Tried With Fire

I. I shall shew what it is to justify a sinner, in general, in the scripture-sense. Justification and sanctification are indeed inseparable. In vain do they pretend to be justified who are not sanctified; and in vain do they fear they are not justified, who are sanctified by the Spirit of Christ, 1 Cor. 6.11. But yet they are distinct benefits, not to be confounded, nor taken for one and the same. Justification is not the making of a person just and righteous, by infusing grace or holiness into him. But it is a discharging him from guilt, and declaring or pronouncing him righteous. So it is a law-term taken from courts of judicature, wherein a person is accused, tried, and after trial absolved. Thus the scripture opposeth it to accusation and condemnation, Rom. 8.33,34. 'Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth: Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, wh...

"But the LORD is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil" (2 Thessalonians 3:3). Men are often as devoid of reason as of faith. There are with us still "unreasonable and wicked men." There is no use in arguing with them or trying to be at peace with them: they are false at heart and deceitful in speech. Well, what of this? Shall we worry ourselves with them? No; let us turn to the LORD, for He is faithful. No promise from His Word will ever be broken. He is neither unreasonable in His demands upon us nor unfaithful to our claims upon Him. We have a faithful God. Be this our joy. He will stablish us so that wicked men shall not cause our downfall, and He will keep us so that none of the evils which now assail us shall really do us damage. What a blessing for us that we need not contend with men but are allowed to shelter ourselves in the LORD Jesus, who is in truest sympathy with us. There is one true heart, one faithful mind, one never cha...

Here is what Herman Bavinck has to say about the human body and how it belongs to the image of God as much as the soul. "In the fourth place, also the human body belongs integrally in the image of God. A philosophy that either does not know or rejects divine revelation always lapses into empiricism or rationalism, materialism or spiritualism. But Scripture reconciles the two. Man has a "spirit" ( pneuma ), but that "spirit" is psychically organized and must, by virtue of its nature, inhabit a body. It is the essence of humanity to be corporeal and sentient ... The body is not a prison, but a marvelous piece of art from the hand of God Almighty, and just as constitutive for the essence of humanity as the soul. It is our earthly dwelling, our organ or instrument of service, our apparatus; and the "members" of the body are the weapons with which we fight in the cause of righteousness or unrighteousness. It is so integrally and essentially a part of ou...

Last fall, I came face to face with mortality and death when my dad's health began to decline. When he died, there were three things that the Holy Spirit used to comfort me - my pastor's recent sermons on the resurrection from 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostles' Creed, and the first question and answer from the Heidelberg catechism. While it is true that my dad is in the presence of the Lord and free from physical suffering, this is not his end state. To be fully human is to be body and soul. Death severs that union, but the resurrection will unite what has been torn apart. So my dad is awaiting "the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting." 1 And everyone in Christ has this hope because "with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ." 2 The resurrection offers great comfort when faced with death, but I can think of practical implications now. Namely, if we affirm the resurrection, wh...

Once in Christ, ever in him. Having taken up his habitation in the heart, he never leaves. None can untie this happy knot. Who will dissolve this union? Will he himself? No, he will not; we have his word for it; "I will not turn away from them," Jer. 32:40. But perhaps the sinner will do this mischief to himself? No, he shall not; "they shall not depart from me," says their God. Can devils do it? No, unless they be stronger than Christ and his Father too; "Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand," says our Lord, John 10:28. "And none is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand," verse 30. But what say you of death, which parts husband and wife; yes, separates the soul from the body? Will not death do it? No: the apostle, Romans 8:38, 39, is "persuaded that neither death," terrible as it is, "nor life," desirable as it is; "nor" devils, those evil "angels, nor" the devil's persecuting age...

Here's a link to a post I wrote recently for one of the columns at the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. One of the joys of gathering with my local church on Sundays is sitting under the ministry of the Word. This is especially dear to me after having been un-churched for many years. I was spiritually malnourished by the time God providentially led me to the church I now call home. Hearing sound preaching was a feast for my soul after those lean years, and it still is. During the sermon, I take notes. Some may prefer to devote all their attention to listening and forego the pen and paper, but taking notes helps me learn and to recall what I have heard. So here are a few thoughts that may encourage you in your note-taking. Read the rest here .

This past weekend, we were blessed to have Dr. William VanDoodewaard speak at our annual theology conference - The Marrow of Salvation. The title makes reference to "The Marrow of Modern Divinity," a 17th century English book that caused a controversy in Scotland 50 years later. Why does this old book written by a dead guy and argued over by more dead guys matter to us? I'm glad you asked, and I will answer the question by giving a snippet of each talk. Session 1 - This session was about the book itself. The Marrow was written to help the reader find the middle ground between the 2 ditches of legalism and antinomianism. It was written in the form of a dialogue between a legalist, an antinomian, a new believer, and a minister. This book was recommended by the official government censor and went through several reprintings. Then why the controversy? The Presbyterian church in Scotland in the early 1700's began to drift away from the gospel of free grace in Christ in...

The Gospel, is as much to say, in our tongue, as Good Tidings: like as every one of these sentences be—  Christ is the Saviour of the world. Christ is our Saviour. Christ died for us. Christ died for our sins. Christ offered himself for us. Christ bear our sins upon his back. Christ bought us with his blood. Christ wash us with his blood. Christ came in the world to save sinners. Christ came in the world to take away our sins. Christ was the price that was given for us and for our sins. Christ was made debtor for our sins. Christ hath paid our debt, for he died for us. Christ hath made satisfaction for us and for our sin. Christ is our righteousness. Christ is our wisdom. Christ is our sanctification. Christ is our redemption. Christ is our satisfaction. Christ is our goodness. Christ hath pacified the Father of Heaven. Christ is ours, and all his. Christ hath delivered us from the law, from the devil, and hell. The Father of Heaven hath forgiven us...

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction - Newton's 3rd law We're familiar with this law in the physical world, but I believe it holds true for the metaphysical and in particular, theology. In other words, "for every faulty belief there is an equal and opposite faulty belief." Does this sound familiar? It may not for you, but I can point to several instances in my own life. Have a bad experience with church leadership? Leave the local church and be a lone ranger. See people you know fall for the prosperity gospel? Make a certain level of remorse and repentance a necessary requirement for salvation? See people misuse the love of God as a license to sin? Make God's love parsimonious and conditional on behavior. Probably the two primary opposite categories in which many of the previous examples fall are antinomianism versus legalism . But unfortunately, we have a propensity to over-correct. Or as my wise daughter says, if we're afraid of b...

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither will thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Psalm 16:10) This word has its proper fulfillment in the Lord Jesus; but it applies also, with a variation, to all who are in Him. Our soul shall not be left in the separate state, and our body, though it see corruption, shall rise again. The general meaning, rather than the specific application, is that to which we would call our readers' thoughts at this particular time. We may descend in spirit very low till we seem to be plunged in the abyss of hell; but we shall not be left there. We may appear to be at death's door in heart, and soul, and consciousness; but we cannot remain there. Our inward death as to joy and hope may proceed very far; but it cannot run on to its full consequences, so as to reach the utter corruption of black despair, We may go very low, but not lower than the Lord permits; we may stay in the lowest dungeon of doubt for a while, but we shall not perish...

Someone started a hashtag, #MakeANovelFood, on Twitter this week. I like wordplays, so I added some contributions. But once you start, it's hard to stop punning or at least making an attempt. Rather than tweeting, here are more additions to the list. Hopefully it's out of my system now until the next hashtag. Murder on the Panda Express The Mysterious Eclair at Styles N or M&M? The Black Scallion The Crockpot in Times Square Little Dorito My Pannetonia Frog and Toad-in-the-hole are friends Of Mousse and Mein The Burger of Roger Ackroyd Daughter of Thyme A Man for All Seasonings Love is a Many Splenda Thing Crazy Rich Raisins A Man Called Ovo-lacto Rumpelstilton The Brothers Caramel Sauce