Scripture

Private and Personal or Public and Ecclesial?

Nick Batzig
Apr 24, 2018
God calls His people to be truth-loving and truth-speaking people--which is why it's disheartening to see many self-professed Calvinistic and Reformed ministers downplay doctrinal teaching, preaching and transparency. Many years ago, a pastor of an Evangelical and Reformed Presbyterian Church...

The One Who Endures Podcast

Jonathan Master
Apr 23, 2018
The One Who Endures Can we claim the doctrine of perseverance is the distinct doctrine in the Reformed tradition? Jay Collier does. When thinking about the Reformed faith, we typically about think election and predestination. But in his recent book , Jay makes a strong case for the distinctiveness...

Surveying Sanctification: What About God's Holiness?

Jeffrey Stivason
Apr 22, 2018
Quite a while ago, I met a woman with whom I had attended a particular church several years earlier. At the time of our meeting we were both worshiping in different congregations. In the midst of the conversation, having discovered that I was reformed in my theology, she informed me that she too...

Ephrem the Syrian and His Scriptural Songs

Simonetta Carr
Apr 17, 2018
Ephrem was still a young man when his quick understanding, knowledge of Scriptures, literary skills, and love for the church captured the attention of the local bishop. Jacob had been bishop of the Christian community of Nisibis (a commercial center on the Persian border) since 309, when Ephrem was...

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...

Insider Language and the Mission of God

Nick Batzig
Apr 7, 2018
Through much of middle and high school, I woke up every morning and had my quiet time watching Craig Kilborn on ESPN's Sportscenter . I could tell you every stat about every baseball, basketball and football player. I knew the language of just about every major sport. When I would watch sports with...

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...

Formulating Doctrine

Richard C. Barcellos
Apr 2, 2018
"It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, in the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things therein, whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and all very good." (...