It’s a good week to rehearse the events of the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection. Justin Taylor reminds us that: “About one-quarter to one-third of the Four Gospels are devoted to the final week of Jesus’s earthly life.” Justin, and NT scholar Andreas Köstenberger put together a book that gives you the complete text of Scripture in chronological harmony, along with commentary, charts, and maps, so you can have a day-by-day guide to the momentous events that…
In today’s Old Testament Scripture reading at First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, MS, we read from Psalm 143. Verses 1-2, in particular, arrested my attention. Psalm 143:2, “For in Your sight no man living is righteous,” especially, was very important to Paul and the New Testament writers, and to the Reformers, in explaining the universal human condition and predicament. 1 Hear my prayer, O LORD, Give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness! 2 And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no man living is righteous. (NASB) The late Robert Davidson, one-time Moderator of the Church of Scotland & Professor at the University of Glasgow, Trinity College Glasgow, says of this passage: “This is the only…
Israel reached Sinai in the third month after a journey of at least six weeks, in the course of which they travelled about 200 miles; they stayed there nearly a year (Num. 10:11). Moses’ first stay in the Mount was probably brief. He was to remind the people that the God of the Covenant had delivered them from Egypt, and to offer them the status of a unique people—a kingdom of priests and a holy nation—upon condition of obedience (verses 3–6). We note: (i) While the emphasis is naturally on the recent deliverance by virtue of which…
There has been a marked tendency in recent years to minimize the importance of the Decalogue. To the critics, of course, who see in it merely a brief code of laws which reflects the gradual growth of moral and religious ideas and ideals in Israel, it…
The work of theological education in the confessional Protestant tradition falls in the category of sanctification—a special and specific kind of sanctification: the sanctification of the church’s present & future ministry … The entire work…
The Authority of Scripture – Grounds, Evidences, Spirit’s Witness and Supreme Authority The Doctrine of Scripture ~ David Strain & Ligon Duncan First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi Miller Hall ~ September 6, 2023 (1) The Grounds of…
The Content of Scripture – Canon, Preservation, Transmission, and Translation The Doctrine of Scripture ~ David Strain & Ligon Duncan First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi Miller Hall ~ August 30, 2023 (1) What is in the Bible (and…
In Herman Witsius’ justly famous inaugural lecture “On the Character of a True Theologian,” he charts out a beautiful and moving picture of what a true theologian should be. What characterizes and constitutes a true theologian?…
1. Despising the Old Testament First, let us beware of despising the Old Testament, for whatever reason. Let us never listen to those who tell us to throw it aside as an obsolete, antiquated, useless book. The religion of the Old Testament is the…