- Written by Steven Amis
For all of eternity, before He created the universe, the earth, its inhabitants, and the angelic hosts, the Triune God enjoyed perfect contentment within Himself. The Father and the Son enjoy one another with a perfect love that is mediated by the Holy Spirit. No created thing surpasses the beauty and greatness of this fellowship within the Godhead. Yet, out of His abundant love for us, He chose to create a world in six days, form a man out of the ground, breathe life into his nostrils, and place him in a garden. Not only that, but He even commissioned him to “be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28). He did all of this for one purpose: that a whole race of human beings would experience the joy of being in a relationship with the Creator, all to the praise of His glory. Because of the Fall, the perfect relationship we once enjoyed with God was broken. We became criminals in the eyes of God and deserved to be punished. There is nothing we could do within our own ability to legally remove our guilt. As fallen humans, the only way we can ever hope to have a restored relationship with God is if He gives us mercy and grace while also satisfying the justice that He demands for our crimes. God, in a wonderful display of His wisdom, ultimately accomplished exactly that when he sent His Son into the world to die on a cross in order to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. We can be forgiven of our sins when we repent, put our faith in Jesus Christ, and be reconciled to God.
- Written by Steven Amis
In our last blog, we discussed the miracle of regeneration. To summarize the main point concerning how regeneration relates to the doctrine of irresistible grace, regeneration is the means that God has chosen in our lives to bring about a genuine willingness to be drawn to His saving grace. Non-reformed Christian circles have a strong tendency to emphasize the fact that God doesn’t save anyone in such a way that sinners are being forcibly dragged into the kingdom of heaven kicking and screaming. However, this is a strawman argument against the Calvinistic teaching concerning regeneration because God doesn’t “force” you to choose Christ any more than He would “force” you to use jelly instead of honey in your peanut butter sandwich.
- Written by Steven Amis
When we study our Lord Jesus Christ in the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), one of the first things that stands out for many Christians is the countless miracles that accompanied His life and ministry. Even His birth is accompanied by a great miracle that the Holy Spirit performed in conceiving a child in the womb of a virgin by the name of Mary, and that the Child she bore was none other than Immanuel (“God with us”). When Jesus began His earthly ministry, He was voluntarily baptized by John, and as He was coming up out of the water, another great miracle took place. As the gospel writer recorded, “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.’” (Matthew 3:16-17).