All Nations Under God

The Doctrine of Christ's Victorious Atonement ~ Defined, Defended, and Applied

The church of Jesus Christ presently faces many battles and challenges, for the enemies of the Gospel continue relentlessly to oppose and contest the central message of the Scriptures: Christ and Him crucified. But there is another battle that has been gaining momentum, however, this one is arising from within the ranks of the visible church. It is a battle that is draining the church of her vitality and joy. Worse than that, it is a battle that is robbing Christ of His glory as the victorious Lamb of God.

But the church must refute such contention and reclaim the joy, motivation and power of the Gospel ministry by looking intently at the One who calls Himself the eternal Victor: The Lord Jesus Christ. All Nations Under God looks to restore the true hope and joy of the church by reclaiming the Biblical vision of the Lamb of God who was slain for our sin.

Copyright Year: © 2005

The First Institution

A Theological and Practical Guide for the Reformation of God's Institution of Marriage and Family

* Is marriage really between one man and one woman?

* By whose authority is the institution of marriage defined?

* Is the marriage relationship a union of two leaders in the home, or is it something else?

* How can parents effectively raise their children in this ever changing world?

These important questions form the very nucleus of study in The First Institution. Beginning with God's authoritative act of Creation and ending with the heavenly wedding of Christ and His church, this book examines God's eternal purpose and plan for the institution of marriage. This book sinks the reader deep into the core doctrines of Scripture concerning marriage and family in order to establish a firm foundation for daily living. This is not a formula-book. It makes no attempt to offer patchwork solutions to the problems that normally confront spouses and children. Instead, The First Institution is a theological and practical study which reasons from the Scriptures concerning God's calling for:

1. The husband/father as the guardian of his family.

2. The wife/mother as the helper to her husband and minister to her children.

3. Children in their need to obey and honor their parents in the Lord.

From Genesis to Revelation this book examines the most relevant passages of Scripture which address these often neglected subjects of family life.

We’re in the Midst of a Raging Storm: Our culture is rapidly changing, and yet the principles of Scripture have not, nor can they ever change. God’s immutable Word is therefore the believer’s only firm foundation in the shifting sands of human philosophy and reason. Parents must therefore be on guard, for in this restless world of ours there are many things that can occupy a family’s time and energy; things which may even advance a child's education and physical strength, however our modern culture is filled with so many programs and activities that parents often overextend themselves, while falling short of the foundational priorities of nurturing godliness in the home. But parents must guard the priority established by Scripture: To commend children to the Lord, rather than to the world. The challenges to this priority are many in this world filled with philosophies of career-worship, materialism, self-esteem, entertainment and the exaltation of countless other forms of man-centered living. Therefore, in order for the family of God to successfully sail through the storms of life, they must trail behind the Captain of our salvation: The Lord Jesus Christ.

Copyright Year: © 2004

Indeed, Has Paul Really Said?

A Review of N.T. Wright's Book, What Saint Paul Really Said

It was Martin Luther who said that the doctrine of justification by faith is “the doctrine by which the church stands or falls.” As an acknowledgement of this reality Indeed, has Paul Really Said? is set forth as a modern-day defense of the crucial doctrine of justification, in response to those who seek to undermine such a doctrine by means of the theological innovations of men like N. T. Wright. In particular, Indeed, has Paul Really Said? is a critique of Wright’s own work: What Saint Paul Really Said (Eerdmans Publishing, 1997), and endeavors to simplify the presumed controversy over justification by faith. Therefore, rather than perusing every nuance of Wright’s position, this book simplifies matters by revealing the Achillies’ Heel of Wright’s teaching regarding the expression the righteousness of God, through four comprehensible and reproducible evaluations concerning:

1. A Lexical Analysis of the terms - righteousness, justification , and the expression - the righteousness of God.

2. The forensic [judicial] connotation of these terms.

3. The relevance of Paul’s background as a Pharisee.

4. The manner in which justification is revealed within the whole counsel of God’s Word.

In the final analysis, justification is not a “logic chopping” doctrine, instead it is foundational to that which distinguishes the genuine Gospel from every false imitation. God has indeed said: “...Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” It is this truth that has marked the very essence of Gospel hope in every generation. May the Lord preserve our own generation in such a Gospel hope in the one true object of faith for all men - the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Epistle of Diotrephes

An Expose' of Contemporary Theology

Acts 20:26-27:
“Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood
of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole
purpose of God.”

What did the Apostle Paul mean when he said that he was innocent of the blood of all men? He simply meant that he had a clear conscience before God and men because he did not forsake preaching any truth of Scripture for fear of persecution or rejection. Paul’s ministry in the 1st century church was therefore an uncompromising ministry of truth - no matter the cost.

But what if Paul were here with us today? would his ministry be any different? After all, it would appear that we live in a dramatically new kind of world that is filled with many progressive technologies and ideologies. Many in our day have argued that our present world is so new, so different and so complex that what is needed for the 21st Century Christian is a newer and better battle strategy. But is our modern culture really so different from the past? If you were to strip away the laptops and cell phones would the descendents of Adam and Eve be any different? This important consideration establishes the very heart of The Epistle of Diotrephes. What the modern church needs to face is this central question: "Is there anything of which one might say, 'See this, it is new'?" (Ecclesiastes 1:10). The Scriptural answer to this question is clearly, no. But churches that ignore this important fact will run the risk of entering dangerous and presumptuous territories in an effort to keep up with our “changing world.” Thus, one could almost say of the modern church that "wherever the world goes, so goes the church!" But this dangerous game of cat and mouse is beginning to reveal its true color: Bloodguilt red. By adapting itself to the world, the professing church in America is concurrently nominalizing the preaching of the whole purpose of God and as a result many of the Master’s fields of wheat have become wholly infested with the enemy’s tares. The Epistle of Diotrephes offers a critique to these very pressing issues in our day by showing that no matter how complicated our culture may ever become, the Christian’s powerful armor never changes.

The Epistle of Diotrephes is a fictional letter designed to confront many of the doctrinal errors in the church today by affirming the truth of Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, that nothing is new under the sun. While the teachings of Diotrephes are presented as fiction, the history of his day is accurate and crucial for the reader's understanding of the culture of 1st century Rome.

Copyright Year: © 2005