A few more thoughts about sin and salvation

A few years ago I came across the first addendum of sins that the Roman Catholic church added to its official list of sins compiled at the Council of Trent in 1545. Some of the new offenses? Failing to vote. Drunken driving. Forging checks. Charging unjust rents. Paying unfair salaries. Wasting resources (like pampering pets). […]

Sunday Leftovers (7/20/08)

When Jesus said to Mary, “Go to My brothers…” He was saying something not only about His relationship with them, but about their relationship with each other. [Side note: that Jesus was talking not about his biological half-brothers but about His disciples is clear from the fact that Mary went to the disciples.] As they […]

A few more thoughts about sin

As I was preparing for our study last night, I pulled my files on sin, and was going through the quotations and illustrations I have amassed over a number of years about sin and sinfulness. What I found was a large quantity of truths about sin said very succinctly and well. Since there was no […]

Sunday Leftovers (7/13/08)

The seven statements of Christ from the cross serve as a reminder not only of what is important to Christ as He contemplates and evaluates the cross, but they also serve as an anchor for our faith, directing us to the truths to which we must hold fast in defending that faith. For instance, the […]

Baptism at the time of Christ

In response to a question Tuesday night about what the Jews at the time of Christ would have understood and believed about baptism, I did a little theological digging. Information is minimal, at best. The NT says nothing about the Jewish understanding of baptism directly, and the Greek translation of the OT (called the Septuagint) […]

A few more thoughts about the Holy Spirit

As we discussed the Holy Spirit last night, we gave just passing comments to the issue of how the Holy Spirit can be blasphemed. While I do not believe that particular sin can be replicated today, the Holy Spirit can still be grieved today. How is the Holy Spirit grieved? My favorite commentator answers: The […]

Sunday Leftovers (7/6/08)

Yesterday I was attempting to make the point that our understanding of the weight and significance of our own sin is immeasurably weak. In a sermon recently preached at Resolved, John Piper expands that idea by illustrating how the weakness and frailty of the physical creation is designed to demonstrate to us the horror of […]

A few more thoughts on Christology

Last night we spent more time discussing issues related to the cross than I had intended. Our comments surfaced a number of questions and issues that relate to why I have been preaching the sermon series that I have been preaching for the past 3 months. In a simple sentence, the cross and the work […]

Elements of justification

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. […]

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 […]

On the power of prayer

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 […]

Sunday Leftovers (6/22/08)

It 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), […]

A few more thoughts on the Trinity

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 […]

Sunday Leftovers (6/15/08)

Galatians 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 […]

Some book reviews

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, […]