Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In the first installment of this essay, I offered the following chiastic outline of 1 Timothy: A. 1:1-2. Paul greets Timothy as a true child of the Faith, and blesses with grace, mercy, and peace. B. 1:3-7. Timothy is urged to command against heresy. C. 1:8-11. The reason the Law…
In the first installment of this essay, I offered the following chiastic outline of 1 Timothy: A. 1:1-2. Paul greets Timothy as a true child of the Faith, and blesses with grace, mercy, and peace. B. 1:3-7. Timothy is urged to command against heresy. C. 1:8-11. The reason the Law…
In the Bible, a memorial is something that brings God's promises and previous actions to mind, so that He can do them again. The rainbow is the model, set in heaven so that Yahweh remembers the covenant He makes with Noah (Genesis 9:13-15). God is light and dwells in a…
The First Epistle to Timothy fits neatly in the context of what King Jesus and the church are doing in the gospels, in Acts, Revelation, and all of the Apostolic Age in between. Paul writes to Timothy to encourage him in his work as a pastor in the “latter days,”…
I have been pastoring Cornerstone Reformed Church in Carbondale, Illinois since 1999. We are members of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), but have been practicing catholicity for many years, both personally and corporately. I’ve always believed that the Church of Jesus Christ is much more than the local…
Ecumenism is easy to talk about. It’s doing something to promote it that’s the problem. As a pastor in a town with churches of different denominations, all of whom love their doctrinal distinctions and are jealous to defend them whenever they perceive the slightest challenge, how can you be ecumenical…
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Does the Apostle Peter conform to the Westminster Standards as interpreted by the Federal Vision Study Committee? At the beginning of his second epistle, Peter says that “divine power” has granted “everything pertaining to life and godliness” (1:3). God communicates the life and godliness that results from His power “through…
Baptism has a promissory aspect. The Lord promises forgiveness and life in the Word, and calls hearers to faith. Baptism is a ritual form of the same promise, offering this gift to me by name, and baptism calls the baptized to trust the God who has baptized him. Baptism not…
INTRODUCTION John and Jesus both preach repentance and coming judgment; both offer both oppose the Pharisees and Sadducees; both are prophets. Wrath is coming on Israel (Matthew 3:7), and the Lord sends a double witness to warn Israel. THE TEXT “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the…
We are the body of Christ, and His life-history becomes our life-history. Jesus recapitulates the history of Israel, and does it right. And in so doing, He also anticipates the history of the church. The history of the church is marked by periods of oppression. At times, Herod has been…
Matthew 2:23: He came and resided in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazarene. As I mentioned in the sermon, Matthew is not quoting a particular passage here. Instead, he is alluding to various passages that describe…
Israel was to be a place of freedom and justice, a nation where the rights of the weak and oppressed, the fatherless and widow, would be defended. Israel was a nation of redeemed slaves, and Yahweh told her never to forget what it was like to be in bondage. Israel…
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