Theology
Doggie Bag … leftovers from M.E.A.T. (men enthusiastic about theology)
If you missed our first M.E.A.T.ing on March 3rd, here is a summary of our discussion: Remember, this is a retooling of a class I took in Seminary under Dr. Gaffin. I am not careful in it to distinguish his work or wording from my own. As we set out on our journey through the “Doctrine of Christ”, we thought it best to discover what we mean by “doctrine”. Broadly, when we are talking about “doctrine”, we are doing theology…
The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
One mistake many evangelicals make is to overstate the discontinuity, the change that takes place in the transition from Old Testament to New Testament. This is most evident when it comes to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. [dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]How did the Holy Spirit function in the lives of believers in the Old Testament? Is the difference between a New Testament believer and an Old Testament believer a matter of one having the…
Federal Vision – A Summary for M.E.A.T.
Note: The following is an in-house summary of the Federal Vision for our men’s theology discussion group. It is a summary, not a scholarly critique. It is intended to give some orientation to the doctrinal distinctives of the Federal Vision and to contrast them with traditional reformed orthodoxy. It is not intended to engage any of the individual proponents of the Federal Vision, and it intentionally paints with a broad brush. I am merely attempting to help the group see…
Justin Parke’s Presuppositional Gospel Tract (originally published on monergism.com)
What is God like? The answer to this question is that, although you may not know Him as you ought, you already know what He is like! The wondrous design of the natural world, the beauty of a star-studded sky, the fascinating laws of physics all testify to the glory and majesty of God. Every one of us has knowledge of Him. Perhaps you are an artist — then you’ve glimpsed the mind of the God who spoke creation into…
Dispensationalism: Weighing its Claims against the Scriptures
Dispensationalism’s Core Distinction Dispensationalism’s core claim is that Israel and the Church must be carefully distinguished. In essence, it claims that God has two peoples with parallel but separate destinies. It is this distinction that drives Dispensationalism’s eschatological distinctives, viz. pretribulational premillennialism. Therefore, if it can be shown that Israel and the Church are not separate peoples of God, but together form the one people of God and are heirs according to the promises of God, then the impetus for…
Baptism
The Big Question about Baptism What is baptism? What does it do? The basic question with regard to baptism is this … what does it do? Other questions, such as “Who should be baptized?” depend on this prior question: “What does baptism do?” Is it a literal and effective application of grace? Is it merely a visible act by which we profess our faith, or confirm that profession, or is it something else? Let me give a way our answer…
Our Representatives: 1st & 2nd Adams
Representative Are we sinners because we sin, or do we sin because we are sinners? We sin because we are sinners. As the old rhyme has it, “In Adam’s fall, we sinned all.” Or, as Paul puts it, “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12) And, lest you conclude that “because all sinned” refers to the sins we’ve all committed, Paul continues, “many…