Sunday Leftovers (6/29/08)

It’s easy and tempting to read the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector and presume that I am safe from self-righteousness and that the account is given for someone unlike me. In truth, all men tend towards self-righteousness (it’s called “pride,” in its most basic form). And that tendency is dangerous. Self-righteous people […]

Piper: the importance of justification

Yesterday I received a copy of John Piper’s new book, The Future of Justification. Is it important to write a 225-page book on the doctrine of justification? In his acknowledgments, Piper notes why it really is: From the moment we believed until the last day of eternity God is 100 percent for us on this […]

Justification and Imputation

At the Gospel Coalition earlier this year, Phil Ryken gave an excellent defense of the importance of imputed righteousness. Both the text of his message and the audio are available. “I am not accepted on my own merit, but I am fully accepted in Christ and that is the basis of my acceptance before God […]

The difference between Catholicism and Protestantism

Greg Bahnsen articulates clearly and well the fundamental differences between Catholicism and Protestantism. We are not one with Catholics; they do believe a different gospel; and we must not (for the sake of their eternal destiny) suppose that we believe the same work of Christ. Listen to “The Road to Rome: Was the Reformation Right?”

Justification and Catholicism

With the reconversion last week of Francis Beckwith, the President of the Evangelical Theological Society, to Roman Catholicism, questions have arisen again about the relationship between Catholicism and Evangelicalism. Beckwith said (among a number of other things) that the reason for his reconversion centered around his understanding of justification: I became convinced that the Early […]

Sunday Leftovers (2/25/07)

I have been deeply encouraged as I have prepared for communion and the sermon this week. I have read and perused more books and articles than I normally do, and have found many Biblical encouragements. For instance, I found myself thumbing through J. I. Packer’s Knowing God (it’s been far too long since I picked […]