The Trinity: The Triune God for Exiles
How do you explain to yourself why you are a Christian? Why do you think your life is a Christian life and not some other kind of life? Do you tell yourself you have a Christian life mostly for social…
Tag Faith
Cautions About Signs of Grace
Let me close this series on assurance (parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) with some cautions about using the “signs of grace” to gain assurance. First, be careful how you define the marks of grace. On the one hand,…
August’s Meet the Puritans Resource
In 2016, every two months (February, April, June, August, October, December) we will be producing a Meet the Puritans Resource, which you will be able to find linked under Our Resources. These will be classic texts with introductions, footnotes, and…
Theology and Identity
The task of theology is multi-layered and multifaceted. Behind its obvious component of exploring the Bible’s teaching on the major doctrinal loci there are many other factors that influence the task and its outcome. At the most basic level there…
The Trinity: Why the Church Should Believe in God’s Simplicity
Why does my church – the mourning widow, the lustful high-school jock, the overworked dad, or the tired homeschooling mom – need to relish in the doctrine of God’s Simplicity? Why do I as a pastor have a duty to…
Extraordinary Means of Grace
The idea of ‘the means of grace’ has undergone an encouraging rehabilitation in the life and ministry of many Reformed churches in recent years. This has come as a healthy corrective to pressure from the wider church to embrace ideas…
An Overview of Grace
‘Grace’ could easily be seen as one of those doctrines every child from a Christian home ought to know from Kindergarten. Whether it be through the acronym God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense, or just the plain and often repeated ‘God’s…
Assurance versus Presumption
In discussing the practical doctrine of assuance (see parts 1, 2, and 3 in this series), one careful distinction we must make is between assurance and presumption. The reason is that a false assurance is the worst delusion and spiritual insanity,…
Bunyan’s Wicket Gate
On two different occasions recently, I have read and heard Spurgeon’s story of the Scottish “fishwife” carrying a basket of fish while an eager young man challenged her about spiritual things. When he compared her “burden” of fish to Bunyan’s…
Four Details About Assurance
As we continue our series (part 1, part 2) on assurance, we come to four basic details about it that are so important to consider. It is possible for a Christian to have an assurance of his salvation. We…