Basic Reformed Theology

No Creed But the Bible? Jonathan and James welcome a very special guest today. J. V. Fesko is the Harriet Barbour Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS. The Need for Creeds Today is one of Fesko’s most recent works and the topic of today’s...

Ernst Lohmeyer A few of us might have seen the name Ernst Lohmeyer listed among those who resisted the Nazi regime. Scholars remember him for his studies on the Lord’s Prayer and Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, which confirmed the early existence of the doctrine of Christ’s divinity. Most people...

Kindness is easily pondered, but not so easily carried out. We live in an age of velliety, where simply publishing our desires for kumbaya and world peace are lauded as good deeds, and nice intentions are stated as if they are triumphs. However, we struggle daily to be kind across the internet,...

We all know combinations that just don’t go well together, don’t we? We even have a saying for them—they go together like oil and water. Some people think this about God’s Law and love. Others perhaps agree that God’s Law and love are compatible, but wouldn’t do well in explaining how they...

What Metaphor? The fruit of the Spirit in Galatians five brings to mind images of an orchard. It’s a serene and beautiful scene. However, the more I look at the text of Galatians I start to think that the orchard metaphor may be a more pleasing one but not entirely consistent with what we find in...

As we come to the end of our series on walking in the book of Ephesians it is appropriate that Paul would urge believers to walk carefully. [1] The adverb “carefully” has the idea of walking deliberately. I can just imagine a young person carelessly trundling along only to hear his mother bark out...

“Therefore, become imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1-2). In much Jewish thought the idea of imitating God was anathema. With the initial sin of Adam and Eve in “desiring to...

How I love a good walk! There is something wonderful about heading out for a stroll on a cool, fall day. Tying up the tennis shoes; pulling on the sweatshirt. This day was made for walking! Scripture speaks of one’s manner of life as his walk. In fact, every person has a way of life in which they...

The holidays are a wonderful time of year. However, for some they are a time of guilt. The season reminds them of things they said and did or did not say or do and those thoughts bring guilty. Strikingly, man is able to pull the galaxies close through a telescope and a microscope can enlarge a...

When I was a young teen trying to get comfortable in my own skin words were a commodity that could make or break you. Utter one wrong word and social standing could be tenuous. The best you could do was hope that people had short memories and so never bring up your words again. Today things are...