A Word of Encouragement to Weary Pastors: God Does Not View Your Labors as “Filthy Rags”
When it comes to our justification–our legal standing before God–our own good works are in no way the grounds of God’s declaration that we are “righteous.” Indeed, that is the very thing that makes the gospel good news. We are saved not by what we have done, but by what Christ has done. We are accepted by God not because of our works, but in spite of them.
But what does God think of our good works after we are saved? Here is where, unfortunately, Christians often receive mixed messages. Somewhere along the way we have begun to believe that our pride is best held in check, and God’s grace … Continue reading...
Update on @RTSCharlotte Vision Banquet with Andrew Peterson and Michael Tarwater
Last night, RTS Charlotte put on its bi-annual vision banquet at the Quail Hollow Club here in Charlotte (the location of the 2017 PGA Championship). It was a beautiful venue overlooking one of the country’s finest golf courses.
We were blessed to hear from Michael Tarwater, recently retired CEO of Carolinas Medical Center, one of the largest hospital systems in the Southeast. The Tarwaters have been long-time friends of the seminary.
And our musical guest was Andrew Peterson, one of the most gifted Christian artists today. Andrew played a number of songs from his recent album The Burning Edge of Dawn and he was a delight to … Continue reading...
Kevin DeYoung Appointed as Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at RTS Charlotte
RTS Charlotte has a big announcement as it pertains to our faculty. Here is the press release that went out today:
Reformed Theological Seminary is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin DeYoung as Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at RTS Charlotte, beginning June 1, 2017. Kevin was formerly a Chancellor’s Professor for RTS, but will now be a residential, voting member of the Charlotte faculty, teaching several courses each academic year.… Continue reading...
Can We Trust the New Testament? My Interview with Ratio Christi
Last week I did a live “TV” interview with Ratio Christi on the topic, “Can We Trust the New Testament?” The interview covered a wide range of topics from textual criticism to bible contradictions to the development of the NT Canon. Here it is:
Did the Gospel Authors Think They Were Writing Scripture?
One of the most common misconceptions about the New Testament canon is that the authors of these writings had no idea that they were writing Scripture-like books. I dealt with this misconception on a general level here, showing that there was a clear apostolic self-awareness amongst the New Testament authors.
While this apostolic self-awareness may be easy to show for authors like Paul, what about the gospels which, technically speaking, are formally anonymous? Do their authors exhibit awareness that they were writing something like Scripture? To explore this further, let us just consider just one of our gospels, namely the Gospel of Matthew.
The first step is to get … Continue reading...