Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The 2002 Auburn Avenue Pastor’s Conference and the Assurance of Grace Recently, there has been some controversy over the presentations of four speakers at the Auburn Avenue Pastor’s Conference. Accusations have been made including a denial of justification by faith alone and something close enough to “baptismal regeneration” that it…
Today, many in the Reformed world view a meritorious covenant of works as essential to a proper understanding of the gospel. These theologians believe that God set up a program in the Garden by which Adam would merit eternal life and blessing by his obedience. These same theologians usually regard…
After I graduated from college in 1989, I spent a summer in the Atlanta area in Georgia learning that I was not cut out for construction work. Then I met George Grant, one of my favorite authors. He was working for a church in South Florida in charge of their…
One meaning of “righteousness” in the Bible is moral uprightness. Perhaps a more basic meaning would be faithfulness. For example, Psalm 96.13 praises God, saying: He will judge the world in righteousness, And the peoples in faithfulness. In Hebrew poetry two lines often say the same thing using different words.…
I once saw “eschatology” defined as the study of edible French snails. But it really means the doctrine of the last things in Christian theology. In American Evangelical culture it is usually reduced to science fiction stories. But for the Apostle Paul it was actually the key to the Christian…
To understand the view of Nicholas Thomas Wright regarding Christ’s work of redemption, one must begin with the centrality of Adam to the plight of the human race. Anyone who has heard Wright’s lectures on Philippians will not be able to forget his haunting appeal to Genesis 5.3 as a…
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1 John 3:17: Whoever has the world’s goods and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? John insists, as we’ve seen, that love must take specific, concrete form among believers. Love is not just fellow-feeling, or sympathy,…
1 John 3:24: The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. John emphasizes throughout his letter that Christians must obey God’s commandments. In this, he only repeats what Jesus said. Jesus said, If you love Me, keep My commandments. That’s all that John is saying.…
Sacrifice is built into human life. It’s unavoidable. Even though we don’t slaughter animals in worship, sacrifice still happens every day. We either sacrifice other people, or we offer ourselves in sacrifice for them. That’s what John is saying when he contrasts Cain with Jesus. Cain “butchered” he brother, John…
For a number of years, I have wanted a historical study of the decline of Trinitarian theology between the Reformation and the Enlightenment. James Buckley tells part of that story in his history of atheism, but his interests are broader. Philip Dixon has produced the book I’ve been looking for…
INTRODUCTION John emphasizes throughout his letter that Christians must love one another. Here, he emphasizes that this love must take form as Christlike self-giving and generosity. John’s “children” are to love “in deed and truth” (v. 17). THE TEXT “Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We…
Challenging Cunningham’s suggestion, against Deleuze, that without some hierarchy of goods, there is no way to determine preferences, even for something as basic as diet, Kenneth Surin cited a bumper sticker: The top line says, “I love animals,” and the second “They’re delicious.” This, he claimed, was simply an expression…
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