J.I. Packer has a helpful summary of biblical teaching.
‘All of God’s acts are consistent with all of His attributes. All that God does agrees with all that God is, and being and doing are one in Him. He cannot act out of character with Himself.
‘I think it might be demonstrated that almost every heresy that has afflicted the church through the years has arisen from believing about God things that are not true, or from over-emphasizing certain true things so as to obscure other things equally true.…
Summarising:
Flavel, J. The Method of Grace, ch. 1
1 Cor 1:30 “—Christ Jesus, whom God has made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.’
Just as the plaster must be applied to the wound, the coat must be worn, the cordial received, so Christ must himself be applied to the heart.
In this text we have,
(a) an enumeration of the chief privileges of believers:
(b) the method by which we come into these privileges: ,(i) by receiving the person of Christ
Hence: ‘The Lord.…
Summarising an article by Donald MacLeod in The Monthly Record; March, 1979
11,000 terminations in Britain per month. [N.B. this figure has increased, as of 2024, to around 16,500]
‘Many Christians have never looked at the problem in the light of moral and theological considerations and provably accept prevailing attitudes without thinking.’
A woman’s right to control her fertility
‘The slogan of those who advocate a liberal attitude to abortion is that women have the right to control their own fertility.…
Hugh Ross, a Christian apologist trained in astrophysics, has long claimed that established scientific facts are supported by specific texts of the Bible.
In this post, he surveys various kinds of evidence that indicate that physical laws have reamined unchanging since the earliest moments of the universe.
Ross concludes his article by stating that:
…‘Astronomers and physicists have affirmed the clear and repeated biblical claim that throughout the whole history of the universe and Earth, the laws of physics have remained fixed, that is, unchanged.
Summarising ch. 8 of John Flavel, The Method of Grace.
Psa 45:7 ‘Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.’
This psalm prefigures the espousal of Christ and the church. Here we have,
By ‘the oil of gladness’ we understand, the Spirit of holiness, Acts 10:36. This oil makes them beautiful; it makes them shine with glory; it equips them for every good work.…
A summary of ch. 16 of Practical Religion, by J. C. Ryle
Rom 8: 14-17
The Apostle is speaking to the richest people on earth. The inheritance of which he speaks:-
Summarising ch. 17 of God’s Words, by J.I. Packer
Death as an uninvited intruder, evoking panic. “He passed, however, a not unsuccessful life in his profession, and the only Intruder he found himself unable to deal with was death.” (Charles Williams)
Fear of death universal. Heb 2:15 ‘through fear of death were subject to life-long bondage.’ Job 18:14 ‘the king of terrors’. “Nineteen times the Bible calls the prospect of death its ‘shadow’.”
Some ‘shrug it off’ – ‘morbid’. …
An affirmative answer to this question underpins Christopher and Richard Hays’ book The Widening of God’s Mercy:
‘Contrary to the common idea that God’s decisions are eternal and immutable, there are numerous stories of God changing God’s mind in the Bible, and others in which God declares that past judgments were too extreme.’
On the basis of this, the authors develop a ‘trajectory’ argument, according to which sexual behaviours once rejected by God in Scripture have now become acceptable.…
55b “The eunuch should not say,
‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’ ”
56:4 For this is what the LORD says:
“For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths
and choose what pleases me
and are faithful to my covenant,
56:5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument
that will be better than sons and daughters.
I will set up a permanent monument for them that will remain.”
The issues to be explored here are (a) whether this inclusion of eunuchs among the people of God represents a change of mind from earlier biblical teaching, and (b) whether this signals the inclusion of other groups who might be considered similar to eunuchs (especially transgender persons).…
