Whenever churches talk about the gospel, they are attempting to answer this question, “what must I do to be saved?” Depending on who you ask, of course, you will probably receive a different answer. Even though everyone starts with faith in Jesus, the requirements beyond that seem to differ from church to church. Some are adamant that […]
A Reflection on Needful Change
It’s Fall time here in Colorado. This means the hillsides are glowing with the reds and yellows of the aspen trees that thrive in the mountains. The change in colors is not the result of these aspens deciding to put on a show once a year. It is instead a time of preparation for the […]
Law/Gospel Dichotomy?
Dr Elmer Martens’ conclusion on Paul’s view of the Law in his essay, Embracing The Law: A Biblical Theological Perspective “Paul is fighting on two fronts: against those antinomians who hold that Christ’s coming abrogates law, and against super nationalists who maintain Jewish exclusivism on the basis of the law. So Paul can be heard […]
Galatians Backstory and Theme
Christ Covenant Church is in the midst of a study of the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul’s first epistle. This sermon is the last of an in-depth look at the historical circumstances which caused the book to be written before we dive into the text itself. The backstory is a history of Paul from […]
Galatians Backstory
Christ Covenant Church is in the midst of a study of the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul’s first epistle. This sermon is an in-depth look at the historical circumstances which caused the book to be written, dealing with questions such as: How many times did Paul go to Jerusalem and what happened during each […]
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; […]
The Book of Galatians
Christ Covenant Church is currently in a study of the book of Galatians. Watch and listen as Pastor Jarrett works through the backstory, the theme and the instruction that we find in the first epistle written by Paul. Here are some of the questions that will be answered throughout the series: When was Galatians written? […]
The Fall: Our tragic beginning, but not our end.
As discussed in the previous lesson, the Creation account found in the first chapters of Genesis provides us with not only the answer to how everything that exists came into being, but also why. It was all created to serve as the striking motif of and motivation for what would prove to be every human […]
Sound Gospel: The Problem of Our Sin
This is the second article in our Sound Gospel Series. You can read the first article entitled, “The Goal of God” here. Why do bad things happen? That is the question to which all people desire an answer since it is those bad things which get in the way of the abundant life we seek. […]
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, […]
20 Statements Characteristic of Antinomianism
There is only one heresy, and that is Antinomianism. – Rabbi Duncan The following is taken from the article “Antinomianism” as found in The Encyclopedia of Christianity, edited by Edwin H. Palmer. As a part of the longer article, William Young seeks to provide a definition for antinomianism and then gives twenty ideas which are […]
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 […]
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: Application
In Protestant Christianity, the application of justification to the life of the believer has primarily been discussed under the doctrine of imputation. However, due to the rampant error bound up in the evangelical church’s definition of justification as well as her serious misunderstanding of Second Temple Judaism, the religious context of the word justification and […]
Imputation: justification through the righteous act of Christ
Modern Reformed theologians such as RC Sproul, Wayne Grudem and others teach that in order for the believer to be justified, he must be imputed with both the righteous life of Christ (His active obedience) as well as the sacrificial death of Christ (His passive obedience). This teaching, sometimes called “double imputation” or the doctrine […]
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 […]
17th Century Antinomian Controversy
One of the major threats faced by the biblical Gospel in our day is that of antinomianism (against law). This is a threat that was foretold by many of the biblical authors, for instance, the Apostle Peter wrote:
Why we must make sure that we have the sound Gospel
In recent months, there has been a wave of celebrities and other well-known people claiming to be Christians. Everyone from presidential candidates, to singers like Justin Beiber and Demi Lovato to professional athletes such as Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin are claiming to be “in the faith.” How is the Christian to view these professions […]
The importance of good deeds to salvation
Finding the proper perspective and place for good deeds in the Christian life can be a tricky task. The relationship between “good works” and salvation has been debated from the beginning of the Christian faith and this relationship is still controversial. While it is nearly impossible to solve all of the pertinent issues in one […]