What is the “great mystery” Paul identifies in Ephesians 5:32? Is it the relation of Christ and His church? The connection between Christ-church and man-wife? In context, one particular dimension of Paul’s teaching is perhaps especially in view. Verse 31 quotes from Gen 2:24, and most immediately the mystery is the application of Gen 2:24 to Christ and the church. That is, the mystery is that Christ has left His Father to cleave to His wife and become one flesh... Read more
James Jordan sends the following concerning justification, glorification, and the gospel: The Nicene Creed says something else about the gospel. It says about Jesus Christ: Who (a) for us and (b) for our salvation. Then it expands: (a) came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and was made man; (b) ALSO (different connective) was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried . . . . (more…) Read more
Isaiah 60: Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising . . . . A multitude of camels will cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba will come; they will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises of the LORD. All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebaioth will minister to you; they will go up... Read more
“In my beginning is my end,” wrote T. S. Eliot in his poem “East Coker.” That is certainly true for Jesus. As Matthew tells it, His birth foreshadows His death. Already at His birth, Jesus provokes murderous and paranoid rage among the leaders of Israel. Already at His birth, there is a bloody slaughter. Already at His birth, the chief priests and scribes gather together to determine what to do with Him. It is appropriate that the magi bring along... Read more
Every week, I confess the Nicene Creed, and I actually believe it. I also confess that sinners are saved by trusting in Jesus, God’s Son, who saves out of sheer grace. Yet I, with many of my friends who confess the same things, are accused of denying the gospel. What’s the sense of that? (more…) Read more
At His ascension, Jesus, the Lamb who was slain, was exalted into heavenly glory where John saw Him “having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.” At Pentecost, which we celebrate in a little over a week, Jesus poured out this sevenfold Spirit on the church. The Holy Spirit is the coronation gift from the Son to His bride, a sign that He has taken His heavenly throne and... Read more
The meaning of the word “grace” has been a central question in the Federal Vision discussions. On the anti-FV side, it’s often said that “grace” means not only “unmerited favor,” but “favor shown in the face of demerit.” Pro-FV types point out that the Bible uses “grace” and equivalents in a variety of ways. The Biblical argument is not even open to question. It is simply not the case that “grace” always means favor in the face of demerit. To... Read more
When in distress or confusion, literate medieval Christians would sometimes let the Bible drop open, and took guidance and comfort the first passage their eye alighted on. This could be superstitious, of course. But it could also come from a deeply genuine faith. Sometimes, we don’t need to hear specific, or even relevant, instructions. Sometimes, in distress, it’s enough if we can hear our Husband’s voice. Read more
From a sermon by John Donne: “God made this whole world in such an uniformity, such a correspondency, such a concinnity of parts that it was an instrument, perfectly in tune: we may say, the trebles, the highest strings, were disordered first; the best understandings, angels and men, put this instrument out of tune. God rectified all again, by putting in a new string, semen mulieris , the seed of the woman, the Messias: And onely by sounding that string... Read more
Johannes Kepler wrote in 1619: “the movements of the heavens are nothing except a certain everlasting polyphony (intelligible, not audible) with dissonant tunings, like certain syncopations or cadences (wherewith men imitate these natural dissonances), which tends towards fixed and prescribed clauses – the single clauses having six terms (like voices) – and which marks out and distinguishes the immensity of time with these notes. Hence it is no longer a surprise that man, the ape of his Creator, should finally... Read more
Leithart
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In