Coram Deo: Dr. R.C. Sproul writes in his commentary Mark: “The good news is that in the overflow of mercy and grace that comes to us from the hands of God, though we should be satisfied with crumbs, He is not satisfied with giving us crumbs. He has lavished His grace on us.”
Legalism is not an error of Christianity—it’s a different religion altogether. Legalism is rooted in self-worship, but gospel religion is rooted in the worship of God. And the ironic thing about legalism is that it doesn’t make people want to work harder, it makes them want to give up. —Burk Parsons in June's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: The Gospels do not always give all the reasons why Jesus acted in the way that He did, but we do not need to know all of that information in order to trust Christ. It is enough for us to know that He is the Son of God incarnate and that even when He does things that seem perplexing, His wisdom governs all. We can trust Him even when He does things that we do not understand.
Coram Deo: Prayer is a vital sign that our relationship with God is true and strong. The desire to call upon the name of the Lord can only be granted by the Lord Himself, and so when we pray to Him with sincerity, acknowledging our sins and hoping in His mercy, we demonstrate that we remain in His hand. Prayer also looks forward in hope to the future God has for us. In asking Him to be with us and meet our needs, we show our confidence that the best is yet to come. Are you discouraged this day? Pray.
The availability of life-support systems, cloning, in vitro fertilization, and other technologies have introduced new dilemmas and pose new ethical questions. It’s not that we don’t have basic principles to apply to these issues, for Scripture does provide them. The difficulty lies in applying these principles to new situations we’ve never faced before. —R.C. Sproul in June's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Sometimes we find ourselves doubting the Lord’s concern for us and His ability to meet our needs. If we were to remember what He has done for us, particularly in rescuing us from sin when we were hopelessly lost, we would find ourselves more apt to trust that He will provide. Think on what the Lord has done for you, and trust that He will come through again because He loves you.
Judas could not have delivered Christ to Pilate if it were not for the providential decree of God. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: Nothing we can do or say can convince those who have hardened their hearts to believe in Christ. Their opposition is moral and spiritual, and only God can overcome it. Matthew Henry comments that “if [unbelievers] will not be convinced, they shall not.” We should therefore pray for those to whom we preach the gospel that they would have their hearts softened by God Himself.
Resting in the sovereignty of God means that we do not allow ourselves to be swayed by the politics of anxiety and fear. We do not give in to hysteria because we know our Lord reigns even when the nations rage. Because our citizenship is in heaven, our hopes do not ride on earthly election results. —Keith Mathison in June's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: When we harden our hearts even just a little bit and refuse to obey God on what we might consider a minor matter, we introduce leaven into our lives that can spread to other areas. It is imperative, therefore, that we regularly repent for our disobedience and seek to obey the Lord in all of life. We should be striving for obedience in all matters, not just the really “big” ones.
The human dilemma is this: God is holy, and we are not. God is righteous, and we are not. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: Simply being in the presence of Jesus is not enough to guarantee faith. Instead, God must grant us ears to hear and hearts to believe His Word. We must not only attend to the preaching and reading of Scripture, but we must also pray that the Lord would open our eyes and minds as we do so. We need His work in our hearts so that we will believe and obey His Word.
Human persons are created beings, and in that regard they are similar to and share characteristics with other created beings. But what is most important about human persons is their likeness to God. This likeness is so very special that it sets them apart from all the other creatures God made. —Mark Ross in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: That Jesus may work in a manner that seems slower in some cases than in others—such as the blind man in Bethsaida—is encouraging. It tells us that we should not give up on those who seem to be hardened the most against the gospel. God may yet change their hearts, so we should continue praying for them and preaching the gospel to them as we have the opportunity.
Sins of ignorance can only be remedied with knowledge. Far from being an excuse for sin, ignorance is the thing that keeps us in it. We become aware of unintentional sins—and more than that, are given the ability to do something about them—only by an external word from God. —Jeremy Pierre in June's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: First Timothy 3:15 calls the church “a pillar and buttress of the truth,” holding up the truth before the world. Yet if the church is not grounded in the truth, it cannot hold it up before the world. Therefore, insofar as we are able and according to our callings, it is important for each of us to support the work of ensuring that the church remains committed to biblical truth.
Coram Deo: If we are not careful, we may entertain false ideas of the work of the Messiah. Thus, we must not selectively read Scripture the way many ancient Jews did but rather study the whole counsel of God so that we can get a full-orbed picture of the person and work of Christ. Let us read and meditate on all of Scripture so that we may know who Christ is and what He has done.
The book of Judges is a mirror held up to the church that forces us to ask ourselves, “Is Jesus our king and do we live by faith in His Word?” If the answer is yes, the church from generation to generation will know the Lord. —W. Robert Godfrey in June's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: The Father gave the Son specific works to do, which speaks to the agreement among the persons of the Godhead to save us. What this agreement, this covenant of redemption, tells us is that the Lord acted purposefully in providing salvation for us. Our redemption is not some contingency that arose after God’s initial plan failed; rather, it was willed by God freely from all eternity out of His great love for His children.
"Husbands, love your wives " is not a practical nugget of human wisdom. It is the mandate of Almighty God. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: God demanded obedience of Adam, and He demands obedience of us. However, our obedience as sinners is not what secures for us the new covenant blessing of eternal life. Instead, the obedience of Christ on our behalf is why we will live forever when we believe in Him. We are still called to obey, but now it is in order to thank the Lord for eternal life, not to earn it. Let us thank God for the gift of heaven by serving Him faithfully.
Devoutly honoring the superficiality of appearance, we look with longing toward youth—and with loathing toward age and maturity. We desperately don’t want to grow up and give up childish ways, so, rather than showing the aged honor, we despise them. —Douglas Bond in Tabletalk Magazine
As much as we try to be honest with people around us, most of us learn the hard way that it’s risky business. When the burdens of failures become too great, we tell someone. And what happens? All too often, they betray us. One of the most wonderful assurances God gives us is that He will never betray us—no matter what we tell Him. —Richard Pratt in June's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Men and women stand or fall before God based on the identity of their federal head. All people start out under Adam’s headship, condemned to death and destruction. But when we believe, we come under the headship of Christ and inherit all the privileges He has purchased for His people. The only way to blessing is to be under the headship of Jesus Christ. If you are in Christ, you receive blessings now and in the age to come.
Whatever else we lose in this life, we cannot lose our salvation. It is cancer proof. It is abuse proof. It is even death proof. These are the truths we run to when life kicks us in the teeth. —Mez McConnell in June's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Romans 13:1–7 tells us that God puts the sword in the hands of the state in order to punish evildoers. Ultimately, this is for the stability of society so that the church can do its work of calling people to faith and repentance. We should pray regularly for our leaders, that they would uphold the standards God has revealed in creation. When the state does its job, the church is better able to minister the gospel to fallen people.
We can serve Satan and the interests of the world, or we can serve the living God and be servants of Christ. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: Abraham’s descendants—the people of Israel—failed to uphold their covenant obligations. All they deserved was death and the consequences of failing the covenant. However, God showed Himself willing to take on the curse Abraham’s descendants deserved, thereby upholding divine justice even while fulfilling the covenant Himself. That is the great love of God—He does not let our sin and failures stop Him from blessing His chosen.
Coram Deo: God’s law serves His plan of salvation by reminding us of sin, pointing us to Christ, and showing us the kind of life that saved people should live. We need all of those things in order to experience the fullness of God’s blessing; therefore, the law of the Lord serves His gracious promise. Let us thank God for His covenant law and study it so that we will know how to please Him.
Those of us from a fundamentalist background who have come to know Christ may find ourselves in the throes of a reaction to legalism. Overly restrictive demands added unnecessary burdens to the light and easy yoke of Christ. But at some point, in the kind providence of God, we rediscovered the riches of sovereign grace. —David Strain in June's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: God always keeps His promises, which means Jesus had to rise again. The Lord promised David a righteous son who would rule forever, and the only way that the Messiah could atone for sin and rule forever was if He were to be restored to life after dying for our sin. The resurrection of Christ confirms God’s promise to David, and shows us that the Lord can be trusted to keep all His promises. We should therefore never hesitate to believe Him.
The local church assembled for worshiping our triune God is the place where God’s Word and Spirit are at work to move us to repentance, revive our hearts, instruct our minds, and reveal to us the plan and purpose of God in all things. The songs we sing lift up the truth of God and resonate with our faith, however small our faith may be. The Word of God read and preached penetrates the inner man to uncover unbelief, expose sin, and lead us back to the love of God for sinners like us. The Lord’s Supper allows us to fellowship with God as we rest in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Prayer is the needy cry for mercy from the God of compassion who hears us and is ready to answer us in the day of trouble. In the sanctuary is where all this happens in its most effective and concentrated form. —Joe Thorn in June's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: The greatest theological battles the church has faced have been caused by imprecise language. It makes a difference, for example, whether we are justified by faith or we are justified by faith alone. The deity of Christ hinges on whether He is of the same nature or a similar nature to the Father. Let us be careful to be precise in our understanding of doctrine that we might better capture all the nuances of biblical teaching.
Coram Deo: Dr. R.C. Sproul writes in his commentary "Mark" that “the Christian life is a throwaway life.” We must be willing to lose all we have now in order to gain everything in the world to come. This does not mean we merit eternal life by giving up everything or that the degree of suffering is the same for all Christians. It does mean that true faith in Jesus—the kind of faith that saves us—will renounce everything, even this life, for the sake of Jesus and His glory.
Coram Deo: Dr. R.C. Sproul writes in his commentary Mark, “We can see the true value of souls by noting how much Jesus was willing to pay for the souls of His people.” That the Son of God was willing to endure the wrath of God as the incarnate Lord tells us all we need to know about how much we should value our souls. Seeking to preserve our lives if it means disobeying Christ, therefore, is the most foolish, loss-inducing decision we could ever make.
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