Tag: church
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Reformed Theology (Part 6)
6. Reformed theology exalts Jesus Christ as our only Mediator. Christ is everything to believers (Col. 3:11). The Holy Scriptures teach us to “count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8). Earlier we noted that Reformed theology is God-centered; here we clarify that it is…
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Reformed Theology (Part 5)
5. Reformed theology holds to ancient catholic orthodoxy. Reformed theology does not depart from our ancient Christian heritage but affirms the catholic, orthodox doctrines of God and Christ that form the backbone of the great confessional tradition of worldwide Christianity. Though the Reformers were excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church, they did not cast off…
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Reformed Theology (Part 3)
3. Reformed theology helps us to understand and apply all Scripture. In Reformed exegesis and hermeneutics, context is king. The largest context is what the whole Bible teaches on the particular topic at hand. Since all Scripture is inspired or “breathed out” by God (2 Tim. 3:16), the Bible presents a coherent message on each…
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The Ten Commandments
An area where there is a strong contrast between the Reformed and the Baptist is their differing views on the Ten Commandments. Most evangelical/baptist churches consider the Ten Commandments as irrelevant for Christians today. They think along the same lines as Andy Stanley, who writes, “The Ten Commandments have no authority over you. None. To…
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How was Jesus Baptized?
Bob Burridge of the Genevan Institute for Reformed Studies raises some interesting points regarding the baptism of Jesus, “A priest needed to be properly set aside by the forms of ordination. This was only valid if done by an already properly recognized and authorized priest. John was qualified since he was of Aaron’s tribe, son…
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Young man, go west:
How About Some Help? There is a church in southern California that decided to start a church in Boise, Idaho. What is interesting is that 250 of their members are planning to move to Boise to help build the new church. They are finding jobs, buying houses and moving their entire families to be a…