“If a man will begin with certainties, he will end in doubts; but if he is content to begin with doubts, he will end in certainties.” – Francis Bacon Do you ever find yourself doubting Christianity? And by doubting Christianity, I mean more than whether you think God exists or not. The kind of doubt I’m […]
The Gospel Explained in Eight Truths
The Gospel is the good news of abundant life in Jesus Christ if we submit to Him as Lord before Savior in the relationship of covenant through His Church. 1. All People All people need God the Father’s abundant blessings of forgiveness and righteousness, earthly provision and purpose, eternal salvation and life. (Romans 3:10-12, 23; […]
4 Critical Keys to Understand Your Bible
I. Works of the law are clean laws versus commands. A. Within Reformed thinking, theologians have historically held to a tripartite distinction/division of the OT law. In other words they have broken it into three categories: 1. Ceremonial: laws pertaining to temple ceremony, sacrifice and duties of the priests. 2. Civil: laws pertaining to commerce, […]
6 Arguments for the Imputation of the Active Obedience of Christ Examined and Refuted
On a couple of occasions, we have stated that the doctrine of the Imputation of the Active Obedience of Christ (IAO) has no textual support. Obviously, proponents of IAO disagree with that assessment and to be fair, we have spent little or no space on this blog dealing with the textual support that is […]
Justification Rediscovered: An Evaluation of the Evangelical-Reformed Definition of Justification
The following is an excerpt from the teaching entitled: Justification Rediscovered. Previously published excerpts include Difficulties in studying the doctrine of justification and Justification Rediscovered affirmations. You can also download a PDF of the entire study or listen to audio of the teaching here. One of the biggest myths within Evangelical Christianity today, is […]
10 Truths Taught by the Clothing Metaphor in Scripture
A metaphor is used to illustrate unfamiliar ideas through the means of familiar objects and Scripture often uses the common object of clothing as a picture of man’s standing before God. There are scores of instances where Scripture uses the metaphor of clothing in order to picture one’s standing before God. We find instances of […]
The Purpose of the Clothing Metaphor in Scripture
A metaphor is a figure of speech which expresses the unfamiliar in terms of the familiar. In most instances, a common, usually physical object is used to illustrate a more abstract or less familiar idea or concept. There is an implied comparison between the two, but this comparison does not always use the words like […]
A Short Biblical Definition of Justification
Nearly every Christian and student of theology will readily accept that the doctrine of justification is one of the most important doctrines in Scripture. Yet nearly 2,000 years after the death and resurrection of Christ, the doctrine of justification continues to be controversial and unsettled. This is despite the fact that a proper understanding […]
The ‘obedience of faith’ according to Paul
The following quotes are from ‘The Obedience of Faith’ A Pauline Phrase in Historical Context by Don Garlington. The work of Garlington and others like him has proven invaluable in determining the structure of the Christian faith and covenant by providing a historically accurate picture of Second Temple Judiasm. This picture shows that Judaism was […]
Jude: A Passionate Appeal to “Every Member Warfare”
Backstory: Author: Jude, the half-brother of Jesus. He was a later convert to Christianity. Audience: All who are truly saved. Date: Probably late AD 68, after the writing of 2 Peter and Revelation, making it the last book written in the New Testament. Theme: True spiritual warfare is contending for the truths found in […]
So, you call yourself a Christian: 10 Legitimate Evidences of True Faith
In our last article here at Sound Church, we highlighted 10 Illegitimate Evidences of True Faith. After focusing on many of the false evidences of the Christian faith, it would hardly be helpful to allow the discussion to end there. So, today, we are listing the characteristics that will be true of your life if […]
So, you call yourself a Christian: 10 Illegitimate Evidences of True Faith
Pollsters tell us that 75 to 80 percent of Americans will answer “yes” when asked whether or not they consider themselves to be Christians. On that basis, we can reasonably assume that you, the reader of this article probably identify yourself as some kind of Christian. But there is a follow-up question that seems to […]
Justification Rediscovered Affirmations
As a catalyst for expediting the material Christ Covenant Church’s study of justification and as a hermeneutical and theological control for future discussions and criticisms, we assume the following ten statements to be well supported in the biblical text:
The believer and Friday the 13th
All kinds of superstitions surround the calendar event that occurs when the 13th day of a month falls on a Friday. Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number “13” and friggatriskaidekaphobia is specifically related to the fear of Friday the 13th. One of the blessings of knowing Christ is in realizing that this day is no […]
The pure grace of the gospel . . .
Richard Lusk writes: The pure grace of the gospel is not threatened by a call to obedience. Indeed, the gospel, properly preached, understood, and embraced, demands and promises obedience, In the Scriptures, heralds of the gospel essentially interchange faith and repentance as appropriate responses to the message (cf. Acts 2:38; 16:34). In other place, Scripture […]
Sound Bite: 3/16/2012
On faith, faithfulness and justification:
Analogy between royalty and justification
We cannot earn or work our way to royalty status.