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Grace and Law?
“You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace” (Gal. 5:4). When one becomes a Christian there are certain changes that usually take place in his life. It was …Read More
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Jesus Challenges the Pharisees
The Pharisees were the ultimate religious people among the Jews during Christ’s life on earth. Determined not to break any of God’s laws, they had, over time, devised an intricate system of oral tradition to keep them from …Read More
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Be Ye Perfect
In Matthew 5:33–48, Jesus tells us how we are to fulfill the law — not legalistically, but in a spirit of Christ-like love. The goal is that we might strive to obey His final admonition in verse 48: “Be …Read More
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Liberty vs. Law?
I have often heard people define liberty as the ability to do whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it. Although such a definition may sound good on the surface, it more accurately defines anarchy than it …Read More
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No Accounting
There’s no accounting for taste. Or to put it another way, the taste has reasons that reason knows not of. We like what we like, and we don’t like having to explain it. Which is why postmodernism fits …Read More
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The Law of Life
“It need not further be denied,” argued James Orr, “that between this view of the world involved in Christianity, and what is sometimes called ‘the modern view of the world’ there exists a deep and radical antagonism.” James Orr observed …Read More
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Family Traits
The family is central to the biblical ethic. It is the primary image of the relationship of the saints to God. The work of Christ was required to bring about regeneration and adoption, making believers heirs of God and joint …Read More
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Cosmic Treason
The question, “What is sin?” is raised in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. The answer provided to this catechetical question is simply this: “Sin is any want of conformity to or transgression of the law of God.” Let us examine some …Read More
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The Law of Love
Life is all about relationships. A significant part of what it means for us to be created in the image of God is to be relational. God Himself is a relational being. Not only does He relate personally to us …Read More
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Living by the Royal Law
This final chapter of Hebrews is in many ways a fuller exposition of what James 2:8 calls “the royal law.” The idea of both James 2 and Hebrews 13 is that since God has made His people “a royal …Read More
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Law and Gospel
As has already been pointed out in this issue, “Reformed” theology just is “covenant” theology. However, that doesn’t necessarily settle the question as to what kind of covenant theology is being espoused. By far the question that has been …Read More
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Time to (Re)Discover Hebrews
Of all the New Testament letters, Hebrews seems to be one many Christians find strange and alien. Here we enter the world of Melchizedek and Aaron, angels and Moses, sacrifices and priests. It all seems so Old Testament, so intricate …Read More
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The Dangers of Mixing Law and Gospel
To this day I can distinctly remember the joy I felt when, upon studying Calvinism for the first time, I discovered that some points of its teachings were nicknamed “the doctrines of grace.” At the time I was a part …Read More
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Civil Religion
Our Dear Protégé, Concerning our mission to bring about the most widespread apostasy possible, we cannot stress enough the need for subtlety. While our aim is indeed great, it must be achieved by small and incremental steps. If we …Read More
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Our Liberating God
Why would anyone love the law of God? Why would we love that which constantly tells us what miserable wretches we are, daily points out all our shortcomings, relentlessly reminds us of all our death-deserving sins, and keeps knocking us …Read More
