Theology
Theology
Theology
The Place of the Law in God’s Purpose of Grace
If you ask Christians about the place of the Law in the Christian life, you are sure to get many mixed answers, with some even denying the place of the Law altogether. What did the Puritans teach about the place of the Law in God’s purpose of grace? The Law...
Theology
Strength and Peace of Mind
Finally, be motivated to endure like Christ for your own strength and peace of mind. Hebrews 12:3 says, “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” This refers back to verse 2, telling us how Jesus endured the...
Theology
The Reason for Theology: God Has Spoken
We read in Hebrews 1:1–2, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.”...
Theology
The purpose of the Bible
The purpose of the Bible—Genesis in particular—is to reveal God to us. It is to show us His person and nature, insofar as we are able to know Him, and His plans and works, insofar as we are able to understand them. The very first words in the divine canon—“In...
Theology
God Is Holy
SCRIPTURE MEDITATION And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name?...
Theology
Contagious Love for the Scriptures
The Puritans shape our minds according to the Bible. They loved the Bible, lived the Bible, sang the Bible, preached the Bible, read the Bible, memorized the Bible. They were thinking about the Bible every day. They were Bible-shaped theologians and Bible-shaped preachers. They just thought that way—that’s who they...
Theology
Extremism or Reasonable Service?
The Puritans were zealous not only to learn the Bible but to live the Bible. Some people think that such zealous attention to the Bible is a bit extreme. A common criticism that has been hurled at the Puritans is the charge of legalism. But their desire to honor the...
Theology
Theocentric, Scripture-Shaped Piety
Because the Puritans had a high view of the Bible, they had a high view of God. Actually, it was their high view of God that led them to have such a high esteem for the Bible, because it is His self-attested, self-authenticating, inspired and precious Word. They “received it...
Theology
The Preaching of the Word
“Preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:2), Paul charged Timothy. The Puritans took this charge seriously. The insistence of the Puritans on the primacy of preaching in the church was rooted in their conviction of the divine inspiration, authority, power, and purity of the Word. Being deeply convinced that God builds...
