Exodus 20:3: You shall have no other gods before Me. In the explanation of the Second Word, God declares that He is a jealous God, but His jealousy is already implicit in the First Word. Among the gods of the ancient world, Yahweh alone is jealous. Ancient temples teemed with images of gods. Baal . . . . Continue Reading »
Ecclesiastes 2:24-25: Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? Vapor of vapors, Solomon writes. All is vapor. Wise man and . . . . Continue Reading »
We confess our sins every week, and we need to. But like anything, it can become a formality, so we need to remind ourselves regularly why we do it. Confession is exposure. Confession brings hidden sin into the open. We avoid real confession because confession brings shame. We’d rather keep . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah 19:14: The Lord has mixed her a spirit of distortion; they have led Egypt astray in all that it does, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit. When Yahweh comes to Egypt, Isaiah says, He is going to throw Egypt’s advisors, wise men, sages, and prognosticators into confusion. The princes . . . . Continue Reading »
The Belgic Confession (Article 34) has a simply wonderful statement on baptism: “We believe and confess that Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law, made an end, by the shedding of His blood, of all other shedding of blood which men could or would make as a propitiation or satisfaction for . . . . Continue Reading »
For many, too strong an emphasis on the efficacy of baptism undermines the necessity of faith or is a form of works righteousness. But that criticism assumes that baptism is a human work. Not according to the First Helvetic Confession (1536), which states that sacraments are “not only a . . . . Continue Reading »
Much recent sacramental theology has emphasized the social, political, and communal dimensions of sacramental theology. They are, in Rowan Williams’s phrasing, “sacraments of the new society” or, in Hauerwas’s terms, the signs of Christian politics and polity. This view is . . . . Continue Reading »
What must we do to be saved, asks Westminster Shorter Catechism 85 - saved from the wrath and curse of God due to sin. The answer is noteworthy: We must have “faith in Jesus Christ.” Of course. It happens to be a Protestant Catechism. But the answer does not stop there. It goes on to . . . . Continue Reading »
Jesus went away. What did He leave behind? The church, of course. But how? On the cross, Jesus is the new Adam, His side opened, and even after the resurrection still open. What comes out is not a rib but water and blood. What Jesus leaves behind is the water and the blood, baptism and Eucharist. . . . . Continue Reading »
1 Corinthians 1:23-24: We preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. From beginning to end, James’ letter is a call to perseverance. “Be patient, . . . . Continue Reading »
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