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Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

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Baptism

Jesus' Baptism: The Fount of Life

A Study in Biblical and Practical Theology Sunday School Notes / Epiphany 2004 Introductory Note: January 6 is Epiphany in the traditional church calendar. Though Epiphany is often treated as a single day, with the Sundays following counted as “Sundays after Epiphany,” we will treat Epiphany as an extended season.…

by Rich LuskJune 1, 2004
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Baptism

Baptism, Symbols, and Faith

Imagine someone from another world trying to learn to live in our society according to our customs. What if someone gave him a check for a hundred dollars for his birthday–the first check he had ever seen in his life? Would he immediately understand how a check was used? Perhaps…

by Mark HorneMay 29, 2004
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Baptism

Admission into the Church: Biblical Theology & Baptism

According to Presbyterian doctrine, as articulated in the Westminster Confession of Faith, baptism is a baptized person’s “admission… into the visible church.” By referring to the “visible church,” the document makes clear it is referring to the present institutional Church with all her imperfections, as opposed to the future Church…

by Mark HorneMay 29, 2004
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Covenant

Some thoughts on NT Wright, Righteousness & Covenant Status

N. T. Wright claims that in the Apostle Paul’s writings “righteousness,” as it predicated of humans, denotes “covenant membership.” When he wrote this in the New Bible Dictionary edited by Sinclair Ferguson, J. I. Packer, and David Wright, no one thought this was too big a deal. However, when he…

by Mark HorneMay 29, 2004
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Theologia

The God of Grace

It seems almost human nature to think that we can find something to do for God that will make Him do us favors. If we live more virtuously, or cut down on a vice or two, then God will have to reward us. But the problem with this notion is…

by Mark HorneMay 24, 2004
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Justification

The Moral Law Commands Faith in Christ Alone

The First Commandment teaches us to trust in Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life. The First Commandment reads (I’m using NASB throughout): “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Obviously, trusting in someone or something else (even one’s own good works) for justification, sanctification, and eternal life”…

by Mark HorneMay 22, 2004

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Sermon notes

INTRODUCTION In Daniel 11, a Gentile ruler (Antiochus IV Epiphanes) allied with apostate Jews to defile the temple and persecute faithful Jews. The same thing happens in the first century A.D.: The sea beast ( Rome ) and the land beast (Judaism) band together to drink the blood of the…

August 10, 2009

Abomination of Desolation

Picking up on James Jordan’s treatment of this theme. In Matthew 24, Jesus speaks about a specific “abomination of desolation,” the one spoken of by Daniel. The passage He cites is from Daniel 11:31: “ For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return…

August 9, 2009

Sermon notes

INTRODUCTION The great signal that the city is about to fall is the “abomination of desolation,” prophesied by Daniel (v. 15). When that occurs, the “great tribulation” has come (v. 21). THE TEXT “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the…

August 3, 2009

Eucharistic meditation

Matthew 24:3: Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives , the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age? The prophecy of Matthew 24-25 is frequently described…

August 2, 2009

Exhortation

For the next several weeks, I will be picking up where I left off in Matthew, in chapter 24, the “Olivet Discourse.” I will take the position that Jesus’ prophecy is not about the end of the world or His final coming, but about the destruction of the Old Covenant…

August 2, 2009

Brother-sister incest

Scattered, inconclusive remarks on the prohibition of brother-sister incest in Leviticus 18 and 20. A number of the relations prohibited in these chatpers recall relationships that existed among the patriarchs. Leviticus 18:11 prohibits a man from taking his half-sister, the daughter of your father. That is exactly the relationship of…

July 31, 2009

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