Category Archives: Macleod, Donald

Conviction precedes conversion?

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It has often been thought, in evangelical circles, that Christian conversion is normally preceded by intense conviction of sin and awareness of one’s perilous state outside of Christ.  This has been documented Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley in their recent book, Prepared by Grace, for Grace: The Puritans on God’s Ordinary Way of Leading Sinners to Christ, and is discussed here by Donald Macleod.

The template is summarised by Jonathan Edwards: ‘God makes men sensible of their misery before he reveals his mercy and love.’  …

Men and women in the image of God

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Donald Macleod has some perceptive things to say on this subject:-

It is crucial to our understanding of this whole issue to remind ourselves that this statement is not made about any other creature, only man. We seem to have inherited the idea that the angels are somehow superior to man, but the angels are never said to be made in the image of God. They are servants of the redeemed. All the biblical indicators point to the conclusion that man is the apex of God’s creation, not only in the physical and terrestrial sphere, but also in the spiritual realm.
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Do atheists exist?

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Self-confessed atheists are likely to be infuriated by the suggestion that there is really no such thing as atheism.  But the idea that everyone, at heart, believes in God is a soundly biblical one.

To be sure, we should offer unbelievers sound reasons for the existence of God.  But we should resist the idea that their professed unbelief is as deep-seated as they might have us suppose.

As has often been pointed out, the Bible never tries the prove the existence of God. …

The ‘Real Presence’

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‘Throughout history,’ writes Donald MacLeod, ‘discussion of the Lord’s Supper has been complicated, if not indeed be-devilled, by the question of the presence of Christ in the sacrament.’

When people speak of ‘the real presence’ they are not using the word ‘real’ merely to mean ‘genuine’, but rather to mean ‘the thing itself’.  ‘The real presence’ then refers to the idea that the body of Jesus is literally present in the bread and wine at Holy Communion.…

The Bible is for ordinary people

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Donald Macleod writes:-

It was one of the great achievements of the Reformation to give the Bible back to the people, stressing that ‘not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means’ could attain to a sufficient understanding of the scriptures (Westminster Confession 1.7). Today, we need to get back to this. The Bible is not targeted at experts, yielding its meaning only to priests or scholars. You don’t need rows of commentaries to understand it.

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Christ and the Bible

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The Living and the Written Word

Christ and the Bible – the Living Word and the written word – are sometimes placed in opposition to one another.  The Living Word is (rightly) magnified, but (wrongly) at the expense of the proper honour that is due to the written word.  In fact, the very high view that we should have of the inspiration and authority of the Holy Scriptures is inculcated by Christ himself.

John Stott reminds us that we should not think of Christ, the living Word, and Scripture, the written word, apart, for they witness to one another:-

‘Our Christian conviction is that the Bible has both authority and relevance—to a degree quite extraordinary in so ancient a book—and that the secret of both is in Jesus Christ.

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My Favourite Christian Writers

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My list of favourite Christian authors would look something like this (in roughly chronological order, not order of merit):-

  1. John Calvin – commentaries, Institutes
  2. Thomas Watson – Body of Divinity, Beatitudes, Lord’s Prayer, Ten Commmandments
  3. William Gurnall – Christian in Complete Armour
  4. Matthew Henry – Commentary
  5. C.H. Spurgeon – The Treasury of David, Lectures to my Students, An All-Round Ministry, Commenting and Commentaries (plus, of course, his many printed sermons)
  6. J.C. Ryle – Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Holiness, Knots Untied, Old Paths, Practical Religion, Christian Leaders of the 18th Century
  7. J.
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Donald Macleod to retire as College Principal

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Back in 1982 or thereabouts, I hired a car and drove from my home in Norwich (in the South-East of England) – to Carlisle (in the North-West of England) in order to attend a conference organised by the Banner of Truth Trust.  I particularly wanted to hear Donald Macleod speak.  I was not disappointed.  To be sure, you don’t listen to Macleod for the beauty of his voice (once referred to as a cross between a fog-horn and a set of bagpipes), but rather for his penetrating insights into the Christian faith.…

Divine Fore-ordination

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According to Eph 1:11, God ‘works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will’. Nothing comes to pass that has not been fore-ordained by God. The fall of the sparrow, the throw of the dice, and the number of the very hairs on our heads lie under his fore-ordination. So do the free actions of men and women Phil 2:13. Even the sinful actions of men lie within God’s will and purpose, Acts 2:23.…

Agape and Eros

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It is a commonplace amongst preachers to distinguish between the various Greek words for ‘love’ (philia, storge, eros and agape) and assert that agape is the word that fits Christian love.

There is a considerable amount of truth in this, of course.  Agape, scholars inform us, was a little-used word in secular Greek and therefore was conveniently available to have Christian meaning poured into it.

But the matter can easily be over-stated. …