The hope of eternal life is at the very center of the Christian faith. Christ said, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). Indeed, in John 17:3, Jesus says that eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. That is why Christ …
Continue reading Question 52: What Hope Does Everlasting Life Hold for Us?
I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem,like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me.My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept! …
Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace was my big reading project last year, and it was excellent. I loved the great epic journey of the book. Of course, any book that large is bound to drag in places, but the characters always kept me going. I enjoyed War and Peace so much at, at one point, …
Continue reading Why I Keep Coming Back to the Lord of the Rings
In both the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed, which are the most widely confessed creeds in Christianity, a large portion focuses upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. And rightly so. We are Christians, after all. When we speak of Christ's work, we marvel at the incarnation, which Packer once claimed is the …
Continue reading Question 51: Of What Advantage to Us Is Christ’s Ascension?
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!For your love is better than wine;your anointing oils are fragrant;your name is oil poured out;therefore virgins love you.Draw me after you; let us run.The king has brought me into his chambers.We will exult and rejoice in you;we will extol your love more than wine;rightly do they love you. Song of Songs 1:2-4 ESV I sing of arms and a man. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Call me Ishmael. Marley was dead. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Great …
Explore the history of altar calls and why the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are Christ’s intended, biblically-grounded ways to call us to repentance.
Having just finished rereading Genesis, I am struck once more by the life of Jacob. Although all the patriarchs were flawed, Jacob is incredibly so. He is a grasping man, always reaching for his own way whenever the opportunity presents itself. But this reading, I have also noticed Jacob's great fear. Of all the patriarchs, …
The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s. Song of Songs 1:1 Song of Songs has a complicated place in church history. On one hand, God's people have treasured it as though it were a first among equals. Jewish Rabbi Akiva is famous for saying that all the ages are not worth the day that God …
Continue reading Rules for Reading the Greatest Song | Song of Songs 1:1
The simple and honest answer to the title's question is: as often as you do. When Christ held up the cup, He said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:25). In other words, there is no explicit command …
Continue reading How Often Should We Take the Lord’s Supper?
The opening line beautifully captures the heart of the resurrection: Christ triumphed over sin and death by being physically resurrected. That final phrase physically resurrected is crucial. There are some who are fond of the Christ's teaching but deny the physical resurrection, saying instead that His resurrection was metaphorical. That is not the Christian confession. …
Continue reading Question 50: What Does Christ’s Resurrection Mean For Us?
B. C. Newton 