Engaging his opponents on the interpretation of John 3, Owen ( The Death of Death in the Death of Christ ) insists God’s love for the world is emphasized because God’s love in the new covenant is extending to “as they are poor, miserable, lost creatures in the world, of the world, scattered abroad in all places of the world, not tied to Jews or Greeks, but dispersed in any nation, kindred, and language under heaven.” In this, he displays... Read more
In The Death of Death in the Death of Christ , John Owen argues that the benefits of redemption are purchased by Christ on the cross. They are not simply made possible, but actually acquired. And among these benefits of Christ is the gift of faith: “the effectual and infallible bestowing of faith on those for whom he died” is among the “ends of the death of Christ.” Christ dies and intercedes for the same people, and by His intercession... Read more
Mark Horne’s sermon on Romans 3:1-8 is up at the Trinity House site this morning. Read more
Luke 22:19: When Jesus had taken bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, Take, eat. This is my Body, which is given for you One of the central things I have taught over the last decade is that worship is the Lord’s service. It is not primarily our service to God. It is first and foremost His service to us. The Triune God is the God of gifts. He is a community of giving... Read more
Galatians 3: As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. I arrived in Moscow just after finishing a PhD dissertation on baptism. Shortly after we moved here, I was called as an expert witness in a Presbytery trial that centered on baptism. When I got home from that trial, Patch Blakey met me at the airport to tell me that a pipe had frozen and my basement was flooded with water. My motto during my doctoral... Read more
Trinity is in the middle of a shake-up, and shake-ups always open opportunities for people to step up into new roles. Pastors Sumpter and Appel will be stretched in all kinds of painful, healthy ways that would be impossible if I stuck around. Prune the tree, clear out the dead wood, and new things can grow. This doesn’t just apply to the pastors, elders, and deacons. The shakeup at Trinity is an opportunity for everyone to step into new roles.... Read more
A homily for a late Octave of Easter celebration. Matthew 28:1: Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. Let us pray Heavenly Father, You raised Your Son Jesus on the day after the Sabbath; so raise us to share in the bright joy of Your endless day. For Jesus’ sake. Amen. Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias will tell you... Read more
Explaining why baptism need not be repeated, John Knox ( Answers to Some Questions concerning Baptism, 1566 ) writes that “Baptism is the sign of our first entrance into the household of God our Father; by which is signified that we are received in league with him, that we are clad with Christ’s justice, our sins and filthiness being washed away in his blood. Now evident it is, that the justice of Christ Jesus is permanent and cannot be defiled;... Read more
In his Prayer and the Priesthood of Christ , Graham Redding summarizes Calvin’s teaching on the temporary faith: “Calvin draws a distinction between the regenerating faith of the elect and the temporary faith of the reprobate. There are some among the reprobate, he says, who respond positively to the word and in so doing produce evidence of a kind of faith. When this happens, there are many similarities between the elect and the reprobate – even to the point that... Read more
Rudigert Safranski ( Martin Heidegger: Between Good and Evil ) makes it clear that Heidegger saw his Nazi affiliation as an application of his philosophical stance. For Heidegger, “Decision as a ‘pure’ act is the primary aspect, that jerk that man gives himself in order to jump out of his customary track. The ‘wherefore’ of the decision is, by comparison, no more than the trigger releasing the emergence of the force of the upturn of the entire Dasein . For... Read more
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