Archive for the ‘salvation’ Category
When looking at the book of Numbers we might notice how the first half of the book is primarily concerned with (the very good) preparation of the Israelites for their journey. The second half of the book, we all know, strikes a darker chord as we witness rebellion, after rebellion, after rebellion. But what are these rebellion stories doing? Why record so many of them? Why record the ones we have?
Read the rest of this entry »
Technorati Tags: canaan, israel, numbers, rebellion, unbelief
Tags: canaan, israel, numbers, rebellion, unbelief
Posted in history, israel, salvation | Comments (0)
At this point I have to take a step back from the text—but not for the sake of my own view on God’s covenant to Abraham and its historical outworking, rather for clearing out some potentially misconceptions. It is always helpful to consider the details of any situation: which turns to make, which stops are important, where to find the hotel…that’s what I normally do. But sometimes it is necessary to get a bird’s eye view of the thing and see how the lines interconnect, how they follow down another path, and how they accentuate the lay of the land. The problem is that my mind contains a different bird’s eye view than what your bird’s eye view may look like.
I started this series underscoring the importance of words and saying how their conveyed information was to be received by the primary audience to convey real information. This was then recorded for our benefit.
Read the rest of this entry »
Technorati Tags: abrahamic covenant, covenant theology, progressive covenants
Tags: abrahamic covenant, covenant theology, progressive covenants
Posted in church, dispensationalism, israel, salvation | Comments (2)
I’ve been noticing this Bavinck quote come up on the internet and it’s really annoying since people seem to be using it to support the old argument that at least Catholic works-righteousness is productive whereas the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith falls short. The quote already had me wondering how honest it was since it starts off mid sentence. Turns out, Bavinck is arguing against the position that posters have been using the quote online.
Anyway, here’s the quote that’s appearing on the internet (here are a few places I’ve seen it); after the jump I’ll post the context (Bavinck, The Certainty of Faith-PDF):
‘[W]e must remind ourselves that the Catholic righteousness by good works is vastly preferable to a protestant righteousness by good doctrine. At least righteousness by good works benefits one’s neighbor, whereas righteousness by good doctrine only produces lovelessness and pride. Furthermore, we must not blind ourselves to the tremendous faith, genuine repentance, complete surrender and the fervent love for God and neighbor evident in the lives and work of many Catholic Christians. The Christian life is so rich that it develops its full glory not just in a single form or within the walls of one church.’
But now, for what Bavinck was really saying and then what he continues saying even about paganism.
Read the rest of this entry »
Technorati Tags: bavinck, faith, misquotes
Tags: bavinck, faith, misquotes
Posted in apologetics, history, religion, salvation | Comments (0)
I’ve underscored that: it would be inconsistent to believe the Gospel and not believe in a physical resurrection; there are dire consequences of holding to a non-physical resurrection; and that there is no biological and cosmological grounds to outright deny a future physical resurrection. (I even shared some thoughts on how important the resurrection is to me in my experience.) Now, although I touched on some of this with the consequences of holding to a non-Physical resurrection, I wanted to delineate a theological necessity for a physical resurrection.
Read the rest of this entry »
Technorati Tags: physical, preterists, resurrection
Tags: physical, preterists, resurrection
Posted in apologetics, christ, salvation | Comments (7)
How would you fix things?
How would you go about addressing failing economy, the war, and jobs going overseas? Or how would you go about fixing the divided church, rampant error in the blogosphere and the constant temptation to become lax in your ways?
Read the rest of this entry »
Technorati Tags: gospel, salvation, weakness, wisdom
Tags: gospel, salvation, weakness, wisdom
Posted in christ, salvation | Comments (1)