My colleague in the ministry, Steve Wood, recently submitted this quote from Leon Morris on why a grace centered theology doesn’t incite us to a lazy life. My favorite line from the quote is this: “It is easy to see the cross as a magnificent incentive to laziness. Christ has done everything. I can do nothing. [...]
Archive for the ‘theology’ Category
Does Jesus Make you Lazy: Why Grace Cannot be Cheap
Posted in cheap grace, Steve Wood, theology, tagged cheap grace, Steve Wood, the cross on January 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Riding the Ass: Following God’s Commandments from the Heart
Posted in martin luther, theology, Uncategorized, tagged ass, commandments, donkey, gospel, law, martin luther, reformed on January 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
In this passage, Martin Luther tells us how God’s commands require more than a simple outward obedience, but also an inward delight in them. Thus, the man who performs the outward acts of the law but does not delight in them as he does his treasured sins, is like a trained and bridled donkey. It goes where [...]
A Good Saying from a Good Bishop
Posted in theology, Uncategorized, tagged episcopal bishop, Fitz Allison, reformed theology on January 8, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I just found this on my friend’s blog here. “What the heart desires, the will chooses, and the mind justifies.” ~ Bishop F. Allison recently preached at a new members service at St. Andrews. He has the full sermon if you follow that link.
THINK!!!
Posted in j.c. ryle, theology on January 8, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Jesus says that the first commandment is to love the Lord with all of our hearts, souls, and mind. That is to say, the Gospel is so glorious, that every aspect of our beings is to strain to love Him. The problem with many evangelicals today is that they have forgotten what their minds are [...]
Free Will, Sin, Bondage
Posted in martin luther, sermons, theology, tagged bondage, free will, holiness, martin luther, reformed, sanctification, sin, theology on January 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
From time to time the Reformed faith has been accused of focusing so much on our inherent sinfulness that we fail to recognize the new heart God has given us, and thus fail to teach how we may shed sin and grow in holiness. In this passage from his sermon on Matthew 21, The Good Doctor (Martin Luther) describes why it is [...]
A Good New Year’s Resolution!
Posted in Devotional Life, theology on December 22, 2008 | 3 Comments »
I’m currently working my way through the Institutes and finding it to be a joyful labor. Calvin’s writings come from a day when theologians were not simply brainy academics locked up in their ivory towers. Rather, theologians were people who knew God well because they studied their Bibles, prayed their socks off, and lived godly [...]
Importance of Forgiveness
Posted in forgiveness, theology, Uncategorized, tagged anglican, bishop, forgiveness, j.c. ryle, reformed on December 11, 2008 | 1 Comment »
You would not believe the number of people I know who struggle with forgiveness. In fact, I myself struggle to forgive people for some petty offense they probably wouldn’t remember even if I brought it up. I’m becoming convinced that in order to forgive others their debts, we must know the debt forgiven us. I [...]
A Life or Death Matter
Posted in theology, tagged anglican, holiness, j.c. ryle, justification, reformed, sanctification, soteriology on December 11, 2008 | 1 Comment »
J.C. Ryle says “A doctrine which is needful to salvation can never be too sharply developed, or brought too fully into light.” It makes sense. If something tells us whether we will spend eternity in heaven or hell, we should figure out what it is telling us! So, I’ve included, for your enjoyment, his words on the differences and similarities of justification and sanctification. Enjoy!
I commend these distinctions to the attention of all my readers, and I ask them to ponder them well. I am persuaded that one great cause of the darkness and uncomfortable feelings of many well–meaning people in the matter of religion is their habit of confounding, and not distinguishing, justification and sanctification. It can never be too strongly impressed on our minds that they are two separate things. No doubt they cannot be divided, and everyone that is a partaker of either is a partaker of both. But never, never ought they to be confounded, and never ought the distinction between them to be forgotten.
Fruit and Leaves
Posted in Devotional Life, theology, tagged fruitfulness, hypocrisy, mark, theology on December 4, 2008 | 2 Comments »
There is an imminent danger in the Church of getting our priorities so out of whack, that we keep all the secondary matters and forget the things God truly requires. Anglican Bishop J.C. Ryle relates that danger in his commentary on Mark 11 Let us take care that we each individually learn the lesson that [...]
The Beginning of Wisdom
Posted in devotion, devotionals, Proverbs, theology, Tremper Longman III, Uncategorized, tagged anglican, commentary, devotional, episcopal, proverbs, reformed, sermon series, theology, tremper longman III on May 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
This summer we will be studying the book of Proverbs. In many ways, this book is problematic in the Old Testament. For one, it has little or no connection to the main redemptive story line of the Old Testament (or the whole Bible for that matter). Also, the book of Proverbs seems to depend heavily [...]
Read Full Post »