Read the series.

God’s revelation is woven into the “warp and woof” of everyday living. This is because General Revelation and Special Verbal Revelation work together in unison. This is most important to keep in mind. When God gives someone something like, revelation or ability, never works against Himself, He always gives in accordance with His will and His decree for the gift to be used. So it is with the gift of General Revelation.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17)

General Revelation and Special Revelation in the Scriptures both...

I first encountered the term “High Calvinism” when I read Lewis Chafer’s systematic theology. This term is a bit old-fashioned now, of course. If someone is a “High Calvinist,” it means he’s very Reformed in his soteriology. This surely described R.C. Sproul!

In a book entitled Willing to Believe: Understanding the Role of the Human Will in Salvation, Sproul provided a short historical theology of this topic by examining nine different theologians and their soteriological positions. In this excerpt, Sproul frames one part of this important issue:¹

This classic issue between Augustinian theology and all forms of semi-Pelagianism focuses on one aspect of the order of salvation (...

Presented to the Association of Christian Teachers and Christian School Regional Educators Convention, Grandview Christian School, Grandview, Missouri — November 2, 2018

Introduction

Mark Twain once famously said, “I never let schooling interfere with my education.” He also added that, “In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice, then he made the school board.” Twain’s humorous disdain for formal education might invite a chuckle or two, but it also affords an opportunity for educators to assess ourselves, to look in the mirror and consider whether we are being the benefit that we hope we might be or whether we are failing as miserably as those educators of which Twain spoke. Perhaps we are part of the problem. When he...

From Maranatha Baptist Theological Journal, Vol 3, No. 2, Fall 2013. Reproduced with permission. Read the series so far.

Deuteronomy 18:15–22—The Practical Test

The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren...

Last month, I introduced the concept of expository preaching, an issue which can no longer be restricted to discussions between preachers, or reserved for Seminaries and Bible College classrooms. Today, exposition has become an identity marker by which to evaluate churches. In his book, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Mark Dever lists expositional preaching as mark number one. Dever believes it is the most important characteristic of a spiritually healthy church, the foundation upon which the other eight marks are built.

Thousands of Christians are now measuring churches by the yardstick of an expository pulpit. These Christians will not accept topical preaching as regular fare, and...

By Jordan Standridge. Reposted from The Cripplegate.

The Christian life is hard.

I know I’m not shocking you right now, but it isn’t easy to be a Christian. We are constantly at war. Mainly against our own flesh (1 Peter 2:11), but the enemy is constantly prowling around like a roaring lion seeking who he might devour as well (1 Peter 5:8).

On top of that, we live in a world filled with other selfish people. Most people around us are ensnared by the devil, captured by him to do his will (2 Tim. 2:26). They are viciously pursuing self-fulfillment, and most hate it when Christians speak up against sin.

Most Christians are experiencing trials left and right. When we are not in a trial, we are either...

Read the series.

The “Nature” Psalms

A good place to look for the doctrine of general or natural revelation is the so-called Nature Psalms. But we might pause here to correct the title “Nature” Psalms, because although they have been classically referred to as that, it is not a very accurate name; it straightaway gives the impression that the psalmists are looking at nature and are deriving their views of God from their analysis of it. But these Psalms (e.g. 8, 33, 104, 145), are actually Creation Psalms. They are hymns to the God who has created all things. Therefore, they look at the effects of God’s working, and so they ought to be examined from a believing point of view. We see God...

Most Bible students are aware of a seeming contradiction in the Bible, one that is pretty easily resolved. The verses (ESV) are Proverbs 26:4-5,

Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

Since they are placed one after another, it is pretty obvious that they are to be examined together. This leads us to two conclusions: sometimes answering a fool is a no-win situation, it really doesn’t matter which approach you take. And, sometimes, one approach might serve you better than the other — but neither approach is really good (even if one might be the lesser of evils).

There is another apparent contradiction we must address that is a bit more...