Getting Along in God’s Family
The gospel of Jesus Christ is astounding. To think that when we were yet sinners God sent His only begotten Son to keep the law that we were unable to keep and to bear the curse we were unwilling to…
Tag Faith
Windows on the Crucifixion
I love photography and, although I’m not a great photographer, I have learned some of the secrets of capturing a scene or portrait effectively: the most important being to choose angles that allow the details to stand out clearly. When…
The Riches of Adoption
In the treasure chest of the Gospel, many have argued that our adoption really is the brightest and most beautiful of gems contained in all that Christ accomplished for us. But even taking a closer look at that particular gem…
The ‘Cause and Root’ of Adoption
On January 31, 2017, P&R Publishing released David Garner’s new book, Sons in the Son: The Riches and Reach of Adoption in Christ. This excerpt from the first chapter (pp. 3–8) of the book offers a quick glance at themes…
Adoption as New Life
On January 31, 2017, P&R Publishing released David Garner’s new book, Sons in the Son: The Riches and Reach of Adoption in Christ. This excerpt (pp. xxi–xxiv) from the introduction to the book offers a quick taste of themes developed in…
No Little Women: Know What We’ve Got Before She’s Gone
Jennifer Marie, my dear wife, died on the fourteenth of September last year.[1] She was thirty-eight. We had barely made it to our eighteenth wedding celebration the month before. Our four young covenant children prepared and served us a special…
Gethsemane and the Mystery of the Gospel
It is an integral part of the passion narrative, but it too easily becomes incidental to the message of the gospel. All three synoptic Gospels include an account of Christ in Gethsemane in some detail, each one from a slightly…
No Little Women: A Model
If you have not listened to Aimee Byrd’s podcast at the head of this Theology on the Go series, take the seventeen minutes out of your day and do it – especially if you are a pastor. It is worth…
The Doctrines of Grace: Thinking About Application, Part 2
Why do some pastors so strongly emphasize the “means of grace” or God’s “ordinances”—God’s word, the sacraments (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper) and prayer? It boils down to this: humans are dead in their sin, wholly corrupted in their soul,…
The Doctrines of Grace: Thinking About Application
When considering the matter of our application of Scripture, or what we can call our doctrine or theology, we really do need to think about it. Think about this—God only gave us ten commands for all life and then reduced…