Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The doctrine of justification is precious among Protestants. And it should be. The fact that God has declared our sins forgiven and that we have a righteous standing in the sight of God united to Christ is comforting and brings great joy. Unfortunately, the biblical teaching on justification is, many…
The Old Testament priests were given a number of seemingly disparate duties. As everyone knows, the priests led the sacrificial worship of Israel; only the priests could sprinkle blood on the altar or within the tabernacle, and only they could approach the altar to turn sacrificial animals into smoke. But…
M issional ecclesiology is all the rage these days, but for many being “missional” means downplaying or even eliminating concern for the “internal” life of the church, particularly its liturgical life. Missional and liturgical, mission and communio , are locked in zero-sum combat. That cannot be right. The liturgy is…
An old friend of mine, now passed into Heaven, started to say this in relationship to his sometimes troubled family, in the last quarter of his life, "I just had to take responsibility for the whole thing..." That was the seed for a new reading of the Gospel for me,…
She departed the port, dressed in her best ceremonial regalia, with tassels and flags fluttering from her mast and rigging. She stood tall, robed in mist, crowned in white, and backlit by the rising sun. There she sat, shimmering and spotless; with a perfect ragtop, and a full tank of…
John the Baptist is presented in the gospels as the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise that God would send His messenger to prepare the way for the coming of the glory of the Lord (Is. 40), and the promise to send Elijah before Him to turn the people to…
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INTRODUCTION Ahab?s son continues in his father?s ways, worshiping Baal and seeking Baal?s aid rather than looking to Yahweh. But there is a God in Israel, and Elijah is His prophet. And Elijah is like the flame of God burning away the dross of Israel. THE TEXT ?Jehoshaphat the son…
Now Yehoshafat son of ‘Asa’ reigned-as-king over Yehudah in the fourth year to ‘Achav king of Yisrael. Yehoshafat [was] a son of third and five years in his reigning-as-king. And twenty and give years he reigned-as-king in Yerushalam. Now the name of his mother, ‘Azuvah, daughter of Shilchiy. And he…
Psalm 78:40-42: ?How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert. And again and again they tempted God, and pained the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power, the day when He redeemed them from the adversary.?E Isaiah 63:10: ?But they…
Love, Augustine said, is always triadic, always involves three: the lover, the one beloved, and the love itself. God is love, and this means, Augustine reasoned, that in God there is a Lover, a Beloved, and Love itself. He believed that these correspond to the Persons of the Trinity: The…
INTRODUCTION Romans 8:31-39 is better sung than commented upon. It is a thrilling, ecstatic hymn of confident assurance that God?s purposes will be accomplished. Yet, I will attempt to comment on them. If we are to sing Paul?s hymn, let?s make sure we sing with understanding. Given the character of…
Scott Hafemann has characteristically thoughtful comments about Paul’s contrast of letter and Spirit in 2 Corinthians 3: “Paul’s contrast is not an abstract one between ‘outward’ and ‘inward,’ between ‘externality’ and ‘internality,’ between ‘ritualism’ and ‘a living experience fo the Spirit,’ or between ‘rigidity’ and ‘spontaneity,’ etc., as is often…
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