Grace

Pastor Paul was studying when interrupted by the knock at the door. The sound was rapid fire and thud-like. "Someone is upset," he thought as he called out an invitation to enter. Jacob stumbled through the doorway carrying an armload of books. The pastor sat easily back in his chair. He knew it...
Recently, in my Bible reading, I came to the book of Jonah (I've been working through the Minor Prophets). It struck me how remarkable this message is compared to everything else in the ancient world. Homer was a contemporary of Jonah (mid 8th century b.c.), and his epic books of the early Grecian...
In my adult years, I have enjoyed whitewater rafting. Several years ago, my wife and I decided to do the Gauley River. Every fall, the Somerville Dam is released and the River turns into a world class white water adventure! If my recollection serves me, when water is released from the dam, eight...
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ given to mankind in the Gospel is of course resistible. We noted this very truth a few weeks back when Place for Truth covered man’s Total Depravity. In our fallen nature, men and women are entirely incapable of obeying the Gospel command to repent and believe in...
In his book The Bruised Reed , Richard Sibbes famously wrote, "We have this for a foundation truth, that there is more mercy in Christ than sin in us." Here is one of those oft repeated statements of Gospel assurance with which believers love to comfort one another. The context, however, is one...
When I was a child there were times when my mother, exasperated by my behavior, would ask: “Who do you think you are!?” My unruly and arrogant conduct revealed that I was not thinking rightly about myself. Understanding salvation from sin is like this. Rightly understanding salvation means rightly...
Some Christians resist belief in the doctrine of irresistible grace. These brothers and sisters find the teaching that grace conquers all pushback repugnant. How could an all-loving God run roughshod over the freedom of his human creation? This is a misunderstanding of the doctrine for sure. We...
This week on Theology on the Go, our host, Dr. Jonathan Master is joined by Dr. Joel Beeke. Dr. Beeke is President and Professor of Systematic Theology and Homi­letics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, a pastor of the Heritage Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, editor of...
The concept of “limited atonement” does not mean that we limit the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. Far from it, the idea of the limited atonement secures the effectiveness of the work of Jesus Christ. Limited atonement says that because Christ died for sins the sinner comes to saving faith...
The third point in Reformed theology’s famous acrostic suffers from something of an identity problem. As it has been often observed, the preferred way to describe the doctrine in question is that of either definite atonement or particular redemption, owing to the traditional term’s rather negative...