What does it look like to walk by faith? John Piper explains in his Look at the Book series from 2 Chronicles 20:20.
The Origin of Calvinism – John Piper explains the origin of Calvinism. His words are helpful, especially with so many confusing explanations floating around the Internet.
iOS 10 preview: Apple breaks down its walled garden – iOS 10 is set to be released this fall, but this is a helpful preview as to what we can expect.
Today’s Worldview – No Place for Absolute Truth – In a sermon by Alistair Begg, he points to the fact that “we are facing a culture that does not see truth as absolute, that says all paths lead to God, and that disdains the rigorous intellectual pursuit of the things of the Lord.”
John Calvin on the Necessity for Reforming the Church – Robert Godfrey points to the main reasons that fueled Calvin’s preaching and work in the reformation of the church.
Absent from the Body, Present with the Lord: Our Settled Preference – Mike Riccardi explains Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 and provides some helpful applications.
Theology Word of the Week: Each Friday I post a specific word and definition from theology that will help us think critically about the truths found in God’s Word. This week’s word is church.
Church: The church may be defined as God sees it, the so-called ‘church invisible’. This is composed of all whose names are in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 21:27). The ‘church visible’, on the other hand, is the church as we see it, the family of believers. This distinction guards against equating membership in the church visible with salvation, or, on the other hand, disregarding public identification with God’s people.
The church may he defined as local, so that only the local church is the church proper and broader gatherings can he only associations of churches or of Christians. On the other hand, the church may be defined as universal, so that the local church is only a portion of the church, a part of the whole. Neither of these exclusive positions would appear to take account of the flexibility of NT use: the term is applied to house and city churches as well as to the whole people of God (1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15, 16).
The church may also be viewed as an organism in which every member functions and associates with other members, and also as an organization in which are exercised the various gifts of the Spirit. [1]
- Sinclair B. Ferguson and J.I. Packer, New Dictionary of Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 141.
