Coram Deo: Natural revelation is limited in its scope, but that does not mean it fails to achieve its purposes. God reveals Himself in nature so that no one will be able to plead ignorance of His existence on the last day. His message gets through, and we can appeal to creation as proof of His existence when we are talking with unbelievers. Let us not be afraid to use God’s natural revelation to point others to Him.
Real joy exists even amid real sadness, and real joy doesn’t always mean there’s a smile on our faces. It sometimes means we are on our knees with tears of repentance. Charles Spurgeon admitted, “I do not know when I am more perfectly happy than when I am weeping for sin at the foot of the cross.” —Burk Parsons in February's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: We can appeal to natural revelation to show people certain truths about God’s character and even to prove that they have violated the moral law that He has placed on the consciences of all people. However, no one will be saved only by looking at natural revelation. We must preach the gospel—give men and women the truths of special revelation—or they cannot be saved from the wrath of God.
Coram Deo: Many people are looking for a revelation from God in our day. We do not need to go looking for new special revelation, however, for we have all the revelation for how to serve God available to us in Scripture. If we want to know the will of God for our salvation and for our lives, we must study and know the Old and New Testaments.
Our obligation to God takes precedence over our obligation to government. God should get paid first, “from the top.” If you want to know how serious you are about investing in God’s kingdom, look at your checkbook. It is an objective, concrete record of where your treasure is and where your heart is. —R.C. Sproul in February's Tabletalk Magazine
God knows our weaknesses, failings, and sins, but instead of that knowledge causing Him to despise us, He responds with care for us. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me” (John 10:14). My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, our Good Shepherd knows us thoroughly. Nothing about us, from the greatest to the slightest thing, from the most obvious to the most private thing, remains hidden from Him. In fact, He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows us through and through, yet He does not despise us. On the contrary, the better a shepherd knows his sheep, the better he can provide for those sheep. —Jason Helopoulos in February's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Many people today claim to be Apostles. However, to be an Apostle, one must be an eyewitness of Jesus’ resurrection or be confirmed as an Apostle by other resurrection eyewitnesses. This is impossible in our era, so there are no living Apostles giving us special revelation. We must be content with what we have—the Apostolic and prophetic words of Scripture. To look beyond these for a word from God is to look in vain.
Christians must embrace economic priorities that the rest of the world simply will not understand. Christians must invest in churches, seminaries, and international missions. These are distinctive Christian nancial commitments. Our ultimate financial commitment is not to ourselves or to our own investments but to the kingdom of Christ. —Albert Mohler in February's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: The process of biblical inspiration is mysterious, for we do not know exactly how God moved the human authors of Scripture to give us His Word. Nevertheless, we know that Scripture is the Word of God, and so it can be trusted to give us nothing but the truth of God. When we want to know God’s will for us, we must turn to Scripture, for it is there alone that we will find the Lord’s guidance.
When we pray, we must remember who we are and whom we are addressing. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: We are tempted to look for God’s will in places other than the one place He has revealed it—His Word. As we ponder the will of God for our lives, we must be careful to follow the guidance of Scripture. It is sufficient to give us the principles we need to know to please God wherever we are and whatever we are called to do.
In His life, Christ fulfilled all the requirements of the law for His people. On the cross, He paid their debt. The works of the law, such as dietary rules and the keeping of holy days, were like a shadow cast by the body of Christ, and once the body arrived, the shadow became unnecessary. —Augustus Lopes in February's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Church tradition and the teaching we receive in our local churches are vital for helping us understand the Scriptures. However, those authorities, as well as all other authorities, are subject finally to the Word of God. No one may demand that we believe or do something that is contrary to Scripture. Let us submit to God-ordained authorities in the church but only insofar as they teach what Scripture teaches.
Coram Deo: We affirm the human origin of Scripture, for it was written by human beings and bears the marks of human authorship. However, we also affirm the divine origin of Scripture, that God superintended the authors of the biblical text in such a way that the final product cannot teach falsehood. If we believe otherwise, then we have denied the omnipotence of God and have no reason to trust that He can save us.
The “practice of sinning” is not overcome by relentlessly focusing on the act of our sins; it is overcome by consistent, daily reflection on the gospel. When we reflect on the gospel and the beauty of Jesus, it becomes easier to confess our sins and to confess any righteousness that is not rooted in Christ. It is in this way that the “practice of sinning” can be overcome. A relentless focus on Jesus. —Jay Bauman in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: We do not have the original manuscript copies that the Apostles and prophets wrote; however, we can determine what the original text is that they wrote by comparing the various manuscripts that we do have. We can be confident, then, that we have an inerrant Bible in its original languages. We need not fear that the Scriptures have any errors, so we may fully trust these writings. In so doing, we are trusting God Himself.
Widows and their care figure prominently in the agenda that God has set for His church. One of the earliest problems that arose in the Apostolic church was that the widows were being neglected. And if that was a problem in the first-century church, how much more likely is it that we, twenty centuries later, would be guilty of neglecting the widows in our midst? —R.C. Sproul in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Many people treat the Bible like a puzzle or a secret code that is full of hidden meanings accessible only to a select few. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. Scripture can be understood by anyone who puts in the basic effort to read it in its context. We can read and hear the Scripture with profit, knowing that God’s message to us is clear.
Coram Deo: Jesus is our Lord, so if we are to be faithful to Him, we do not want to have an Old Testament canon that is any different than the one He had. The Apocryphal books can be useful as historical works and even as repositories of human wisdom, but they are not divinely inspired and cannot determine doctrine. We must derive our theology only from divinely inspired works, so let us be careful to prove all of our beliefs by the inspired Scriptures.
When you have an opportunity to observe a baptism, see these things through faith. Believe Jesus has washed away your sin. Believe He took your sin upon Himself. And believe your sin was washed away on the cross and is gone forever. Few things so powerfully prepare our hearts for worship. —Matt Ryman in February's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: In confessing the self-attestation of Scripture, we are affirming that the authority of Scripture does not derive from the church or any authority other than God Himself. We believe in Christ because the Holy Spirit convinces us, and we believe Scripture because the Holy Spirit convinces us. We have objective evidence for our beliefs and should affirm it, but only the Spirit can make us trust God’s Word.
Ultimate truth matters ultimately. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: For millennia, godly men and women who are indwelt by the same Holy Spirit who dwells in us have been reading and interpreting Scripture. We would therefore be foolish to ignore their writings and their teachings. It is good for us to have access to the writings of some of the best interpreters in church history, such as John Calvin and Martin Luther. They err at times, just as we do, but they are a helpful guide to understanding God’s Word.
Just as my plant needs both water and sunlight, we need both communion with God and community with one another. Paul uses the imagery of a body to describe the unity among believers. We need one another to function properly. I need the love, care, spiritual wisdom, correction, and encouragement that other believers provide within the church context. To attempt a life of faith apart from the church is like placing my plant in a dark room. It will quickly wither and die. We need the radiance of Christ that shines from other believers so that we do not lose heart. —Melissa Kruger in February's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: If we do not read the Bible according to the literary conventions that are appropriate for the various literary styles that it is using, we will go far astray. The plainest meaning of a passage, which we derive from reading poetry as poetry, narrative as narrative, and so forth, is the meaning that controls our interpretation and application of a text. Read the Bible as you would read other books, and its essential meaning will be plain to you.
Coram Deo: The Bible is not silent on topics related to science; however, it is not a science textbook. Understanding literary forms such as phenomenological language will assist us in not treating the Bible as something that it is not, thereby improving our interpretation of the text. Reading the Word of God carefully according to these forms will help keep us from asserting error and confusing people about the meaning of God’s revelation.
Coram Deo: Some people point to obvious instances of hyperbole, personification, or metaphor in Scripture and use them to accuse the Bible of not telling the truth. That represents a failure to read the text as it was intended by its original author. We should call them to be fair and recognize the use of other literary forms just as these critics would expect others to recognize hyperbole, personification, or metaphor when they themselves speak in such ways.
Following Jesus will bring faith-testing, soul-burdening, and life-threatening pressures. Sickness. Heartbreak. Persecution. Rejection. Disappointment. Loss. We will even face death itself. Yet, we can take heart in the midst of it all because Christ has overcome the world. —H.B. Charles Jr. in February's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Cults typically base their doctrine on obscure passages of Scripture and on conclusions they draw from implicit teaching that contradict the explicit teaching of Scripture. We must be careful never to do that. If our belief contradicts an explicit teaching of Scripture, we can be sure that we are believing something in error.
Coram Deo: Many of the greatest errors in church history arose when an individual was unwilling to read Scripture with the rest of the church. We cannot be unchurched Christians or Christians who are unwilling to submit to one another in the local body of Christ. If we are not seeking to read Scripture with the church and to learn from others both past and present, we will surely make many errors in understanding God’s Word.
Coram Deo: In all of our study of Scripture, we must never forget our need of the Holy Spirit’s assistance. As we read God’s Word, let us pray that the Spirit would illumine it so that we would understand and apply it rightly. And let us pray for this illumination when we read Scripture together so that we will be led in paths of righteousness through the Scriptures.
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