UPDATE – Andrew Cottingham has posted on how critical this all is to him The answer to the question “Are you saying that Penal Substitution is the only thing that happened at the cross?” is a definite no. Whilst the concepts of sin, guilt, and punishment are indeed fundamental to what happened at the cross, the full picture of the atonement is much richer than that. Sadly in the current debate, some have aggressively denied that Penal Substitution (PSA) has... Read more
UPDATEIn this article I speak of a perception I am beginning to get that those with more traditional understandings are not entirely welcome within the UK evangelical movement. I had hoped that this was just a false impression. Since writing this article, I came across a piece from Carl Trueman that alleges that some UK ministers feel they are being leaned on quite strongly regarding the issue of the atonement. It’s important for me to stress that this article is... Read more
No doubt due to his recent surgery, Alistair Begg has had to pull out of this years Keswick Week. I received the following press release which announces that Spring Harvest had kindly facilitated Ian Coffey taking Alistair’s place. This is interesting in light the events connected to the ending of the Word Alive partnership which included both Spring Harvest and Keswick. It seems clear that these two organizations are still willing to co-operate in some ways. PRESS RELEASE IMMEDIATE RELEASE... Read more
I think all too often we have portrayed the God of the Old Testament as a God of anger and Jesus as the “good cop” to God’s “bad cop.” The reality is far from that. As we have already said, God is IN CHRIST reconciling the world, but also Jesus is seen as a God of wrath. It is Jesus who will judge the world. We must understand that the very same God who is full of wrath has graciously... Read more
I am going to use the next few posts to answer some specific questions about the cross. Believe it or not, it will not be very long before I finish this series, so if you have a question, do ask it and if it is not already one I plan to address, I will endeavor to answer it. Today’s question relates to the meaning of “imputation.” I can’t think of a better way to answer this than to allow Wayne... Read more
Today, I thought I would share with you the following quote on the resurrection from Jonathan Edwards. So Christ, our second surety (in whose justification all whose surety he is, are virtually justified), was not justified till he had done the work the Father had appointed him, and kept the Father’s commandments through all trials, and then in his resurrection he was justified. When he had been put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, 1 Peter... Read more
I have long ago learnt that travelling on business is a mind game. Is that delay in the airport a ‘nightmare’ or is it simply more time for contemplation or reading that book you brought with you? Is travelling alone a risk, boring, or an opportunity for rare peace and quiet in our busy world? I treat my business trips as though they were a spiritual retreat. That may sound crazy, but when else would I get a few days... Read more
Tim Challies has served us all so well this year with his live-blogging of many of the major US reformed conferences. He has come to the end of a long spring season of live-blogging and posted reflections and comparisons of the various conferences. Here is a list of the conferences he has blogged the past few years, and it’s impressive: Desiring God Conference 2005Desiring God Conference 2006Ligonier Conference 2007New Attitude 2007Resolved 2007Shepherd’s Conference 2006Shepherd’s Conference 2007The Basics Conference 2007Together for... Read more
The much beloved wife of Billy Graham has died. There is lots of coverage on the CT Blog Justin Taylor says it well when he writes “I join others around the world in thanking God for a life well lived in quiet, unashamed, faithful service to the Lord and his kingdom.” I am glad for the work of this couple who have represented Jesus well to the whole world for decades. I wonder if we will ever see their like... Read more
The second installment in my Mac videos, in which I mention Logos Bible software, parallels and also some of the other things that make the jump tricky for a PC user. Read more
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