Evangelical Christians often say “We are saved by faith.” It is a perfectly fine statement as long as we understand that it is actually highly compressed statement of convenience.
Read MoreEvery day we are being molded and cemented into the old creation. No wonder so many professing Christians find worship boring and make light of it. But when God’s new creation reaches in, when we have been taken into Christ, there is really nothing that compares to the new life.
Read MoreThe psalmist who penned the words of Psalm 118 could only dimly understand what the Holy Spirit was inspiring and guiding him to write. So how blessed are we that we can see far clearly than he did? If so, how much more willing and eager should we be to join the psalmist, and say, “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” Indeed, we say, Amen and Amen!
Read MoreAnd it is on Christ’s account that we, as representing all nations, gather and worship our covenant LORD. And we worship with a longing for all nations and all people to know the LORD. May we not be a dam, withholding God’s grace from flowing freely. Instead, may we be wide open channels of God’s grace to many people. For our God is worthy of praise by all nations and peoples.
Read MoreIt is so easy to love the gifts more than the Giver of the gifts. How absurd is that? It makes about as much sense as a woman who loves her engagement ring more than her fiancé. We would certainly say that this is indicative of a deep problem. Sadly, however, this was the repeated fault of the Old Testament Israel.
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Christmas is the season when believers and unbelievers alike speak often of joy. But it is only the believers who understand and experience this joy.
Read MoreOur celebration of Christ’s first advent is much the same. We gather as God’s family, and retell the stories that have shaped us and continue to mold us. So as we enter into the Advent season, we remember the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Read MoreThe transcendent God who is not immanent would leave us in despair of ever knowing him. The immanent God without transcendence would leave us unsatisfied and bored. But God is both, and fills us with both awe and comfort. Indeed, this psalm gives us a written description of Jesus Christ, the exalted God over all creation who became a man. The transcendent God has drawn near us in Jesus Christ, and he is the friend of all in need, who humbly seek his gracious presence.
Read MoreAre you wise or are you a fool? How we participate in corporate and public worship of God is the answer to this important question.
Read MoreMaking Christ central in our worship and life is the only way we can truly honor the legacy of the Protestant Reformation and be the heirs of its legacy.
Read MoreWe are often haunted by the remembrance of our sins, and try hard to forget them. But we may benefit from reviewing our sins. Our sins are the grounds for shame and guilt. They are also the backdrop to God’s goodness and steadfast love. So we give thanks. And we hope for better things to come. Praise the LORD!
Read MoreWhat makes an ideal king? Does it take a large army? Great luxuries of his court? A large harem? These are all the things that godless pagan kings crave after.
Read MoreQ. 37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graces, till the resurrection.
Read MoreQ. 28 Wherein consisteth Christ’s exaltation?
A. Christ’s exaltation consisteth in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day.
Read MoreQ. 27. Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?
A. Christ’s humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.
Read MoreQ. 26. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
Read MoreQ. 26. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
Read MoreQ. 25. How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?
A. Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession for us.
Read MoreQ. 23. What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?
A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.
Q. 24. How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A. Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.
Read MoreQ. 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.
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