Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
My good friend, Jason Ewert, recently posted a review of Pastor Douglas Wilson’s book, Against the Church . Jason correctly notes that Pastor Wilson’s main pastoral motivation in writing this book is to combat dead orthodoxy. Dead orthodoxy is a real problem in Reformed churches that celebrate the primacy of…
At the church I pastor, we have four servers who distribute the communion elements to the congregation, and I distribute the elements to those in the foyer and nursery. The servers and I do not partake of the bread and wine until the congregation is served first. As this has…
We at Trinity House believe that the church ought to raise and train her future pastors. Part of that training may be carried out by specialized institutions like Trinity House, but the church and her leaders are ultimately responsible for that training. To encourage churches to assume that responsibility, Trinity…
Sandra Jacobs's The Body as Property examines the role of physical disfigurement in the Hebrew Bible, with focus on the Torah, and more specifically on the (fictitious) Priestly document, P. After an introduction laying out a rationale for the comparative method that guides her research, she explores circumcision, the use…
Yahweh saves. That’s what Isaiah’s name means, and that’s what Isaiah’s prophecy is about. Yah saves Judah when Aram and Israel pressure her. He saves Jerusalem from the Assyrian siege. He brings Judah back from the grave of Babylonian exile. But this triumphant message of Isaiah fizzles. The last few…
Are apostasy and assurance mutually exclusive? Some seem to think so. But let’s consider this a bit: No Reformed man would ever say that a man who is “saved” today will be safe forever no matter what . Rather we say, “your sins are forgiven, now, walk faithfully, glorify the…
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?In the night in which He was betrayed, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it.?E Growth and learning is awkward and difficult, especially when we are learning about something as complex as another human being, another human being who is radically different from ourselves. As I mentioned in the…
This exhortation was inspired by recent lectures by James Jordan. In this morning?s sermon, Pastor Wilson will be talking about learning and growth in marriage, and as he will point out that this growth, even apart from sin, can be awkward and difficult. Between one stage of knowledge and illumination…
INTRODUCTION In chapter 8, Paul brings to a climax his discussion of the law, its cooption by sin, and the resulting death. He has shown the law to be weak and helpless in dealing with the condition of sin and death, and now announces that God has done what the…
Does baptism justify? Justification is, of course, an act of God . But that puts the question differently without deflecting it: Does baptism declare a justification for the person baptized? Assuming the Augustinian (and Reformed) view that baptism is an act of God not of man, we may ask, is…
Chuck Lowe has a thoughtful analysis of Romans 8:1-4 in an essay in the June 1999 issue of JETS . He argues that the text means just what it says, that there is “no condemnation” because those who are in Christ have been liberated from sin and death through the…
David Yeago offers a powerful critique of certain construals of the law/gospel distinction in a 1993 article from Pro Ecclesia . He does not doubt that law and gospel must be distinguished, but contends that when the law/gospel distinction becomes the “ultimate structuring horizon of Christian belief.” When the distinction…
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