In his book, Things Which Become Sound Doctrine (a book which I regularly reference), J. Dwight Pentecost notes the following truths about justification: God is the source of justification (Rom. 8:30) Blood is the ground of justification (Rom. 3:24-26) Faith is the instrument of justification (Rom. 3:28; 4:5) Grace is the essence of justification (Rom. […]
Read More Elements of justificationIt’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 […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (6/29/08)Speaking of prayer… In studying for my sermon for last Sunday, I came across these three statements about the value, importance, and power of prayer: Thomas Lyle: “I had rather stand against the canons of the wicked than against the prayers of the righteous.” Thomas Watson: “The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it […]
Read More On the power of prayerIt is not unusual for me to leave out things from a sermon that I had originally intended to say. It is unusual that I intentionally leave out as much as I did Sunday. I not only left out a complete point, accounting for a full page of notes (out of about 3-1/2 pages total), […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (6/22/08)During class the other night, I was trying to reconstruct from memory the comments made by J. I. Packer in an interview I’d read earlier in the week. The interview is no longer available on the web, but here is part of what Packer said about trying to explain the Trinity. His comments are both […]
Read More A few more thoughts on the TrinityGalatians says much about the Fatherhood of God, but not everything. One more truth that is found elsewhere is this: God loves and is (and always will be) “well-pleased” with His Son (2 Pt. 1:17); we are in His Son (Eph. 1:17; Col. 2:20) — therefore He loves us with a Son-like love! The pleasure […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (6/15/08)Since my sabbatical I have slowed down on my “leisure” reading and on writing some book reviews. However, I have come across two book reviews of books I’ve recently read that I’ve found very helpful, but haven’t had time to review myself. So here they are: John Piper, The Future of Justification (review) Milton Vincent, […]
Read More Some book reviewsAs I was reading again in Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy earlier this week, I came across these two sentences in his chapter on God’s holiness: Until we have seen ourselves as God sees us, we are not likely to be much disturbed over conditions around us as long as they do not get […]
Read More Holiness — or the lack thereofIt’s finally summer. I realize that the first day of summer officially is June 20 this year (at 6:59 CDT, to be exact). But school is out. It’s June. It’s hot. And my lawn has already stopped growing. It’s summer. And that got me thinking. I have three months of summer ahead of me, roughly […]
Read More A summer opportunityIn light of my post from earlier this morning, and the discussion at the Bible Institute class last night, this post from John Piper on patience and trust when tested by God’s sovereignty is more than appropriate. He tells the story of theologian B. B. Warfield — Benjamin B. Warfield was a world-renowned theologian who […]
Read More Trust in God’s sovereignty testedAs I reflected on last night’s study, along with the tension of covering much material far too quickly, I believe I left some confusion about the sovereignty of God. So let me attempt to un-muddy the waters for you. When we speak of the sovereignty of God, we are saying that God is in control, […]
Read More A few more thoughts about God and His holinessWhy is substitutionary atonement so important? Two reasons — one theological and one applicational. For the first, J. I. Packer offers a summary definition of the atonement in his article, “Sola Fide: the Reformed Doctrine of Justification”: This is the characteristic doctrine of the Reformation concerning the death of Christ. It was an act of […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (6/8/08)A couple more thoughts after last night’s study of the attributes of God — No, we didn’t get finished with the notes, but I’m okay with that, even if it means that we won’t be able to cover some other things in as much detail at the end of the summer. There is nothing more […]
Read More A few more thoughts about God’s attributesYesterday, Christine Wicker wrote an interesting piece published in the Dallas Morning News entitled, “The Great Evangelical Decline. The basic theme of the piece is that evangelicals are not as prominent in America as published reports indicated (i.e., there aren’t really as many believers in America as most people suppose). That’s something I’ve been suggesting […]
Read More The Decline of EvangelicalismI’m thinking about changing my blog address. You are on the new page. The old page is at Blogspot. Would you let me know what you think? Is one easier to navigate than the other? Both have features that I prefer; neither have all the features I want. Hmmm. What thinkest thou?
Read More Thinking about a blog change
Words of Grace 