A few years ago, my wife, daughter and I lived in Philadelphia, where I was doing my PhD at Westminster Theological Seminary. After worshipping in a local church, we received a cordial visit from some of the elders of the church. As we spoke, the eldest commented on my books (my wife had to decorate […]
One of the ‘misunderstandings? The common doctrine of justification only by faith is that it is fiction with no practical consequences for life. This was a controversial argument used by Roman Catholic apologists against the Protestant vision of the “Sola fide”. Biblical truth that we are justified only by grace. , only by faith and
We talk a lot about love in the Christian church. Only title, for love is at the center of our message, the Gospel (John 3:16), but what does it mean to love other Christians?Can’t we live the Christian life alone? The Westminster Confession of Faith tells us that we, as believers, must maintain a holy
If, in fact, a disciple is an apprentice, no relationship is more suitable for discipleship than the relationship of children with parents. The family is the first government of almost all times, cultures and religions. Life begins with association and authority. In this natural economy, stakeholders act in accordance with filial love, self-interest, tradition and
Do I memorize the scriptures?But I’m not a kid anymore. Besides, I teach kids now. I teach; Learn?. While these may not really be the words of adult Christians, these feelings can represent the attitude of many, who have not memorized specific biblical texts for years (or perhaps never). However, for a true disciple of
If, in fact, a disciple is an apprentice, no relationship is more suitable for discipleship than the relationship of children with parents. The family is the first government of almost all times, cultures and religions. Life begins with association and authority. In this natural economy, stakeholders act in accordance with filial love, self-interest, tradition and
The Lord designed families to be unique places of development for the disciples. In Deuteronomy 6. 7, parents have an order regarding the Word of God: “Will you instill them in your children and talk about them by sitting in your house, In the New Testament, when a head of family was a disciple, this
Title 2 describes the vibrant life of the covenant, where the pastor teaches sound doctrine and one generation disciplines the next; and sometimes discipleship is gender-specific:?As for older women, . . . be good teachers to educate young women?(v. 3-4). Women teach what is good, reinforcing the good doctrine taught in our chairs. We train
The Apostle John describes in 1 John 1. 8. 9 two ways of seeing our sins and the consequences of each of them: the first is the refusal to recognize our state of sin (8); the second is an attitude of humble and honest recognition ( 9) It is in this last attitude that we
There is no ambiguity in what the Apostle John says in 1 John 1. 8: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. “Therefore, any well-meaning but misguided notion of Christian perfectionism may seem that all of John’s exhortations in this letter are based on
