Jesus' Church Is Here to Stay

The famously influential Nicene Creed contains a line that modern Christians sometimes misunderstand:  "I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church." The word "catholic" can be a source of confusion for those who think it is referring to the Roman Catholic Church, but the word simply means "universal." This leads us, then, to consider the important theological concept of the "universal church."

The term commonly used for the church in the New Testament is the Greek word ekklesia. Jesus is the first to use the word ekklesia in the New Testament (Matt. 16:18), but it is used in various ways with various meanings. As theologian Louis Berkhof explains, ekklesia can have the following meanings:

• A specific local group of Christians or a local church (Acts 11:26; 1 Cor. 11:18; Gal. 1:2).
• A house church (Rom. 16:23; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col 4:15).
• A group of churches in a region (Acts 9:31).
• All those throughout the world who profess to be Christians and organize for worship (1 Cor. 10:32; 11:22; 12:28).
• All those throughout history who have been or will be united to Christ as their savior (Eph. 1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23-25, 27, 32; Col. 1:18, 24).

The last two definitions are explained by John Calvin in his treatment of the visible and invisible church. The "visible church" describes Christianity that can be measured and counted externally:

The whole body . . . scattered throughout the world, who profess to worship one God and Christ, who by baptism are initiated into the faith; by partaking of the Lord's Supper profess unity in true doctrine and charity, agree in holding the word of the Lord, and observe the ministry which Christ has appointed for the preaching of it.   Continue at Justin Holcomb

What is the Basis for God’s Eternal Decree?

After what seems like an eternity, we are returning to a mini-series in our overall series on Reformed Theology on the topic of the eternal decree of God. In our last post on this subject, we answered the question “What is God’s eternal decree?” The eternal decree of God is that by which God ordained everything that comes to pass — all past, present and future events are all part of God’s eternal decree, and they are unchangeably so.

In this post, we will be concerned with the question: What is the basis for God’s eternal decree? In other words, what grounds the eternal decree of God? This is an important question because when we say that God’s eternal decree covers every event — past , present and future — people begin trotting out the “F” word (“Fatalism“). That’s why some in the history of Christian doctrine developed a foreknowledge view of God’s knowledge of future events. God knows future events because, in his foreknowledge, he peers down the halls of time and sees the future. This is very different than saying that God foreordains future events, and the difference leads to radically different applications in Christian life and practice.

Here are two major problems I see with the foreknowledge view of God’s knowledge of future events:

1. It renders God as a passive observer of future events rather than as the One who sovereignly ordains their coming to pass
2. It depicts God as taking in knowledge rather than already possessing an exhaustive and complete knowledge of all things - Continue at Carl Gobelman

On Doctrinal Indifference

Summary of Christian Doctrine, Chapter 5: The Names of God

Summary of Christian Doctrine, Chapter 4: The Essential Nature of God

Summary of Christian Doctrine Chapter 2: Revelation

Summary of Christian Doctrine  Chapter 2: Revelation

Summary of Christian Doctrine, Chapter 3: Scripture

Summary of Christian Doctrine, Part 1: Intro

Louis Berkhof on the Divine Decrees

The Self-Communication of God's Love

Simply put, when we affirm that God is love, and how this bears upon its object, what we are really saying, if we are to be faithful to Scriptural import, is that God loves Himself as He sees Himself in the object. For humans to claim the same is the height of narcissism—though it is but an all too common instance of total depravity that we love those like us and hate those that differ—but for God it is the necessary corollary of His perfections. For God to be God, His love must always entail the proclamation of His glory. Indeed, for a person to truly say that he loves another, he must desire God's glory to be manifested in that person. Read the rest HERE

Talking about Regeneration

Louis Berkhof offers a typical definition of regeneration in Reformed systematic theology:

"It is in its most limited sense a change that occurs in the sub-conscious life. It is a secret and inscrutable work of God that is never directly perceived by man... Regeneration is that act of God by which the principle of new life is implanted in man, and the governing principle of the soul is made holy." [Emphasis original - Systematic Theology, p. 469].
This definition captures some important aspects of the doctrine, especially that regeneration is a monergistic act of God of which man is the passive subject. But even in Berkhof's extended discussion of regeneration he fails to incorporate certain vital features of the Bible's witness. Here is an attempt to sketch an outline of the biblical doctrine of regeneration. Read the rest HERE

Summary of Christian Doctrine