Biblical Theology

PCRT Reading Recommendations

Richard D. Phillips
Apr 11, 2018
This weekend we kickoff the 2018 Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology , meeting April 13-15 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Our theme this year is The Spirit of the Age: The Age of the Spirit. I am excited to welcome Conrad Mbewe and Danny Akin and looking forward to exploring the mighty work of...

Surveying Sanctification: Union with Christ

John Hartley
Apr 11, 2018
That holiness of life which the Christian has from God and before God and for God is not sourced nor drawn from even the best doctrinal formulations – as essential as they are to our faith. Nor is holiness of life sourced or drawn from moral transformation – as essential as it is to living out our...

The Spirit's Role: Regeneration

Steven McCarthy
Apr 6, 2018
Have you ever wanted a fresh start? Perhaps you fumbled in some area – a marriage, a parent-child relationship, a job – and you longed to reset. Or something happened to you that made you wish for a complete change of identity. The witness protection program no longer sounded inconvenient, but full...

The Spirit of God in the Old Testament

David Smith
Apr 4, 2018
The Old and New Testament (Covenant) Scriptures command their reader to treat them as two distinct wholes inseparably and organically united. Yes, what is truly in the OT, yet somewhat concealed, is more fully revealed in the NT. Yes, the NT interprets the OT. But in affirming these truths we have...

The Spirit's Role: The Life of Jesus

Tim Bertolet
Apr 2, 2018
Most of the time when we think of the earthly life of Jesus, we think of how he demonstrated his power and manifest that he was the Son of God. On occasion, we think about how he demonstrated his humility in the weakness of his incarnation particularly at Gethsemane and Golgotha. One area we often...

Macrina the Younger – The Fourth Cappadocian

Simonetta Carr
Mar 29, 2018
The Cappadocian Fathers (Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus) are well known for their theological contributions to the doctrines of the Trinity and the nature of Christ. Basil’s and Gregory of Nyssa’s sister Macrina is less known, in spite of the powerful influence she...

The Role of the Holy Spirit Podcast

Jonathan Master
Mar 26, 2018
Conrad Mbewe , pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Zambia is on the podcast today. He will also be with us at the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology speaking on the topic of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Mbewe speaks today on the role of the Holy Spirit in evangelism. He gets right to the point...

Being a Pentecost Christian: Monergism

Stephen Unthank
Mar 23, 2018
It is in that well worn and wonderful passage of John chapter 3 where the apostle tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. But previously in that very same chapter Jesus tells us that God must also...

Being a Pentecost Christian: Sanctification

John Hartley
Mar 21, 2018
The third person of the Holy Trinity is no less zealous in applying redemption to us than was the second person in accomplishing it for us. Like our Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit is perfectly ambitious toward the children of God. Once the Spirit applies the redemption of Christ – effectually calling...

Being a Pentecost Christian: The Gifts and the Gift

Steven McCarthy
Mar 19, 2018
People love lists, from the Billboard Top 20, to 9-things-you-should-know-about-this, to 16-reasons-you-should-never-do-that. Perhaps this is why churches sometimes seem to obsess over lists of “spiritual gifts” (abilities the Spirit works in people), [1] even to the apparent neglect at the Giver,...