A Brief Theology of Human Death
The Bible portrays death as the consequence of human sin. Death was the sanction that God tied to the Garden of Eden stipulation: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17). And God’s expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden on account of their covenant breach and treason demonstrated that His threats were not empty. Death became the lot of Adam and his posterity. To borrow the apostle Paul’s language in Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin [became] death.” Read more 
Communication That Connects: God Accommodates and So Must We
Why should we endeavor to communicate gospel truth in a way that’s clear and intelligible to our target audience? Below I’d like to provide two biblical arguments to support the idea of contextualized communication. The first highlights God’s own manner of communicating to humans. The second underscores the biblical mandate that obligates us to follow our heavenly Father’s example.1 Read more
- Further support is offered in my series “Contextualization & Church Ministry.” [↩]
The Baptist Confession on Oaths and Vows
In the 17th century, certain sects of Christendom, such as the Quakers and Anabaptists, denied the legitimacy of taking oaths or making vows. The teaching of this chapter 23 of the 1689 Baptist Confession was designed to clarify the meaning and confirm the lawfulness of oaths and vows when properly used. The 1689 Baptist Confession retains the substance of the Westminster Confession, but it abbreviates the form. Below we’ll use the Confession as a guide to examine the Bible’s teaching on oaths and vows. Then we’ll draw some practical lessons. Read more
Yes, We May Be Passionate: A Friendly Reply to James Renihan
Dr. James Renihan published on his blog an entry entitled, “Are You Passionate?” (June 3, 2008), which the reader may access here. The article was just republished (Jan 5, 3013) on the Reformed Baptist Fellowship blog here and today (Jan 8, 2013) on the Aquila Report here. Renihan begins the article with the remark, “Evangelical preachers and writers have become passionate about being passionate.” “We are urged,” he says, “to have a passion for God, to be passionate about winning souls, to be passionate in worship etc. ad nauseum.” Read more
Rightly Rendering Ruach: The Semantic Range of רוח in the Old Testament
The Hebrew noun רוּחַ occurs 387 times in the Old Testament and is most commonly translated “spirit.” Whereas the English word “spirit” is limited to the immaterial aspect or psychical faculties of living beings, the Hebrew term may also refer to such natural phenomena as “wind” or “breath.” As the subject of transitive and intransitive verbs of motion, רוּחַ, in its most basic sense, refers either to the intangible cause or to the phenomenal effect of movement, animation, or empowerment. Read more
The Covenant Context of the Fall, Part 5: Extra Evidence for a Creation Covenant
In our previous studies1 we’ve tried to make the case that God’s relationship with Adam was from the beginning covenantal in nature. Despite the fact that the early chapters of Genesis nowhere explicitly employ the Hebrew terms for “covenant” or “kingdom,” these ideas are implicit throughout the primeval narratives. In this study we’ll marshal some additional evidence from other parts of Scripture to support the notion of an Adamic or Primordial Covenant. Read more
The Covenant Context of the Fall, Part 3: Echoes of a Creation Covenant
Did God make a primordial covenant with Adam? The special term for “covenant” (בְּרִית; ḇᵉrît) is not used in either the creation narratives (Gen 1-2) or the Fall narrative (Gen 3). For this reason a number of Bible scholars answer the question negatively. “Covenant,” in their mind, is a uniquely redemptive provision. However, a careful study of the explicit references to divine-human covenants in later Old Testament narratives reveals certain characteristic motifs that seem to echo a primordial covenantal arrangement.
The Covenant Context of the Fall, Part 2: The Essence of a “Covenant”
The standard Hebrew term for “covenant” is בְּרִית (ḇᵉrît). Its semantic range is multifaceted and somewhat flexible. Not surprisingly, it is challenging to find one definition that suits every context in which the term is found. Delbert Hillers alludes to the challenge of defining the term and the difference of opinion when he observes, “It is not the case of six blind men and the elephant, but of a group of learned paleontologists creating different monsters from the fossils of six separate species.”1 Read more
- Covenant: The History of a Biblical Idea (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1969), 7. [↩]
Beauty for Ashes: A Brief Theology of Isaiah
The book of Isaiah contains a theology of contrasts. Two sets of contrasts stand out in particular. The first set concerns the nature of God and man. God is absolutely holy; man is utterly sinful. These opposite realities become in turn the basis for the second set of contrasts, namely, judgment and salvation. These second two opposite themes prove to be complementary in the end—as judgment becomes the necessary prelude to salvation, and Zion receives “beauty for ashes” (61:3). Read more
Justification by Faith Alone: A Definitive Legal Declaration
In a previous post, we highlighted the vital importance of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Now we’ll begin to expound that doctrine. And defining terms is the place to start. What does the Bible mean by the term “to justify”? Below we’ll examine two key passages that illumine the significance of the term for the doctrine of justification. Read more
