Archive for category covenant
The Big story!
Posted by Phil in Bible, Old Testament, covenant on September 3, 2010
I have found what must be the shortest telling of the Big Story of the Bible over at 9marks.
It is part of an Article on 'How does Hell glorify God'. Anyhow, here is the big story:
THE BIBLE’S BIG STORY
The Bible’s plot, like all plots, has a beginning, middle, and end.
Beginning
God creates a perfect place and puts an innocent man and woman in it. God sets the terms and clearly states the consequence of transgressing his terms. An enemy lies to the innocent woman. She believes the lie, breaks God’s terms, and the man sins with her. God curses the enemy and initiates the consequences of transgression, cursing the land also. In the curse on the enemy, God states that the seed of the woman would strike the enemy’s head, while the enemy would strike the seed’s heel. The man and woman are then banished from the perfect place.
Middle
Humanity has been divided into two groups: the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, the righteous and the wicked. The seed of the woman are initially a subset of the nation of Israel, a line of descent that God has chosen to bless. They experience a re-do of the plot’s beginning. God puts them in a land of promise and sets the terms. They transgress the terms and are banished from that land, but God continues to promise that the enemy will be defeated even though it will be through a painful purging of the seed of the woman.
Then Jesus comes as the promised seed of the woman. He crushes the enemy’s head, with the enemy striking his heel—he dies on the cross. Because he is innocent and has resisted all temptation, death cannot hold him. He triumphantly overcomes death, satisfying God’s wrath against sin and opening the way of salvation for all who will trust him.
End
Creation will be like a woman in childbirth suffering labor pains, with the wicked viciously attacking the righteous, who trust God and testify to God’s truth until they are killed. This will continue until Jesus comes again. When Jesus comes again, he will judge the wicked and consign them to everlasting punishment, and he will take those who believed the word of God and the testimony of Jesus into a new, better, perfect place.
Read the whole article here: http://www.9marks.org/ejournal/how-does-hell-glorify-god
Reformed Theology on your iphone.
I though I would share this email I got today with you all.
The new (and free) Ligonier App keeps you connected to the teaching fellowship of R.C. Sproul. With the Ligonier App, you will be able to:
- Listen to or watch the Renewing Your Mind daily broadcast and archive.
- Enjoy thousands of free messages, conference archives, articles and devotionals in the Learn section.
- View learning resources grouped by Topic, Teacher, Scripture or Type. You'll find great teaching from leading pastors and theologians such as Alistair Begg, Sinclair Ferguson, John MacArthur, Albert Mohler, John Piper, Ravi Zacharias and many more.
- Stay up-to-date with more articles, devotionals, and Ligonier Ministries news and events from our blog.
Plus, share anything you find with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or email.
Download the free Ligonier App in the iTunes App Store.
Here's What a Few Users Had to Say
"A lot of information, plenty of topics, the app runs smoothly. Definitely recommend for anyone looking to expand their understanding of the Bible in an extremely relevant context. Reformed theology is the focus of this app. Five stars!"
"I have been waiting for this app. Thanks for your service to our King!"
"Simply the best resource on Reformed theology. Yet any Christian will greatly benefit from the wealth of sermons, lectures and articles available. Highly recommended."
"Great way to access faithful Reformed teaching."
"The app itself is excellent, and Dr. Sproul's teaching is wonderful. Ligonier has made wonderful strides in keeping up on this
"connected" culture."
Download the free Ligonier App in the iTunes App Store.
An Introduction to Reformed Theology
This sermon (James White) along with several others in this series and writings from Spurgeon are what first introduced me to the doctrines of grace (also known as Reformed Theology or Calvinism). Here and in others in the series I may post soon, James White discusses what exactly Reformed Theology is and dispels many of the rumors that are made by opponents to the Reformed faith (or Calvinism). I highly recommend listening to this regardless if you believe you're familiar with the doctrines of grace or if you're wanting to learn more about them.
Is ‘NT Wright’ Teaching Another Gospel?
Posted by Phil in New Testament, Salvation, covenant on February 8, 2010
It seems that everywhere you turn, you can read differing opinions on NT Wrights (New) perspective on Paul. NT Wright adds to earlier works (Dunn and Sanders) although, he does not agree with everything they had to say. So the question remains, is Tom Wright re – writing the Gospel? Did the reformers get it wrong or is the 'New Perspective' the correct understanding of 'what Paul really said'?
Here are some helpful links that will show where NT Wright has got it wrong:
- Ligon Duncan and Sinclair Ferguson address the question, "Is Wright teaching another gospel from the New Testament, as understood & written by the Apostle Paul?" Watch the Video!
-
The Doctrine of Justification and the New Perspectives on Paul – For the past few decades, a paradigm shift in New Testament scholarship has led some researchers to question whether the church has rightly understood first-century Judaism and the apostle Paul. In the name of a “New Perspective on Paul,” certain men are calling for a reassessment of the traditional Pauline understanding of the doctrine of justification, the nature of good works, and other elements essential to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Prominent among these figures is N.T. Wright, bishop of Durham and theologian who in his voluminous writings is demanding a new reading of Paul, even claiming that the Protestant Reformers misunderstood the apostle to read more and see a huge resource of materials click here
How great is our God!
I was reading Exodus earlier for something I was doing, and the following group of verses jumped out of the pages (This was at the renewal of the covenant).
6The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation." 8And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9And he said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance." Exodus 34:6-9 ESV
What a great God we serve. The very proclomation of His glorious name shows His Faithfulness to His chosen people. The God 'who is and always will be' remembers His promises with His (abounding) steadfast love.
Lord Sovereign God, take us for your inheritance. ( Genesis 15:1-6; Galatians 3:18; Ephesians 1:11-14 )
Another wee song, 'How great is our God', Just sing along and reflect on how great the God of glory is, with out His steadfast love, His Faithfulness to His people, you would still be lost.
(I said sing a long, but if you have a voice like mine you maybe would be better of just humming 
, joking of course).