christianity

To Be “In Christ”: This Is the Gospel

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To Be “in Christ” To be “in Christ” is a curious thing. It’s a distinctly Pauline idea. He seems to use it of anyone who is a believer in the gospel, as in anyone who has been saved by grace through faith in the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ to save them from the penalty of their sins. Galatians 2 gives, I think, the clearest explanation of what he means by the phrase. “Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in … [Read more]

The Kingdom of God

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This is my first graduate level paper… I think it’s about the same as my other papers, but I haven’t had time to write blog posts because I’ve been writing stuff like this. I hope you enjoy it! Ask yourself, “What do I think Jesus meant by ‘the kingdom of God’?”   INTRODUCTION The kingdom of God (KoG) is one of the few major biblical themes that literally spans from the beginning of the book to the end. It is in Genesis 1 and 2 that we see God creating a kingdom on earth to rule, and it is in … [Read more]

Partly Holy Christians

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I’ve noticed that the blog posts I write that get the most views are the ones about controversial or touchy subjects. Not many read my posts on the philosophy behind God’s name as the present tense, first person, “to be” verb. I find it vivifying and exhilarating! Not many read my post on gluttony. Who cares right? That’s a sin we’re okay with in our culture, and if we’re not, we just keep it to ourselves. I can’t tell you how many people didn’t read my posts about Progressive and Normative Dispensationalism. I bet most of you even skipped over … [Read more]

Christians and Booze

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Were you to ask the Christian world, “Can Christians drink alcohol?” you would receive different Christian answers. Your hard-core Baptists, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, and others would shout, “No!” in glorious unison. Your Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Anglicans and others would scream, “Yes!” with equal fervor. Non-denoms, Lutherans, and Reformed guys would fill in the spectrum with generous helpings of “maybe”, “sometimes”, and “what do you mean by ‘can’?” Dallas Theological Seminary recently changed their position on the subject, which has got me thinking about the whole question again. Is it ever right for a Christian to drink alcohol? Well, as is … [Read more]

The One Thing All Christians Should Agree On

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The One Thing All Christians Should Agree On: Little Christs, Church Unity, and a Lesson in Christology I heard someone in an argument say, “If there is one thing all Christians should agree on, it’s that abortion is wrong.” Now I quite agree that abortion is wrong, and I tend to seriously question someone who calls himself a Christian and supports abortion. They are pretty antithetical ideas. All the way from the beginning, Adam and Eve were told to “multiply.” They weren’t told, “Kill your kids if they’re inconvenient.” Sorry, was I a little sarcastic there? I tend to think … [Read more]