MENU

Theology
Category

On March 20, 2025 By In Church, Theology

Baptism: Spirit v. Water?

Baptism debates are constantly rumbling through the Christian church. Who are the proper recipients of baptism? Should baptism be performed by total submersion, or is pouring water over the head a proper baptism? Does God genuinely do something in baptism, or is it a wet testimony of the faith that I have professed in Christ that accomplishes anything regarding forgiveness of sins, union with Christ, or the reception of the Spirit? Is baptism the work of God or the work of man?

Another debate that sometimes arises when discussing baptism is whether genuine baptism is visible or invisible. Some will say that real baptism is the invisible baptism of the Spirit. Visible water baptism is only an inert witness to this invisible baptism. Scriptures such as Romans 6 are approached with presuppositions that deny the possibility that in water baptism, we truly are buried with Christ into his death and are raised by the glory of the Father (Rom 6:4). “Water can’t do that. Paul is referring to a “spiritual baptism,” by which they mean an invisible baptism, a baptism performed by the Spirit in conversion apart from water.

(more…)

Read more

On March 13, 2025 By In Culture, Theology

John & The Jews

Immediately following the Apostle John’s Prologue (Jn 1:1-18), he begins filling out the historical witness of the characters and narrative he introduced in his Gospel. As in any good story, there are good guys and bad guys. These two groups have been alluded to in the Prologue, but at the beginning of the body of the Gospel, the Apostle names names.

The heart of the battle concerns who has the right to be called “Son of God.” Since at least the time of their bondage in Egypt, Israel has been called “son of God.” When Yahweh sent Moses to Pharaoh, he commanded Moses to tell Pharaoh, “Israel is my son, my firstborn. So I say to you, let my son go they he may serve me…” (Ex 4:22-23).

(more…)

Read more

On March 5, 2025 By In Counseling/Piety, Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom

Healing Forgiveness: A Lenten Exhortation

Why doesn’t God complete the work of our salvation in one fell swoop? When we are baptized, when our sins are declared forgiven because we have died and risen again with Christ, why don’t we experience all that salvation will ever be? In our baptism, we are declared forgiven, but we continue to dwell in a mortal body and battle with sin and its effects until the day of our death. Then, our bodies are held in death, waiting for the final resurrection, the fullness of our salvation. Why not do it all immediately?

Salvation is progressive. We have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. That is all true. In one sense, we are as forgiven and saved as we will ever be. However, in another sense, we wait for the fullness of our forgiveness and salvation to be realized in the resurrection of our bodies.

Tellingly, the family of words usually translated as “saved” or “salvation” are associated with the medical field and deal with healing. That is appropriate because our salvation is the complete healing of our entire being, body and soul. Every aspect of our humanity that has been affected by sin—and that is every aspect of our humanity—is being healed in our salvation. But our healing is progressive and waits for the fullness of our salvation to be revealed at the last day.

God has his reasons for this. He trains us through this life so that we become more mature and, thus, able to handle whatever responsibility he gives us later in his kingdom. But the fact that we don’t realize the fullness of our salvation until the end is a fact.

The way God deals with us in forgiveness as it relates to healing is instructive for the relationship between forgiveness and healing in our relationships now. The major emphasis of Lent that is crucial in our discipleship is for us to meditate on our sinfulness and plead for God’s mercy for ourselves and others. Lent is a journey with a destination. It is not a perpetual state of being. Lent gives way to Easter when God fully and finally declares the forgiveness of our sins through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Jesus demonstrates the connection between forgiveness and healing when he heals the paralytic by telling him his sins are forgiven in Mark 2:1-12. Matthew says that the prophecy of Isaiah 53 is fulfilled as Jesus cast out evil spirits and healed the sick: “He himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” (Isa 53:4). Jesus’ death and resurrection secure the forgiveness of sins and the healing of our bodies (Rom 4:25). Sin brings about sickness and death. Forgiveness brings about healing and resurrection.

The healing stories of Jesus are not all the same. Undoubtedly, the point made in Mark 2 is that healing is always tied to the forgiveness of sins, but Jesus’ healings take different shapes. Some are immediate, as it is with this paralytic in Mark 2. Others are delayed. The ten lepers Jesus heals at one point must start their journey to show themselves to priests. They are healed along the way (Lk 17:11-19). In another healing, Jesus touches a blind man’s eyes, and he first sees men as trees. He was partially healed. Jesus touches him a second time to restore his sight completely (Mk 8:22-26).

The healings aren’t all the same, nor are they all complete. Even Lazarus was raised from the dead to die again and wait for the final resurrection. Forgiveness is granted, but the healing power of forgiveness is experienced differently in various situations. Furthermore, the fullness of our healing will only be experienced in our final resurrection.

We should expect this to be the case as we practice forgiveness with one another. Healing looks different depending on the situation. This is important to remember as we work through issues of forgiveness and reconciliation (healing) when sin has maimed a relationship. Forgiveness can be real, but healing takes time, which means the complete healing of the relationship may be in the future.

If, in anger, I punch you in the jaw and break your jaw and realize immediately my sin and ask for forgiveness, you can forgive me on the spot. However, the healing of your jaw and possibly the trust between us may take some time to mend.

Sin has degrees of seriousness. Every sin is worthy of death and punishment from God, but not all sins are created equal. Some sins have a deeper impact and more serious consequences than others. Your toddler disobeying you and snatching a cookie before supper is not the same thing as a spouse committing adultery. Telling a lie to get out of trouble when you are a teen is not the same thing as walking into a public place and opening fire on innocent people.

All sins need to be dealt with seriously before God, but all sins are not the same in their effects on our souls and in our relationships. Acting as if your adultery requires the same type of response of forgive-and-forget as swiping a cookie doesn’t appreciate the seriousness of the damage caused by adultery and the relative lack of damage caused by swiping a cookie. In both cases, genuine forgiveness can and should be granted, but in one case, the healing can be immediate, while in the other, the healing will take time. Ripping a one-flesh relationship is not the same as ripping off a cookie.

Delayed healing doesn’t mean that real forgiveness hasn’t taken place. God declares his forgiveness of us in baptism and absolution, but we don’t enjoy all the healing benefits of forgiveness in the present. We are at genuine peace with God in Christ, but the relationship is not all it will be. Forgiveness has not done its complete work.

There are instances, depending on the nature of the sin involved, that a relationship can be at genuine peace through forgiveness, but the relationship will never be exactly the same. A man who cheats on his wife, leading to divorce, may later seek and receive forgiveness from his ex-wife, but remarriage may never and, in some cases, cannot occur. Friendships can be radically changed through sin. That may be part of the harvest that is reaped through the sowing of sin. But there can be genuine peace even while the friendship is different. It may come back to a more intimate place in the future, but healing takes time. Just because others don’t meet your expectations of “perfect reconciliation” doesn’t mean a person hasn’t forgiven you and is not at peace with you.

Many of us have sinned against others. Many of us have been sinned against by others.
Forgiveness should be sought when there is genuine sin.

You may need help from outside the relationship to determine if it is a “genuine sin.” Just because you got your feelings hurt doesn’t mean that the other person sinned against you. You may be overly sensitive and have higher expectations of others than God himself. People not living up to your unrealistic expectations doesn’t equate to being sinned against. If those in authority judge that you haven’t been sinned against, then you need to get over yourself and live at peace.

However, you may have been sinned against, and that needs to be dealt with. Showing mercy if you have sinned against others is not saying, “I asked your forgiveness. It’s all over. Everything should be back to normal.” Showing mercy is asking for forgiveness and then giving time for the relationship to heal, not demanding what others should do by bludgeoning them with Scripture verses as if your actions should have no lingering consequences and treating others as if they are now in sin because they can’t just get over it.

The person who insists that everything goes back to the way it was immediately, not accounting for the sin he has committed and its consequences, doesn’t want to accept responsibility for his actions. His asking for forgiveness is his get out of jail free card. He doesn’t want to deal with his own actions in genuine repentance and have to do the hard work of rebuilding what he has damaged. He walked into the house and set off a grenade but then expects everything to be back to normal because he asked for forgiveness. It doesn’t work that way. There are bodies to be healed and structures to rebuild when a grenade goes off. Further, your actions have created a precedent for how people expect you to act in certain situations. Because of your history, people will “flinch” around you, expecting you to act a certain way in particular situations. Trust takes time to rebuild.

So it is with some of our sins.

Demanding that the other person absorb all the consequences of your sins while all you do is speak a few words is not showing mercy. I’m not saying that you must live a life of groveling, but to treat the words “Please forgive me” as some magic incantation that instantly heals completely in all situations shows a remarkable lack of understanding of the nature of sin and a slothfulness in wanting to take up your responsibilities of repentance.

Showing mercy when you’ve been sinned against by others is granting forgiveness, choosing not to take revenge in thought, word, or deed against the person. But showing mercy does NOT mean that you must act as if there are no consequences to the other person’s actions.

You should take into account the seriousness of the sin. Did they break something you loaned to them, or did they physically or sexually abuse you? Those two sins aren’t on the same level. The healing for breaking something that you have loaned can be healed relatively easily by forgiving and/or the person asking forgiveness and making restitution. Abusive situations and sexual sins wound the soul in deep ways that need care and time for healing. While you shouldn’t use the sins and the healing process as a manipulation tool to selfishly control the other person, making him grovel so that it is never-ending, neither are you obligated to act as if no real damage was inflicted that needs time, space, and proper care to heal.

Forgiveness is absolutely essential to healing for everyone involved, but healing takes time. Everyone involved needs to show the proper mercy.

This Lenten season, as we focus on our own sins and those committed against us, let us all consider the different forms mercy and healing take.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Read more

On February 28, 2025 By In Postmillenialism, Theology

The “Narrow Way” Becomes The “Broad Way”

When Jesus spoke of the narrow way that leads to life and the broad way that leads to destruction (Matt. 7:13-14), He was not freezing the Kingdom of God into an eternally fixed condition—where the faithful would always be a pitiful, struggling minority, and the wicked would always be the triumphant mass. No, He was speaking to His own generation—a generation that, by and large, was about to rush headlong into destruction.

And what was that destruction? The same one He had been warning about all throughout His ministry—the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (Matt. 24:2, Luke 19:41-44). In that first-century moment, the way of life was indeed narrow—so narrow that only a handful of disciples, a remnant within Israel, were truly finding it. The vast majority of Jesus’ contemporaries—especially the religious leaders—were on the broad road, the well-worn path of rebellion against God, and it would lead to their ruin.

But was Jesus saying that the Kingdom itself would always be like this? That His way would always be small, unnoticed, and weak? Not at all! He explicitly tells us that the Kingdom starts small but does not stay that way:

The mustard seed begins as the smallest of seeds, but it grows into the largest of garden plants (Matt. 13:31-32).

The leaven is hidden in three measures of flour, but over time, it leavens the whole lump (Matt. 13:33).

The rock cut without hands in Daniel 2:34 starts small but becomes a great mountain that fills the entire earth.

Think about the history of Christianity.

In the first century, the narrow way was scarcely more than a footpath. A few hundred believers, most of them persecuted, clung to Christ in the midst of a hostile Roman and Jewish world.

By the second century, the way had widened. Thousands upon thousands were coming into the faith, even while emperors raged against them.

By the time of Constantine, Christianity had so thoroughly spread that the great empire which once crucified our Lord now professed Him as King. The narrow way had now become a highway.

By the Middle Ages, Christendom was no longer a fringe sect among the myriad of larger peoples; Christians were ruling on thrones, governing Kingdoms, writing laws, building cathedrals, and being the leaven that was spreading through the lump. The narrow way had become an interstate.

And what about today? The narrow way has become broader than it has ever been. Christianity, far from being a fringe sect, is the largest religion on earth, stretching across continents, time zones, latitudes, and longitudes. More people have found life in Christ today than at any other time in history, which means the narrow way is not so narrow anymore.

And, frankly, why should we believe that this broadening will not continue? The narrow way has been becoming the broad way for 20 centuries and counting so far. Why should we think that the narrow way will always be narrow when Jesus Himself taught that His reign would increase (Isaiah 9:7), that all nations would be discipled (Matt. 28:19) and that the knowledge of the Lord would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14)?

In the same way that the narrow way is broadening, the broad way is shrinking and becoming narrower.

There was a time when nearly the entire world lay under the grip of paganism, where child sacrifice was common, human life was cheap, and demonic idolatry enslaved the nations. But as Christ’s Kingdom has advanced, the old ways have been beaten back.

The pagan temples of Greece and Rome have fallen into dust.

The Norse gods have been abandoned.

The human-sacrificing religions of the Aztecs and Canaanites are no more.

The nations that once walked in darkness have seen a great light (Isaiah 9:2).

Yes, wickedness still exists. But we cannot deny that it is now confined to smaller corners of the earth than it used to be. We must not be blind to the fact that the broad way is not as broad as it once was—and it is growing narrower still!

Why is this important? Well…. Too many Christians have embraced a pessimistic eschatology that cannot tolerate success. We want to believe that Christianity is destined to fail, that the remnant will always be the smallest group, and that Satan will always have the upper hand in history.

But Jesus did not teach that. Jesus taught a victorious kingdom. A Kingdom that He Himself will build and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). A Kingdom that will come on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). And a Kingdom that will baptize the nations and teach them how to obey everything Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:18-20).

This does not sound like a perpetually narrow way.

It sounds like the broad way is shrinking, the narrow way is widening, and under the Lordship of Jesus, all the nations will eventually come to know our Lord Jesus Christ!

The narrow way will become the broad way before it is over, and for that, we must SHOUT ON, PRAY ON, AND KEEP ON GAINING GROUND. GLORY HALLELUJAH!

Read more

On February 27, 2025 By In Counseling/Piety, Discipleship, History, Theology

Law & Grace

“And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:16-17

Are Moses and Jesus at odds with one another? Does the Law have no grace, and does the gospel have no law? Does the Law only serve to condemn us, driving us to the gospel, or is there any salvation “under Law?”

When you read John’s words toward the end of his Prologue, these questions might begin to pop up, especially with the theological influences we have had in American culture over the past one hundred fifty years or so. Law-Gospel dichotomies can be sharp in some Christian circles. If the dichotomies become antitheses, all sorts of errors crop up. Because the Law only serves to condemn and drive us to the gospel, now, under grace, we live without any specific laws governing us. We live “by the Spirit,” which many take to mean, “I do what I feel is right,” or to put it more spiritually, “I will do what I believe the Spirit is leading me to do.” It is quite shocking at times what “the Spirit” leads people to do. They believe the Spirit leads them to leave their spouse for another person of the opposite or same sex. They believe the Spirit is leading them not to be a part of Christ’s church. No one can tell them what to do because that is ungracious legalism.

(more…)

Read more

On February 20, 2025 By In Christmas, Theology

The Word Made Flesh

The incarnation of God in the Christian faith is unique among the religions of the world. The Greeks had myths about the gods who dwelt on Mt. Olympus coming down and taking the form of men to play around with humans. The Hindus have a version of this as Vishnu takes the form of men, fish, or animals in what they call avatars to restore order in the universe but then returns to his original form. The Jews reject the idea that God can become man. Other religions have gods appearing as man or temporarily taking the form of a man, but no other religion has God permanently uniting himself with creation by taking on the form of a man.

(more…)

Read more

On February 20, 2025 By In Culture, Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom

Presuppositional Epistemology

“…but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15)

In the Western world today reality as we know it is being assailed, reformulated in the cauldron of human autonomy and self-expression. On the one hand man finds himself in an ineradicable condition: he exists in a world with a vehement desire for answers. He is driven by a quest for knowledge, understanding, and meaning/purpose. On the other hand this man finds himself in an equally precarious situation: he is bent on sin and transgression, or at least he is told. How will he function? What can possibly give him resolution and peace? With a restless heart fixated on some reasonable explanation, men today go searching for answers, sometimes in the discovery of the actual true truth (i.e., that which corresponds to the mind of God), other times in the discovery or fabrication of an idol (which is what all covenant-breakers in Adam do). But either way, he is always and in every way homo respondens—a man who simply responds to his divinely-created environment.

(more…)

Read more

Pope Francis

On February 18, 2025 By In Culture, Politics, Theology

A Dying Pope, JD Vance, and Anti-Catholic America

A few days ago, Pope Francis was admitted to the hospital with what the Vatican has characterized as a complicated health issue. At 88 years old, he has faced ongoing medical concerns, and his condition remains a matter of concern. As his condition has progressed to double pneumonia, speculation is growing about the seriousness of his health and the possibility of his passing. Christian charity, of course, calls us to pray for his full recovery.

American Catholics and the Pope

Vice President JD Vance posted on X earlier today, calling for prayer for the Pope:

(more…)

Read more

On February 17, 2025 By In Theology

A Protestant Lent in the Beautitudes

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” – Matthew 5:8

Lent is often misunderstood as a season of obligation—a time to give up chocolate, skip meat on Fridays, or endure a somber mood until Easter. But what if Lent is something far greater? Orthodox and Roman legalism have done their fair share of damage to Lent—infesting the spiritual discipline with its merit-laden system of earned grace. Yet Reformational Kuyperians should not abandon the practice of fasting or the liturgical calendar simply because of their misuse during the medieval era.

(more…)

Read more

On February 13, 2025 By In History, Theology

John’s “World”

“The world” is a prominent theme in John’s Gospel. Probably the most well-known verse in all of Scripture is John 3:16 in which Jesus tells Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” What is the world that God loves?

John sets the stage for how we are to understand “the world” in his introduction. Introducing John the Witness (he is not called “John the Baptizer” in the Gospel), the Apostle John says that the Witness was not the Light coming into the world (Jn 1:9). The Word who is the Light “was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him” (Jn 1:10). The true Light, the Word, made the world, but this same world did not know him. The word translated “world” is kosmos. Kosmos emphasizes order or how things are arranged. At the time to which the Apostle is referring, the world is the created order organized under the rule of the devil. He is “the ruler of this world” that must be cast out (Jn 12:31; cf. also 14:30; 16:11).

(more…)

Read more