I had intended to move on to other topics after publishing a pair of articles on dispensationalism and covenantalism. But I’ve received a fair amount of feedback from those articles, which revealed that not everyone has the same idea of what constitutes dispensationalism. So I decided to write another article outlining some basic features just … Continue reading What is Dispensationalism? A Brief Introduction
Tag: Redemption
My Concerns with Dispensationalism
In the previous article in this column I covered a few of my concerns with Covenant Theology. That included an overview of each view and the differences, which I will not rehash at length here. In short, both covenantalism and dispensationalism are meta-systems (whole-Bible theologies) for understanding the overarching storyline of the Bible. Proponents of … Continue reading My Concerns with Dispensationalism
My Concerns with Covenant Theology
Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology[1] are two theological systems which govern how we interpret the overall storyline of Scripture. Each seeks to describe how God’s redemptive purposes unfold through history. These are “whole-Bible theologies,”[2] ways of understanding God’s redemptive purposes throughout Scripture. Anyone who has seriously studied the Bible belongs somewhere in one of these camps, … Continue reading My Concerns with Covenant Theology
What Makes a Christian Marriage?
God’s Good Design God created marriage as the most intimate and enduring human relationship. When God made Adam and put him in the Garden of Eden, he had no companion. He had God above Him, and animals under him, but no one alongside him. In God’s kind providence, He gave him Eve as a helper—not … Continue reading What Makes a Christian Marriage?
Does Justification Matter? | Part Two
Every Christian has, at some point, questioned whether or not he is truly saved. We all deal with doubt. How do we navigate the swamps of doubt and fear back to the sure footing of God’s grace? Read More
Does Justification Matter? | Part One
Theology in its rightful place is imminently practical. What is more fundamental to our daily lives than what we know about the God who made and rules the world? If we get God wrong, it cannot be but that our entire lives are disoriented. Read More
Podcast: Does Justification Matter? [Foundations]
Why does justification by faith alone matter? Because if we discard or downplay it, we are of necessity also discarding and downplaying grace. If our works are necessary to complete our salvation, then God’s grace isn’t sufficient to save. If our gospel is to be God-glorifying, it must be God-centered. And if it is to be God-centered, it must be grace-based. That is, it must be about what God has done to save sinners, not about what sinners have done to make themselves worthy of God. Listen Now
Podcast: If You Love Me… [Foundations]
Jesus does not require anything of us poor wretched sinners except that we come to Him in faith. His love is offered freely to all who are willing to receive it. This grace compels us to obey. As Isaac Watts expressed, “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” This kind of love demands that we give everything—my soul, my life, my all. If we come to Christ with hearts brimming with love for Him, then we are ready and eager to hear these words in John 14:15, "If you love me, keep my commandments." Listen Now
Podcast: Living Faith [Foundations]
What is the relationship between faith and works? The apostle Paul taught that we are saved by grace through faith apart from works. If we are justified by faith alone, why does James say that Abraham was “justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?” Did James disagree with Paul's gospel? Listen Now
Podcast: Justified by Faith [Foundations]
Scripture speaks consistently of salvation coming to those who believe, those who have faith. That much is clear, but the bigger question is, “What is faith?” This episode answers that very question. Listen Now