You may have seen weekly articles we posted as part of our Thirty Questions catechism series. Well, we’ve compiled them into a list and linked them here for you. We hope the following commentary by Dr. Timothy Tennent along with Scripture references will prove to be a fruitful starting point for launching you into a deeper exploration of the treasure that is Christian orthodoxy.
Eternal life is not the end of something, but the beginning of the positive work of building a world which is centered on God’s glory. Since the Fall even our best work has been focused on redeeming a lost world and responding to the brokenness of the world. However, in the New Creation we will no longer live in a lost, broken, and fallen world.
We often downplay the Scriptures about God’s judgment or relegate the topic to the God of the Old Testament. However, this is not how the Bible portrays the theme of God’s judgment. Rather, the judgment of God is the final vindication of God’s righteousness.
Christians believe in a bodily resurrection, we do not believe simply in a spiritual state where our souls live forever. Christianity affirms that that our entire life is being redeemed, which includes our bodies, our minds, our souls, and our spirits.
All four of the Gospels conclude with Jesus giving a final commission to his disciples. These commissions are all given by Jesus Christ after the resurrection. They are given at different times and places throughout the forty days between his resurrection and his ascension.
There is no more popular single word which summarizes the Christian faith than the word “gospel.” It comes from a word in the New Testament which means “the good message” or “the good news.”
Since prayer is such a central part of Christian life and faith, a number of special questions arise related to prayer which deserve special attention. Put simply, why do we pray and what role does prayer play in the larger work of God in the world?
Broadly speaking, a means of grace refers to all the ways by which Christians grow stronger in their faith and grow in the grace of Christ. In other words, they are God’s instruments to convey grace, including prevenient grace, justifying grace, sanctifying grace and, ultimately, glorifying grace.
To receive someone into your home and offer them a bath and a meal is one of the surest signs of full acceptance and a real relationship. This is, essentially, what God does with us after we are rescued from the bondage of sin, brought out of our imprisonment to Satan and into a new life in Christ.
The Bible is the standard by which all true Christian belief and practice must be judged and evaluated. However, the Bible was not designed to be merely a rule book or a how-to manual. Rather, the Bible gives us God’s self-revelation in the midst of specific situations and contexts, whether in the life of Israel or the challenges of first-century churches.
The church is a community of prayer, of teaching, of training, of discipline, and it is the place where we dwell in the presence of God and commune with him at the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist. We are not merely saved as individuals but we are saved as a people.
Before justification we were in bondage to sin. After justification we are freed from the penalty of sin. Through sanctification we are freed from the power of sin. At glorification we are delivered from the very presence of sin. In this glorified state we are able to experience the fullness of the original purpose of our creation.
