Semper Theologia

 Theology is a lovely thing. In his famous work, The Golden Chain, William Perkins writes,  "Theology is the science of living blessedly forever. Blessed life consists in the knowledge of God." Studying God so deeply that you acquire intimate knowledge of Him only leads to blessedness. However, theology can be dangerous. As the apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 8:1-3, "...we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.  I f anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.   But if anyone loves God, he is known by God." Although intimate knowledge of God leads to blessedness, intellectual knowledge of God merely puffs oneself up. The key difference between the two is love. What good is knowledge of God if it is not a loving knowledge of God? Without love we are a clanging cymbal (1 Cor 13:1) and no better off than demons who also have knowledge of God (James 2:19) ...

Apparently in some online circles, the Theotokos debate has picked up steam again. To no surprise, some so-called "reformed" folks online are responding with a theological overcorrection at the faintest scent of Roman Catholicism that has completely ignored the Council of Chalcedon. For example, let's look at a John MacArthur quote found in a recent X post. "In fact, Roman Catholics refer to her as the God bearer. They say she gave birth to God and thus is to be elevated and adored. She gave birth to God. That is a terrible misconception. She gave birth to Jesus in His humanity. She did not give birth to God. God was never born." What John MacArthur has done here is overcorrected his Christology to avoid associating with Roman Catholic Mariology. The doctrine of Theotokos is not to elevate Mary in order to require adoration for her. The doctrine is to keep the two natures of Christ unified in one person as we will now see. What is Theotokos? Theotokos is a Gree...

The resurrection of Jesus is the focal point of the Christian faith. The entirety of our belief hinges on the historicity of this single event. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 15:17, the Apostle Paul writes:  "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sin." More so than ever, the doctrine of the resurrection of our Lord is under constant attack by skeptics. Calls for proof of the resurrection are loud but do we know how to defend our belief in this essential and important belief? If not, we certainly need to! Peter, writing to the Church in what is now modern day Türkiye, told them to: "...in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,  always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and  respect..." -1 Peter 3:15 Evidence and Proof  Peter does not tell us to provide proof for the hope that is in us; he tells us to make a defense when we are asked for ...

 "Oh death, where is your sting? Oh death, where is your victory?" - 1 Corinthians 15:55  Oh what glorious news that Jesus is alive! The Lamb who was slain for the sins of God's people has conquered death! Do you know what this means? Because we are united to Christ in death we are sure to be risen up on the last day! We too shall see resurrection in the end! Death has no sting for the Christian. Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians: "Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?   But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.   And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.   We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.   For if the dead are not raised, not...

     Why is it "Good Friday?" A day marked with the death of the innocent and we call it good. How can this be? Humiliated, beaten, and crucified, Jesus breathed His last. What makes such horror so good? The answer is atonement, reconciliation, and restoration. To truly understand why Good Friday is a Good Friday, we need to understand man's natural condition and what Jesus accomplishes. Who is man? When Adam sinned in the garden, he did more than just mess up his relationship with God. Being mankind's representative, he messed up mankind's relationship with God. We see this not only in his name, Adam sounding like the Hebrew word for, "man," but also explained in Scripture by Paul. Sin spread to all mankind through one man (Adam) and therefore death spread to all man as well (Romans 5:12-14) and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). As R.C. Sproul once put it, "We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners" This is August...

The Sacrament of Communion has a deep connection to the Jewish Passover. It is within the context of the Passover festival that Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper as a frequent practice for His followers. Communion is not merely a symbolic memorial service of Christ's sacrifice but a sacrament where we receive Christ as a means of grace. The Context of the Passover The Passover is a Jewish feast that was instituted by God during the Exodus as the Israelites prepared to leave Egypt. After nine grueling plagues against the Egyptians, Pharaoh still refused to let the Israelites go and it became time for the tenth plague; Every firstborn son in the land of Egypt would die. It is important to note that the Lord intended to be indiscriminate with His wrath in the Tenth Plague. This was not a plague targeted only towards Egyptians such as the Fifth (death of livestock), Seventh (Hail), and Ninth (Darkness) plagues where Israel did not experience them. Rather, God intended to move all ...