder at the outset of a significant new season in life. Indeed, this psalm is particularly dear to my family. For . . . Continue reading →
The controversy over the so-called Lordship Salvation doctrine has its proximate roots in a series of sermons through the gospel of Matthew preached by John MacArthur from about 1978 to 1985.1 He published the first edition of The Gospel According to Jesus . . . Continue reading →
The Latin Bible was a major formative influence on the way the Reformed theologians interpreted Scripture. The King James Version/Authorized Version (1611) particularly reflects the influence of the Latin Bible, but its influence reverberates in many English translations. It influenced their word . . . Continue reading →
Now, I want to remind you, despite how you once fully knew it, that Jesus, after saving a people out from the land of Egypt, later destroyed those who did not believe, 6 so too those angels who did not keep themselves . . . Continue reading →
King Jesus would know silence in a way that David never could because he was not merely wounded and abandoned. He was murdered in the most brutal way the Romans knew. He was publicly humiliated and shamed, and then, they hoped, silenced by being placed in a tomb.
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We Reformed folk like to think that what we do now in public worship is what we have always done. This is especially easy to do when we are cut off from or unaware of the original sources and practices of our . . . Continue reading →
Now, I want to remind you, despite how you once fully knew it, that Jesus, after saving a people out from the land of Egypt, later destroyed those who did not believe, 6 so too those angels who did not keep themselves in . . . Continue reading →
In our day and age, the average Christian is more likely to know the lyrics to the latest chart-topper than they are to know the words of Psalm 23, and it is even less likely that they have ever sung the metrical . . . Continue reading →
The Modern church has earned a dubious distinction: we live in the most psalm-less period in the history of the church. A Quick History Of Psalmlessness We know that the Jews sang psalms. We know that our Lord sang psalms with his . . . Continue reading →