Chapter 2: Of God and of the Holy Trinity, para. 2. 2._____God, having all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself, is alone in and unto himself all- sufficient, not standing in need of any creature which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, … Continue reading A Walk through the 1689 Baptist Confession, pt.6: The Relationship of God to His Creatures
Tag: discipleship
A Walk through the 1689 Baptist Confession, pt.4: The Clarity, Availability, and Finality of Scripture
Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures, Paragraphs 7-10 7._____All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, … Continue reading A Walk through the 1689 Baptist Confession, pt.4: The Clarity, Availability, and Finality of Scripture
Those who Truly Belong to Christ will Persevere to the End
Why Use Perseverance? Perseverance of the saints provides a clear understanding of the two-fold nature of eternal security. It first indicates all those who are truly “born again” by the Spirit of God, will be kept eternally by the the Spirit\ of God. Secondly, perseverance reveals that there is a need to continue in faithfulness, … Continue reading Those who Truly Belong to Christ will Persevere to the End
The Adamic Covenant (pt.3)
The Adamic Covenant and the Last Adam Having established the existence of the Adamic covenant in pt.1 and the responsibilities of Adam within the covenant in pt. 2, it is now important to show the essential nature of the Adamic covenant as it relates to an overall biblical theology, primarily in the soteriological and eschatological … Continue reading The Adamic Covenant (pt.3)
The Deity of Christ was Not Invented at Nicaea
Irenaeus and Nicene Language The Council of Nicaea’s debate and solution regarding the nature of Christ and the problem of the Trinity was not a novel discussion for the church. From as early as the mid to late 2nd century, heretical groups had already begun to espouse new teachings regarding the Godhead and the person … Continue reading The Deity of Christ was Not Invented at Nicaea
How Suffering Serves to Advance the Gospel
Philippians 1:12-14 - I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, … Continue reading How Suffering Serves to Advance the Gospel
The Battle for the Bible: The Rise of Higher Criticism and the Fight over Biblical Inerrancy
In the mid to late 19th century, two new areas of scholarship would forever change the landscape of Christianity: Darwinism and Higher-Criticism. Though most are aware of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, few are as familiar with higher-criticism. Higher-criticism ultimately owes its origin to German Biblical Scholars. The idea behind higher-criticism was to remove the supernatural … Continue reading The Battle for the Bible: The Rise of Higher Criticism and the Fight over Biblical Inerrancy
The “Costly Grace” of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Context of Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in 1906 at Breslau which at the time was a part of Germany, but is now in Poland. Unlike Luther, Bonhoeffer was not born into a religious setting. His Father was a professor of Psychiatry and was an open agnostic as well as all his brothers. Bonhoeffer … Continue reading The “Costly Grace” of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The “Free Grace” of Martin Luther
The Context of Luther Martin Luther was born in 1483 during a time when the Renaissance was permeating throughout all of Europe with the invention of Gutenburg’s printing press. He was born to a copper miner and grew up in Mansfield in the center of Germany’s mining industry. Luther originally went to the University of … Continue reading The “Free Grace” of Martin Luther
The Marks of a Fruitful Church
In 1741, the great Jonathan Edwards first published his now-classic book The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God. In this important work, Edwards is analyzing and synthesizing all he’s experienced in the revivals of his day (chronicled most notably in A Narrative of Surprising Conversions and An Account of the Revival of Religion in … Continue reading The Marks of a Fruitful Church
The Ramblings of a Young Minister 