The Problem with Our Cisterns
She asked if I had time to talk. When a spot in my day cleared I called her. My sister in Christ had been praying about a particular temptation and was feeling embarrassed to tell me. But I gently encouraged…
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A Picture of God’s Grace
Many believers misunderstand God’s grace, and therefore lack assurance of it. They wonder if they are really saved. They live thinking they are never enough. They wonder if they forget to confess some of their sins if they will be…
The Message of Isaiah is a Message to Us
After reading through this prophecy, one doesn’t need to make it further than the first five chapters to realize that there is a profound problem. The people of God know the right things to say. In 1:15, they spread out…
How Does God Harden Hearts?
Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens (Rom. 9:18). In the well-known story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt, God is described as hardening Pharaoh’s heart so that Pharaoh disobeys God. In point of…
Rethinking Rethinking Incarceration
The dangers facing the church today are subtle. They are like those facing the family. Imagine a young man sits his parents down at the kitchen table for a talk. He then outs himself as gay or perhaps transgendered. The…
A Contrast in Growth
Everybody loves the Joseph story. Chapters thirty-seven through fifty with the minor exception of chapter thirty-eight seem to be all about Joseph. And that is exactly why we have to remind ourselves that the story is not Joseph’s but Jacob’s…
Good News from a Far Country: Learning the Gospel from a Nineteenth Century Scotsman
When I found that Banner of Truth was slated to reissue nineteenth-century Scottish pastor Horatius Bonar’s exposition of the doctrine of justification The Everlasting Righteousness[1] this year, I was inordinately delighted. That’s because, outside of Scripture, The Everlasting Righteousness is…
The Ordo Salutis: Justification
John Calvin called justification as “the main hinge on which religion turns” and said we must devote great attention to it (Institutes, III.xi.1). When we consider justification’s role in the order of salvation it plays a crucial role in distinction…
Humiliation & Exaltation: Christ’s Obedience
There is a logical progression when one moves from the doctrine of the incarnation to the doctrine of Christ’s obedience. As Jeff Stivason argued in a previous post, Christ Jesus not only came into the world to save sinners (1…