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Latest from Derek Thomas
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God Never Forgets His Promises
from Derek Thomas Mar 05, 2021 Category: Articles
The entire life of Joseph is summarized in Genesis 50:20: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” The teenager we met at the beginning of the story is now over a hundred years old. His life has come full circle, and he is addressing his duplicitous brothers. Their actions, in selling him into slavery, had nothing but evil intent written all over it. Their malevolence can in no way be lessened by the knowledge that things did not turn out as they might have done. Truth is, God overruled their evil actions to accomplish a purpose that neither they nor Joseph could have fathomed. God brought good out of evil. In the words of the Westminster Confession, God in His providence “upholds, directs, disposes and governs all creatures, actions and things” to bring about a sovereignly pre-determined plan (5.1). Keep Reading
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Our King-Servant-Anointed Conqueror: Jesus
from Derek Thomas Feb 12, 2021 Category: Articles
Behold my servant, whom I uphold,my chosen, in whom my soul delights. (Isa. 42:1) Keep Reading
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The Importance of What We Do in Secret
from Derek Thomas Feb 01, 2021 Category: Articles
According to Jesus, it is what we do in secret that matters most. Jesus is not suggesting that the outward is unimportant—far from it. Keep Reading
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God’s Sovereignty and Our Responsibility
from Derek Thomas Jun 26, 2020 Category: Articles
God is sovereign in creation, providence, redemption, and judgment. That is a central assertion of Christian belief and especially in Reformed theology. God is King and Lord of all. To put this another way: nothing happens without God’s willing it to happen, willing it to happen before it happens, and willing it to happen in the way that it happens. Put this way, it seems to say something that is expressly Reformed in doctrine. But at its heart, it is saying nothing different from the assertion of the Nicene Creed: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty.” To say that God is sovereign is to express His almightiness in every area. Keep Reading
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The Cure for a Lack of Fruit in Our Christian Lives
from Derek Thomas Jun 19, 2020 Category: Articles
The Westminster Confession of Faith insists that Christians may be “certainly assured that they are in the state of grace” (18:1) and goes on to assert that this “infallible assurance of faith” is “founded upon” three considerations: Keep Reading
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Finding God in the Darkness
from Derek Thomas May 20, 2020 Category: Articles
It is relatively easy to reason that when things are going well that this represents blessings of God. Most of us fall into it by default: things are going well and we thank God for "every good and perfect gift that comes from above." Keep Reading
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God Orders Events for the Good of His People
from Derek Thomas May 13, 2020 Category: Articles
Joseph has just revealed his true identity to his astonished brothers. It had been a tearful moment (Gen. 46:2, 14; cf. 42:24; 43:30). He is about to engage in a discourse on predestination and the divine decree (yes, really!), but this is no abstract theological exercise; it is theology engaging the harshest of realities — betrayal, false imprisonment, and injustice! Keep Reading
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The Christian and Joy
from Derek Thomas Nov 14, 2018 Category: Articles
"The Holy Spirit has exhorted the faithful to continue clapping their hands for joy until the advent of the promised Redeemer," wrote John Calvin in a comment on Psalm 47:12. Paul would heartily concur! Writing from a prison cell from which he had no certain knowledge of escaping other than to his execution, joy is what came to mind. Joy is what the epistle to the Philippians is all about. So much is Philippians about joy that George B. Duncan once referred to it as "the life of continual rejoicing." The opposite of joy is misery, and miserable is something we are not meant to be. The Reformers caught the centrality of joy in the affections of Christians when they insisted that our chief goal in life is to "glorify God and enjoy Him forever" (WSC, Q. 1). Keep Reading
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“Are We to Continue in Sin That Grace May Abound?”
from Derek Thomas Aug 29, 2018 Category: Articles
“Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Rom. 6:1). Keep Reading
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What Is the Proper Response to God’s Grace?
from Derek Thomas Aug 22, 2018 Category: Articles
There can be only one proper response to grace: a life of grateful holiness. Keep Reading