
Photo credit: “Tullow Church of the Most Holy Rosary South Transept Window Mysteries of Light and Pope John Paul II Detail Proclamation of the Kingdom of God 2013 09 06” by Andreas F. Borchert is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. We read in Col. 1:13 (ESV) that the entrance of believers into the Kingdom of God begins in…

Photo credit: “003/366 – Erste Schritt / First steps” by Boris Thaser is licensed under CC BY 2.0. I recently heard it preached on the topic of perseverance. The preacher started by noting that we are saved by faith alone, citing among other passages Eph. 2:8-9 (NIV): “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and…

Photo Credit: “Lefkadia The Judgment Tomb – VI (37242295582)” by Egisto Sani from Italy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Those readers who have followed my series of posts on this blog know that my rendering of the Judgment Seat of Christ passage from 2 Cor. 5:10 is at odds with the conventional view. My reading would go…

Photo Credit: “[Mother and children reading bible]” by Library of Congress is marked with CC0 1.0. A review of the scholarly literature reveals that most scholars believe that one’s earthly conduct, that is, one’s deeds while one is here on earth, to some extent play a role in determining whether or not one is saved for…

Photo Credit: “Courtroom” by ☺ Lee J Haywood is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Here is the Greek text of this verse, with the crucial subordinate clause in italics. Don’t worry if you don’t know Greek. You’ll be able to follow along anyway. The key words are in bold print. τοὺς γὰρ πάντας ἡμᾶς φανερωθῆναι δεῖ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ…

Four Views On the Role of Works at the Final Judgment. Edited by Alan P. Stanley. Counterpoints: Bible and Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013. Paperback ISBN: 0310490332. Contains contributions by Robert N. Wilkin, Thomas R. Schreiner, James D. G. Dunn, Michael P. Barber, and Alan P. Stanley. Here, in this well-conceived 275-page book (page numbers…

The article that I’ve written, which will be posted in full on The Two Cities tomorrow, offers a fresh perspective on the timing, venue, and nature of Christ’s judgment of believers (i.e., the Judgment Seat of Christ taken from 2 Cor. 5:10). The article suggests that this evaluation does not take place in some post-death…

Now that school is out for summer (cue Alice Cooper) I’m back home working for my church as a youth ministry intern. As we began to plan for the summer and what we should teach on I recommended books like Colossians and Philippians. You know, something short and sweet that would be really encouraging. So…

We came, we cleaned, we conquered. This weekend our small group, armed with Clorox and Windex, stormed the church, leaving no cranny unclean. For a few months now, we’ve brainstormed ways to become more engaged members of the congregation, and adding our names to the cleaning rotation seemed a good place to start. Saturday was…