by Robby McAlpine | Aug 7, 2017 | Apologetics, Christology, Gospel, Sin, Soteriology, The Kingdom of God, Theodicy, Theological Studies, Worship
“This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst...
by Robby McAlpine | May 9, 2017 | Christology, Soteriology, Theological Studies
It’s always been a head-scratcher for me — this obsession that some people seem to have with pitting various viewpoints on the Atonement against each other, as if they are mutually exclusively (and therefore bitter enemies). I’ve always seen them more as the differing...
by Robby McAlpine | Feb 8, 2017 | Charismatic Theology, Christology, Church History, Ecclesiology, Epistemology, Gospel, The Kingdom of God, Theological Studies
“Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16) Some people don’t like doctrinal statements, viewing them as a tool of oppression and exclusion. They would...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 31, 2016 | Baptism, Christology, Ecclesiology, Multiple Views, Theological Studies
Throughout the 2,000 year history of the Church, the subject of baptism has produced a wide variety of approaches. It is essentially impossible to suggest that the Church has a monolithic approach to the topic because history proves otherwise. And while baptismal...
by Robby McAlpine | May 15, 2015 | Charismatic Theology, Christology, Ecclesiology, Pneumatology, Theological Studies, Worship
“Our computers work just fine. I’m a generous person, that’s all.” The Barista tossed her head as she laughed out loud at the quizzical expression on the Elder’s face, one lock from her dark mane of hair falling over her face to augment...
by Luke Geraty | Apr 23, 2015 | Baptism, Charismatic Theology, Christology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology, Eucharist, Pneumatology, Sacramentalism, Theological Studies
My early Christian experience was largely in church traditions that were about as far from any form of sacramentalism that one could get. Our family attended churches within the Evangelical and Charismatic movements, none of which ever used the word “sacrament.”...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 24, 2014 | Christology, Gospel, Theological Studies
“Nero did not throw Christians to the lions because they confessed that ‘Jesus is Lord of my heart.’ It was rather because they confessed that ‘Jesus is Lord of all,’ meaning that Jesus was Lord even over the realm Caesar claimed as his domain of absolute...
by Luke Geraty | Nov 27, 2013 | Christology, Theological Studies
What is Christ’s relationship with the OT? Berkouwer writes, “Christ himself declares that the Old Testament scriptures “are they which bear witness of me” (John 5:39). The Old Testament to him was not a book of significance to the Jews only but a book...
by Luke Geraty | Aug 2, 2013 | Christology, New Testament
I keep getting asked, “Have you read Reza Aslan’s new book on Jesus?” No, I haven’t. And I don’t plan on reading it. I flipped through it and found the same old ideas that have been suggested in certain wings of “scholarship”...
by Luke Geraty | May 25, 2013 | Apologetics, Biblical Theology, Christology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology, The Kingdom of God, Theological Studies
I’m often asked by pastors which books by Wright they should read and I used to always refer them to the Christian Origins and the Question of God series because, quite frankly, you can’t be into NT studies without having interacted with his works in that...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 31, 2013 | Christology, New Testament
This past week I read a lot on the Resurrection. This time of year always gives me opportunity to turn afresh to books that I haven’t looked at for awhile. So I read a lot of books and articles on the subject. I wanted to post a quote, today, on the...
by Luke Geraty | Aug 17, 2012 | Christology, Eschatology
In preparation for this coming Sunday’s message on the four parables of the Olivet Discourse, I read a fantastic statement by Michael Wilkins: “The way one thinks about the Lord’s return will eventually influence what one says and how one acts. Perhaps the...
by Luke Geraty | Jul 23, 2012 | Christology, Gospel, John Calvin, Systematic Theology
Have you ever stopped to think about the privileges that believers in Christ have? Sometimes I think we take what we have for granted, so it’s helpful to have a reminder. Tonight I was reading through John Owen’s Lesser Catechism and found a great answer...
by Luke Geraty | Apr 13, 2012 | Christology
Everyone and their mother knows about John Stott’s The Cross of Christ. It is certainly one of the best modern works on the Penal Substitutionary perspective on the Atonement and on Christology in general. It simply love that book, and love every single book I...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 28, 2012 | Christology, Church Planting, Ecclesiology, New Testament
In preparation for this Sunday, I have been working through portions of Matthew 21. This is the passage dealing with Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple money-changers. Jesus kicked them out of the outer courts and this text is widely known and generally connected to...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 28, 2012 | Christology
“The universe of Paul’s thought revolved around the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Paul’s christology illumined his thought in its entirety, sometimes shedding its light on aspects of his thought that one might have expected would have gone relatively untouched by...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 16, 2012 | Christology, Hermeneutics
Michael Williams writes, “Reading the Bible through the Jesus lens is reading it the way it was intended. It keeps our reading, understanding, teaching, and preaching properly focused on God’s grand redemptive program that centers on his own Son. Seeing...
by Luke Geraty | Dec 13, 2011 | Christology, Systematic Theology
“With regard to the conception, the Old Roman Creed, of very great antiquity, says He ‘was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary.’ The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (AD 325, 381) says He ‘was made flesh of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became...
by Luke Geraty | Aug 4, 2011 | Christology
I’ve long had an appreciation for the concept of giving Jesus first place in our lives. I don’t know too many pastors that wouldn’t love to see more and more people making Jesus the number one priority. When the apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians,...
by Luke Geraty | Jul 22, 2011 | Christology, The Kingdom of God
In N. T. Wright’s The Challenge of Jesus, he writes how Jesus controversially challenged the traditions of the Jewish people. These are the symbols that Jesus challenged, according to Wright (pp. 58-73): Sabbath Food Nation and land Temple It’s fascinating...
