Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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”…
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Transgression in Paul’s terminology refers to violation of specific commandments. Mostly. But Galatians 2:17 has a radical redefinition of transgression. J. Louis Martyn says, when Paul says that re-erecting the wall of separation between Jew and Gentile makes him a transgressor, he implies that “the Law can play a role…
There does appear to be a positive connection between justification and nature in Galatians 2. It’s elusive, but it seems to be there. In verse 17, Paul argues that those who seek justification in Christ cannot be found sinners without implying that Christ Himself is a minister of sin. Me…
What is the logic of Paul’s argument in Galatians 2:15-16? This breaks down into several questions: Where does “justification” come from? How does Paul move from Jews-by-nature as opposed to Gentile-sinners to justification by the faith of Christ rather than the works of the law? And, of course, verse 16…
We instinctively distinguish nature and nurture, genes and training, and the Greeks did too with their distinction of physis and nomos . Paul’s use, though, doesn’t fit easily into this binary. Paul at times uses physis in a sense close to our own, describing what is given to a thing…
INTRODUCTION Jesus enters the temple twice. The first time, He symbolically destroys the temple, pronounces it a robbers’ den, and sets up a ministry of healing ( 21:12 -14). When He comes back the following day, the priests and elders go on the attack ( 21:23 ). Jesus gave them…
Jesus’ triumphal entry fulfills the typology of 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Kings 8, the ark’s entry into Jerusalem. Jesus is in the center of a procession, as the ark was in Israel’s wanderings, preceded and followed by cheering crowds (Matthew 21:9). Jesus sits, strangely, on the back of two…
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