Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God…
With the surprising discovery of the Nelda Boswell scroll historians have deciphered its contents and concluded that the apostle Paul returned to the region of Galatia shortly after he wrote the letter that we call Galatians. The evidence suggests that a number of local pastors, elders, and deacons, along with…
Second Temple Judaism was a form of covenantal nomism, according to E. P. Sanders’ terminology. This means that Torah-observance was a way of expressing loyalty to the Lord of the covenant who had graciously elected Israel. I think Sanders’ view (taken up in bits and pieces and with some modifications…
We often hear that the key to Christian obedience is thankfulness for what God has done. But the Bible stresses faith and hope much more than gratitude. The Baptist pastor and author John Piper has written, “Nowhere in the Bible is gratitude connected explicitly with obedience as a motivation. We…
One of the questions that is commonly asked about Tom Wright regards his teaching about how Paul uses the term “the righteousness of God.” Since Wright’s interpretation of the term in Paul’s epistles is commonly mentioned in passing but rarely analyzed, it seems like a good idea to explicitly spell…
If God promised a certain land to the seed of Abraham, saying that it would be theirs “forever” (Gen. 13:15), why do Reformed churches teach that the Jews permanently lost their right to the land? What about all these Old Testament “forever” promises and prophesies made to the Jews? How…
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David is frequently under threat in the Psalms, usually from enemies. In Psalm 40, though, the enemies seem to be different. “Evils beyond number have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see” (v. 12). David’s own sins are his enemies, circling, setting…
Psalm 148:7-12 calls everything to praise the Yahweh, from sea monsters to children. The list has a number of interesting features. It is organized first by the zones of creation and then by the categories of created things. It begins with the sea (v. 7b), moves to the sky (v.…
The Spirit joins us to Christ so we share all His gifts. The Spirit binds us in the communion of the saints. The Spirit is the earnest of our future inheritance. He is the Spirit of salvation, the Spirit of the church, the Spirit of the future. Economy reveals ontology.…
The last of Jesus’ woes in Matthew 23 warns about the judgment coming on the scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites for their treatment of the prophets. Several notes: First, the Pharisees and scribes say that they would not have shed the blood of prophets as their fathers did (v. 30). This…
Work is worrisome. Time was, though, when you could leave the worries at the office. Not any more, Bauman says ( Collateral Damage: Social Inequalities in a Global Age , 76): “Most of us take those worries with us, in our laptops and mobile phones, wherever we go - to…
We are in the middle of a second “great transformation,” suggests Zygmunt Bauman in Collateral Damage: Social Inequalities in a Global Age (46-7). Industrialization has given way to an “experience economy.” Bauman points to a shift in the metaphors and vocabulary of management theory as evidence: “To convey the rules…
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