Theology Terms Tuesday – Inaugurated eschatology (and a shout out to Los).
July 28, 2009 at 12:06 pm | Posted in Eschatology, Inaugurated eschatology, Theological Terms | Leave a CommentInaugurated eschatology is a term used to describe the belief that the end times (or latter days) were inaugurated at the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. In other words, Jesus’ bringing of the Kingdom of God has both a present and future aspects. Sometimes called already and not yet (name of my friend’s blog
), it argues that the end is already here, but it has yet to be consummated. For example, Christians await the final resurrection where they will receive new bodies, yet in a sense, believers are already “raised with Christ” (Col. 3:1). Or, as believers await the final judgment, in a sense they have already passed through it, for “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1) for believers that are justified by faith in Christ (cf. Rom. 3:21-36). Overall, there is a tension between this age and the age to come.
Themelios Volume 34 Issue 2 Is Out.
July 28, 2009 at 7:11 am | Posted in Reading, Reformed Theology, Sanctification, Sovereignty, Systematic Theology, Theology | Leave a Comment
- Editorial – D.A. Carson
- Minority Report: A Question of Accountability – Carl Trueman
- The Relationship Between Justification and Spiritual Fruit in Romans 5–8 - Jonathan R. Pratt
- Sola Fide Compromised? Martin Luther and the Doctrine of Baptism – D. Patrick Ramsey
- The Inexhaustible Fountain of All Good Things: Union with Christ in Calvin on Ephesians - Lee Gatiss
- Pastoral Pensées: Power in Preaching: Desire (1 Thessalonians 1:2–5), Part 2 of 3 – Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.
- Old Testament | 4 reviews
- New Testament | 5 reviews
- history and historical theology | 6 reviews
- systematic theology and bioethics | 17 reviews
- ethics and pastoralia | 5 reviews
- missions and culture | 2 reviews
Or you can just download the PDF of the entire thing HERE.
Trueman on Theology Students.
July 28, 2009 at 7:03 am | Posted in Theology | Leave a CommentThis is taken from JT’s post, in the conclusion Trueman writes:
Successful theological students are never the subjects in theological study; rather they are always the objects of God’s grace. And the church is the place where they will be held accountable for these things. The church, not the seminar room, provides their only true home, their best classroom, and their best form of strenuous spiritual rest. Theological study at the highest level is a high calling indeed; but just for this very reason those who pursue it need to make especially sure that they truly are humble servants of the church.
The Doctrine of Union With Christ and the Eucharist
July 26, 2009 at 2:42 pm | Posted in Christology, John Calvin, Quotes, Reading, Union with Christ | Leave a CommentCalvin looked at it this way: When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper here on earth, we are communing with Christ in His divine nature. Calvin said that in this act of mystical communion with the divine presence of Christ, the human nature of Christ is made present to us. In other words, when we meet at the Lord’s Table with Christ through His divine nature, that nature is still in perfect union with the human nature. Therefore, we are communing with the whole Christ. It is not because His body and blood are brought to earth or our bodies and blood are carried to heaven. It is simply that in this intimate meeting at the Lord’s Table, we commune with the perfectly united person of Christ, not just with His divine nature. So even though we are apart from the human nature of Jesus, we really commune with Him in His human nature. This view keeps the human nature human and the divine nature divine, and strongly emphasizes that we truly are communing with the real presence of Jesus Christ at the Lord’s Supper.
From A Taste for Heaven: Worship in the Light of Eternity by R.C. Sproul.
A Practical Post for Preaching the Gospel To Yourself.
July 26, 2009 at 2:21 pm | Posted in Gospel, Practical Theology, Preaching | Leave a CommentTC writes quoting Jerry Bridges:
Since the gospel is only for sinners, I begin each day with the realization that despite my being a saint, I still sin every day in thought, word, deed, and motive. If I am aware of any subtle, or not so subtle, sins in my life, I acknowledge those to God. Even if my conscience is not indicting me for conscious sins, I still acknowledge to God that I have not even come close to loving Him with all my being or loving my neighbor as myself. I repent of those sins, and then I apply specific Scriptures that assure me of God’s forgiveness to those sins I have just confessed.
I then generalize the Scripture’s promises of God’s forgiveness to all my life and say to God words to the effect that my only hope of a right standing with Him that day is Jesus’ blood shed for my sins, and His righteous life lived on my behalf. This reliance on the twofold work of Christ for me is beautifully captured by Edward Mote in his hymn “The Solid Rock” with his words, “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” Almost every day, I find myself going to those words in addition to reflecting on the promises of forgiveness in the Bible.
What Scriptures do I use to preach the gospel to myself? Here are just a few I choose from each day:
As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12)
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” (Isaiah 43:25)
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. (Romans 4:7-8)
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
There are many others, including Psalm 130:3-4; Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 38:17; Micah 7:19; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 2:13-14; Hebrews 8:12; and 10:17-18.
Whatever Scriptures we use to assure us of God’s forgiveness, we must realize that whether the passage explicitly states it or not, the only basis for God’s forgiveness is the blood of Christ shed on the cross for us. As the writer of Hebrews said, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (9:22), and the context makes it clear that it is Christ’s blood that provides the objective basis on which God forgives our sins.
Carson on Prayer and Missions.
July 24, 2009 at 9:52 am | Posted in Love, Prayer, church, missions | Leave a CommentCarson preached a three-part series entitled “Prayer and Mission”:
- Part 1: Prayer Changes Things—Or Does It? (Exodus 32:1-14) | MP3 | June 24, 2009
- Part 2: Steady Prayer, Desperate Prayer, Private Prayer, Public Prayer (Exodus 32:15-35) | MP3 | June 25, 2009
- Part 3: Pray in Line with the Mind of God (Ephesians 3:14-21) | MP3 | June 26, 2009
Carson also was also interviewed for nearly fifty minutes by a lively British interviewer. The questions in the first sixteen minutes are personal, and the rest deal with various issues.
- Q & A at EMA | MP3 | June 26, 2009
Featured Blog – Apologetics 315.
July 23, 2009 at 4:59 am | Posted in Apologetics, New Blogs | Leave a Commenthttp://apologetics315.blogspot.com/2008/03/ultimate-apologetics-mp3-audio-page.html
If you are looking for resources in the field of Apologetics I have found the site for you. I have no clue how many lectures/debates are on the site. But I can assure one thing, some of the names on this site will not disappoint you. Happy Listening!
Changing… A random thought.
July 22, 2009 at 12:31 pm | Posted in Justification, Love, Sanctification, Sovereignty, Theology | Leave a CommentTags: Justification, Sanctification
I am thankful that my unchanging God changes hearts. The very fact that he is unchanging means he’s always changing hearts. Mine needs it the most.
From my iPhone.
Quotable Quotes – Christian Theology.
July 21, 2009 at 3:18 am | Posted in Theology | Leave a Comment“Christian theology speaks about mercy, but does so by speaking about Jesus Christ. That is, in order to speak of a virtue, theology is required first to speak a Name.” « John Webster
Theology Terms Tuesday – Limited Atonement.
July 21, 2009 at 3:16 am | Posted in John Calvin, Reformed Theology | Leave a Comment
The doctrine of definite atonement (or more commonly, limited atonement) addresses the purpose of the atoning death of Christ. It maintains that God’s design and intent in sending Christ to die on the cross was to pay for the sins and secure the redemption of those whom God has predetermined to save, namely the elect. Therefore the primary benefits of his death (especially as an atonement) were designed for and accrue only to believers.
As R. L. Dabney has said, “Christ’s sacrifice has purchased and provided for the effectual calling of the elect, with all the graces which insure their faith, repentance, justification, perseverance, and glorification.”
Limited atonement is also one of the “five points of Calvinism” denoted by the “L” in the infamous acronym TULIP. This doctrine stands in contradistinction to the theory of universal atonement which maintains that whatever Christ accomplished on the cross, he accomplished for all alike — both those who are finally saved and those who are eternally condemned. Limited atonement is a characteristic of Calvinism, just as universal atonement is a characteristic of Arminianism.
Self Examination By Jonathan Edwards
July 21, 2009 at 3:13 am | Posted in Reading, Sanctification | Leave a Comment“Be advised to consider what others say of you and improve it to this end, to know whether you do not live in some way of sin…And though the imputation may seem to us to be very groundless and we think that they, in charging us so, are influenced by no good spirit; yet if we act prudently, we shall take so much notice of it as to make an occassion of examining ourselves … it is most imprudent as well as most unchristian, to take it amiss, and resent it, when we are thus told of our faults: we should rather rejoice in it, that we are shown our spots … we should improve what our enemies say of us. If they from an ill spirit reproach and revile us to our faces, we should consider it, so far as to reflect inward upon ourselves and inquire whether it not be so, as they charge us … they are likely to fix on real faults, they are likely to fall upon us where we are weakest and most defective.”
- Jonathan Edwards, The Necessity of Self Examination.
I May Never Watch Charlie Brown Again…
July 21, 2009 at 3:10 am | Posted in random | Leave a CommentThanks to LOS, who found this real life make up of the character…

Michael Horton’s Systematic Theology – The Christian Faith.
July 16, 2009 at 4:31 am | Posted in Systematic Theology | Leave a Comment
Here’s the publisher’s blurb (Zondervan):
Michael Horton’s highly anticipated The Christian Faith represents his magnum opus and will be viewed as one of—if not the—most important systematic theologies since Louis Berkhof wrote his in 1932.
A prolific, award-winning author and theologian, Professor Horton views this volume as “doctrine that can be preached, experienced, and lived, as well as understood, clarified, and articulated.” It is written for a growing cast of pilgrims making their way together and will be especially welcomed by professors, pastors, students, and armchair theologians.
Features of this volume include: (1) a brief synopsis of biblical passages that inform a particular doctrine; (2) surveys of past and current theologies with contemporary emphasis on exegetical, philosophical, practical, and theological questions; (3) substantial interaction with various Christian movements within the Protestant, Catholic and Orthodoxy traditions, as well as the hermeneutical issues raised by postmodernity; and (4) charts, sidebars, questions for discussion, and an extensive bibliography, divided into different entry levels and topics.
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