Articles

Read Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18 Jesus began his instruction in the Sermon on the Mount by describing the essential elements of Christian character , and then proceeded to indicate by his metaphors of salt and light the influence for good that Christians will exert in the community if they exhibit this...

Idolatry Reconsidered As believers in the one true God, we know that idolatry is wrong. We know God hates it. We know first two of the Ten Commandments explicitly demand exclusive worship of the one true God. We even know that idolatry is not merely worshiping a false god, but even worshiping the...

The Mandate to Godliness Writing the Pastoral Epistles, the Apostle Paul makes “godliness” (Greek, eusebeia ) primary. Some have perceived here a theologically incompatible, and hardly “pastoral,” fixation. It might sound strange to hear the apostle of grace making such a big deal about our...

Jesus’ teaching is not only piercing but it is also crystal clear. In this part of the Sermon on the Mount, he gives four cases that illustrate the main point. 1. If an evil person strikes you on the cheek, don’t resist him, but turn to him the other cheek also. In the face of this insulting and...

Read Matthew 5:38-48 In these verses, we consider the last two illustrations in Jesus’ sermon, returning the Law to its original meaning. He is in the process of stripping away the Scribe’s and Pharisee’s oral tradition which had nearly squelched the Law. We’ve already seen examples of how the true...

I just put down Robert Letham’s The Holy Trinity , and while I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it as an introduction to the history and development of the doctrine, there is one gripe I can’t seem to lay down. Throughout the nearly five hundred pages of discussion, he faults theologians for...

This article is the third part of an article called "On the Hermeneutics of Subscription." Read part 1 and part 2 . Scotland and Ireland Prior to the Adopting Act In the beginning of his treatment of the background of the Adopting Act, Charles Briggs noted that in 1693 the General Assembly of...

Promises, Promises Promises. We’ve received them, and we have made them. We have trusted others and been entrusted by others. We have suffered let downs; and we have let others down—probably more frequently than we would care to admit. With vacuous words, we speak either to ourselves or openly to...

Read: Lk 1:30-34; Is. 7:14; Luke 2:1-7, 10; Gal. 4:4 What if you received the same edition of a newspaper every day for a week? Or for a year? Or what would you call a website that had the same update daily? You would likely stop your subscription, wouldn’t you!? Or if you turned on the morning...

This article is a continuation of " On the Hermeneutics of Subscription ." England A moderately successful experiment in “presbyterianizing” was carried out in Northampton in 1571, with “prophesyings” (exposition of Scripture apart from liturgy) following from the precedent of 1 Corinthians 14. [1...