-
Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.
C.S. Lewis, Mere ChristianityPosted on September 20, 2010 with 107 notes
-
“Abram, like Noah, marks a new beginning as well as a return to God’s original plan of blessing ‘all people on earth’ (cf. 1:28). Notable is the frequent mention of God’s ‘blessing’ throughout the narratives of Abram and his descendents (12:1-3; 13:15-16; 15:5, 18; et al.). He is represented as a new Adam and his seed as a second Adam, a new humanity. Those who ‘bless’ him, God will bless; those who ‘curse’ him, God will curse. The way of life and blessing, which was once marked by the ‘tree of the knowledge fo good and evil’ (2:17) and then by the ark (7:23b), is now marked by identification with Abram and his seed. The identity of the seed of Abraham is one of the chief themes of the following narrtatives. At the close of Genesis (49:8-12), a glimpse of his future seed is briefly allowed. This one seed who is to come, to whom the right of kingship belongs, will be the ‘lion of the tribe of Judah’ (cf. 49:9); and ‘the obedience of the nations is his’ (49:10).”
- John SailhamerPosted on August 28, 2010
-
Biblical theology forms an organic whole. This means not only that one can approach any part of the subject by beginning at any other point of the subject (though some vantage points are certainly more helpful than others), but that to treat some element of biblical theology as if it existed in splendid isolation seriously distorts the whole picture.
On few subjects is this more obviously true than with regard to one’s doctrine of Scripture. In this skeptical age it is doubtful if an articulate and coherent understanding of the nature of Scripture and how to interpret it can long be sustained where there is not at the same time a grasp of the biblical view of God, of human beings, of sin, of redemption, and of the rush of history toward its ultimate goal.
D.A. Carson from herePosted on July 7, 2010
-
How the gospel calls us not to be Pharisees about Pharisees
Romans 15:1-7
1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Posted on May 26, 2010 with 4 notes
