Salvation

The Mission of the Church in the Story of Jesus' Birth

Richard D. Phillips
Dec 21, 2018
As 2018 draws to a close, we look back on a year in which perhaps the most pressing issue for Reformed Christians is the relationship between the church and the world. How does the church respond to cultural shifts in terms of human identity and sexuality? And what is the mission of the church when...

Why the Virgin Birth of the Son?

Jeffrey Stivason
Dec 16, 2018
Have you ever wondered why Matthew 1:23 quotes Isaiah 7:14? Perhaps the ready answer is that the quote substantiates the virgin conception and birth of Christ, which is true enough. However, the text raises a number of questions. For instance, why did God promise a virgin conceived and virgin born...

Heaven on Earth? Protestants & Dante

Stephen Unthank
Oct 19, 2018
I have the pleasure of meeting with some very bright high school students twice a week to think through worldviews and the history of ideas. A large part of our time is spent discussing some of the great books of Western Civilization and this fall we’ve been reading through and discussing Dante’s...

Heaven on Earth?: Some Hard Questions & Some Help

Jeffrey Stivason
Oct 18, 2018
It is fitting that Christians should love the springtime of the soul, the bodily resurrection that will come in God’s time. But how much do we really know about the resurrection? Children often ask, “Will I know my mommy and daddy in heaven?” Wives want to know what kind of relationship, if any,...

The Statement on SJ&G Explained: Article 7, Salvation

Justin Peters
Oct 15, 2018
[Editorial Note: This is the seventh post in a series of posts in which we have invited the authors of "The Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel" to expound upon the statement's affirmations and denials. We encourage our readers to take the time to read through our prefatory editorial note at...

The Statement on SJ&G Explained: Article 4, God's Law

Tom Ascol
Oct 4, 2018
[Editorial Note: This is the fourth post in a series of posts in which we have invited the authors of "The Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel" to expound upon the statement's affirmations and denials. We encourage our readers to take the time to read through our prefatory editorial note at...

Still Protesting: the Donum Superadditum

Jeffrey Stivason
Sep 27, 2018
“Why can’t you get past the objections of Luther and his progeny?” That was the question that came plaintively from the man who sat opposite the pastor in the coffee house. The Pastor, whose name was Peter, looked at him as if to say, “Haven’t I already explained?” I could see his frustration as I...

Hope Springs Eternal

Derek Thomas
Jul 5, 2018
"Hope springs eternal in the human breast." So wrote the eighteenth century poet, Alexander Pope. Platitude? Yes, but true for all that. I have to confess the lines (from An Essay on Man ) come to mind frequently at dinner when my dog lies at my feet, his gaze fixed on every morsel entering my...

The Apostles' Creed: He Suffered Under Pontius Pilate

Jeffrey Waddington
May 17, 2018
When you recite the Apostles’ Creed you join with Christians across time and space in affirming the basics of the Christian gospel. First appearing around AD 390 the creed is an apt summation of the history of creation, providence, and redemption and the trinitarian God who stands behind and...

The One Who Endures: The Church

Stephen Unthank
May 4, 2018
Not too long ago at a small party, I was chatting with a young lady who had just switched churches. She had left a rather large, seeker-sensitive type of church in the Washington D.C. area, a church which put a lot of emphasis on the worship experience. And she had now joined a much smaller,...