The strength of your faith is not the big deal you might think it is. Jesus made it clear that even the most minuscule amount of faith (think mustard seed) is enough to move mountains. The issue is not the quantity or quality of your faith. The issue is the […]
I used to think that legalism was externally imposed. I had recently read Bridges’ Transforming Grace and had begun to see the grip that legalism had on my life. My security in God’s love was not based solely on Christ’s imputed righteousness, but in my ability to meet a certain […]
It is a common question that we often ask new people that we meet. It is an important question, because it reflects our eternal destiny. However, the answer to this question is not as straight forward as we may think. Consider these five possible and yet correct answers to the […]
If you’ve ever played paintball, you’re probably familiar with the idea of regeneration.1 After a player has “died,” he must make his way to the “dead zone.” After a set time has passed, he is regenerated and may re-enter the field of play. Spiritual zombies In order to understand why […]
We the unjust The reason justification is necessary is that we are not just and we cannot be just. We have rebelled against God and we do rebel against him. The godliest saint has a deep-seated bent toward rebellion.1 God hates sin. His wrath rests on those who rebel against […]
Bobby Emberley is in his last year of his bachelor’s degree programme at Bible college in the US. As a “pastor’s kid” brought up in a fundamental church and Christian school, he is well acquainted with fundamentalism as an insider. When he shared this story with me a few weeks […]
The word “impute” means to credit, attribute, or assign. In imputation, something is assigned to something else. The Christian doctrine of imputation is closely tied to the atonement and to justification. The atonement is the value that is assigned. Justification is the result of that assignment.1 In a sense, imputation […]
If I had to sum up propitiation in one word, it would be “satisfaction.” In propitiation, the wrath of God is satisfied. An angry God We may underestimate the importance of propitiation until we have a proper estimate of the wrath of God against sinners. The Scripture teaches that God […]
Australia’s T. C. Hammond, principal of Moore Theological College in the middle of the twentieth century, had this to say of the atonement: If the student has insufficient time for an attempt to master the other important sections of Christian Doctrine, let him, at least, have a firm grasp of […]
If there is one passion that should be characteristic of every single believer, it is this passion to guard the truth which has been entrusted to us. It is a solemn thing to hold the truth in trust. And in no other area is it more solemn than where the […]