“Our message to the world must emphasize that God is real, and that he will not be trifled with. He is the almighty, majestic Lord of heaven and earth, and he demands our most passionate love and obedience.” John Frame, The Doctrine of God, pages 2-3.
Archive for the 'Doctrine' Category
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Mark Driscoll recently asked Wayne Grudem what he would encourage young leaders to devote themselves to studying. Grudem responded:
1. Scripture — He said that every issue ultimately hinges on one’s view of the inerrancy, authority, and truthfulness of Scripture in every way. He encourages all young Christian leaders to make sure that deep within them is a love for and trust in every word of Scripture as God’s perfect revelation to us.
2. Authority — He said that he sees authority as a pervasive problem in our culture. As we talked, it became clear that what he meant is that people profess to be Christians yet refuse to submit to God’s authority, including Scripture, and people God has ordained to be in loving authority, such as godly parents and pastors.
Read the whole thing here.
In the first place, I can’t get the Amazon connections to link correctly . . .That said . . .
One of my summer reading projects has been John M. Frame’s magisterial, The Doctrine of the Christian Life.
Frame writes from a Reformed perspective and focuses on ethics including a voluminous section on the Ten Commandments. He deals with many ethical issues including divorce, to gambling, to birth control.
So, I was thinking, I really should blog something about this book since it has been such a blessing to me. But, then I started thinking. Most of my readers don’t spend a lot of time reading large theological books. Someone might unsuspectingly order the book only to have it show up and discover that it is literally over 1000 pages. Further, they might discover that it is a bit academic for their tastes.
Let me stop right here: you know I don’t discourage anyone from reading theology and I don’t think “academic” is bad – - not at all. But, I don’t want to surprise anyone with a book that makes War and Peace look like a dime novel.
Which led me in turn to consider what book on doctrine I would recommend as a first book. And, not surprising to the people in our church, that brings me to the abridged version of Grudem’s book which we are studying in our church doctrinal class. If you don’t have a basic book in doctrine, then this is a good place to begin.
Mark Driscoll recently asked J.I. Packer what areas of theology he would recommend that young leaders study. You can read his answer here.
On Between Two Worlds, Dr. David Reimer has posted a list of biblical metaphors that teach about our relationship with God. Click here. Pick one this Lord’s Day, read the associated Scripture, and meditate on it.
He makes me nervous some times, but he is gifted. And, Mark Driscoll makes some good points here in critiquing The Shack.
HT: Mark Arant
The current atonement debate has implications far beyond the doctrine of salvation. We are beginning to see how a departure from the Reformation understanding of the atonement will trickle down into areas of practical theology such as forgiveness.
It is also true that people are reading therapeutic approaches in the area of forgiveness back into doctrine. . .
Here is the entire catechism on soteriology (doctrine of salvation) that I am working through in the current sermon series on Sunday mornings.
1. Who needs to be saved?
All men and women need to be saved so that they can have a relationship with God. If they are not saved before they die, they will suffer in hell forever (Romans 3:23, 6:23).
2. Why do men and women need to be saved to have a relationship with God?
Sin has destroyed the relationship with God that all men and women need. They must be saved so this relationship can be restored (Ephesians 2:1-3, Titus 3:3, Romans 3:23). Continue reading ‘Salvation Catechism (Questions and Answers)’
