The Holy Spirit is not a mere energy, force, or power. He does not only sanctify as if the Spirit’s activity exclusively focused on our personal sanctification. That sounds like the theology of expressive individualism (what can the Spirit do for me?) rather than the theology of the Bible. In reality, the Spirit is the Lord and Giver of life. [Read more…] about The Holy Spirit Is Lord and Giver of Life
Theology
Evil Does not Exist
Evil does not exist. If it did, then God would not exist. And all suffering at the hand of evil people would cease to have significance. Yet God created the world out of the overflow of his goodness, and he made all creation “very good” (Gen 1:31). Since nothing exists outside of what God made, then either God created evil or evil does not exist. But God did not create evil. So evil does not exist. It can only corrupt good things.
Augustine recognized this when he wrote, “For you evil does not exist at all, and not only for you but for your created universe, because there is nothing outside it which could break in and destroy the order which you have imposed upon it” (Augustine, Confessions, 7.13). Hundreds of years later, Thomas Aquinas wrote, “For evil is the absence of the good, which is natural and due a thing” (Summa 1.49).
And this is good news because if evil exists God would not and our suffering would be meaningless. Here’s why. [Read more…] about Evil Does not Exist
Jesus Came to Destroy the Works of the Devil
At his ascension, Jesus through his agent Michael cast the devil out of heaven and down to earth. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. And that work is the fear of death that enslaves us all. By conquering death, Jesus freed us from the slavery of the fear of death. Now we no longer live according to fear, which leads to sin. We aim to live by love, which when perfected, casts out all fear (1 John 4:8).
Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil according to the plan of God. In fact, God created “eternal fire” for “the devil and his angels.” To follow the devil, then, is to follow him to eternal ruin. Hence, Jesus put an end to the devil’s schemes at the cross.
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What is the image of God? Answer: Christ.
What is the image of God?
Irenaeus and Athanasius would compare Scripture with Scripture and say: Christ. Paul does say that “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” and speaks “of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (Col 1:15; 2 Cor 4:4). So the image of God is Christ.
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Where the Differences Lie between Bruxy Cavey and (Reformed) Evangelicals
Recently, TGC Canada hosted an interview between Paul Carter and Bruxy Cavey. The former sought to understand Cavey given his influence in Ontario and beyond. One of the benefits of this conversation was to clarify what Cavey teaches and, secondarily, to help evangelicals understand why they believe what they do.
The reason why conversations like this one work is because of the nature of truth. God is true, his creation exhibits truth, and truth is therefore beautiful and attractive. Hence, whatever the ultimate result of the interview between Carter and Cavey is, we can be confident that the truth of God always finds its home in the hearts of his people.
Since this is so, consider the following three areas in which Cavey and evangelical Christians differ to understand the disagreements better so that we can search out the Scriptures for ourselves to find the truth. [Read more…] about Where the Differences Lie between Bruxy Cavey and (Reformed) Evangelicals
When God speaks, he creates
In the beginning, God created the universe (Gen 1:1). He spoke, and it came into being. Apart from the Word of God, nothing would be made that was made (John 1:3). God speaks his Word, and creation comes into being. When he speaks, he spirates, and his breath animates what has come into being (Gen 2:7). When God speaks, things happen. His word creates and still does. [Read more…] about When God speaks, he creates