Theologically, Erskine exists as an instrument of the church for the church’s purposes. Its primary calling—the formation of ministers and the Christian education of our covenant community—is not a business function or an administrative one. It is a spiritual one.   Brothers and Fathers in the Lord, I am not writing in an official capacity... Continue Reading

The remedy for the fear of man is to have a greater fear. “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). To fear God is to kill the fear of man.   I don’t care... Continue Reading

Note that the position of the Committee is that the free exercise of “all religions” in our nation is entirely consistent with the PCA’s constitutional standards.  In this context “all religions” does not mean all Christian denominations as it did during the time of the writing of our founding documents.  It means all religions including... Continue Reading

The born again saints of the church drive the devil to distraction when we stand up to him and refuse to allow him to “bully” us.   One of the privileges of the true (regenerate) saints of the church, is that we get to frustrate the devil’s designs against us—and hence, make his existence even more miserable... Continue Reading

Eastern Orthodoxy, by grounding authority in Holy Tradition and righteousness in synergistic theosis, builds religious hope upon sand—unstable and contingent—whereas confessional Reformed theology builds religious hope upon the rock—the firm foundation of the covenant of grace, as the self-evidencing Scriptures authoritatively reveal a finished work and an imputed righteousness, received by faith alone.   Both... Continue Reading

The way you fight this “good fight” is by meditating on God’s assurances of future grace and by asking for the help of his Spirit.…The battle to be freed from sin is “by the Spirit” (Romans 15:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2) and by “the truth” (John 17:17, 19): the work of the Spirit... Continue Reading

Ministry discouragement has a way of shrinking our perspective until every criticism feels catastrophic and every hardship feels uniquely ours. What we usually need is recalibration. We need someone to lovingly remind us that the church belongs to Christ, not us, and that for all our striving, we were never asked to play the Savior.... Continue Reading

The struggle is normal. Perfection will only be experienced in Heaven. But there will still be benefits to enjoy here, when we work for positive change.   Often you probably hear people talk about the need for consistency, how important it is, and the lack of it is their problem. Actually, everyone is consistent. The... Continue Reading

Humility is the result of a radical awareness of God’s glory and greatness that fuels life lived for him.  It’s the gospel applied and inhabited so that we think of ourselves less and of him more. What does it look like to put it on?   Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may... Continue Reading

It’s a name that we’ve been given, not because we earned it, but because we were adopted into a family. It’s a name that defines who we are. And it’s a name we already have, not one we are trying to earn. It’s the name that is above every name, and the name at which... Continue Reading

Even the noblest of work cannot preserve meaning under the sun. This critique dismantles the modern mythology of progress. Progress assumes that accumulation equals significance, that advancement produces value simply by virtue of expansion. Yet Solomon exposes the internal contradiction of this assumption: progress operates within time, but time erodes what progress produces. Without a Divine reference... Continue Reading

We’ve lost a horse to a lightning strike once. A predator got another animal years ago. We’ve had grizzlies on this property, plenty of mountain lions, and a couple of years ago I watched a wolf lope across a field one winter afternoon. Those are the dangers you think about out here. I wasn’t watching... Continue Reading

The Bible only acknowledges separation of body and soul at one point in life: death. In the end every Babelish expression of bending technology to our will is to escape the awful reality of that ultimate separation. Yet that won’t stop us trying for new Babels as newer and more integrated bricks and mortar become... Continue Reading

We should be careful that we are not merely ‘whitewashed tombs’, that appear godly and righteous to the church, but have hearts full of pomposity and pride (Matt 23:27). Such hearts are ripe for judgmentalism, devoid of grace, and empty of true virtue; underneath my signals of holiness is the assumption that I consider myself... Continue Reading

We naturally tend to focus on the “Mount Moriah” moments of our faith—the dramatic crises, the agonizing tests, the miraculous, last-second rescues. But Genesis 22 reminds us that the God who intervenes in the earthquake and the fire is also the God who works in the quiet, mundane, invisible details of family trees and distant... Continue Reading

“The doctrine of justification by faith is one of the most majestic and comforting doctrines in the Scriptures, but it never appears alone in the life of the Christian. The work of progressive sanctification, a grace of equal beauty, always accompanies it.” Paul Washer   The second half of Hebrews 12:14 says that “without holiness... Continue Reading

Too many American Christians have a bias against formal Bible translations, theological texts (such as old catechisms), and hymns. These were great crowning achievements of the Protestant world. Now they’re perceived as too stuffy and churchy, and we mock them or even imply that they send people to Hell, because people don’t find them “relatable”... Continue Reading

The tabernacle texts show the Lord is not only a king who is holy but also a king who desires to be with his people. This is the very reason he gives for the building of the tabernacle: “Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst  ” (Ex. 25:8). As noted... Continue Reading

God desires Christian fathers to be fair by taking the time to know, develop, and celebrate each child’s particular gifts, limitations, and personality. He desires us to demonstrate flexibility by listening carefully and then nurturing patiently while directing the child toward proper action. God wants us to be fathers who firmly correct by gently but... Continue Reading

Annihilationism dethrones Christ’s sufficiency to satisfy God’s wrath at the same time that it questions the integrity and goodness of God’s law. If, as annihilationists will eventually have to say, God’s wrath is harsh and unmerciful, then no one needs the blood of Christ to satisfy it. Annihilationists pose man as more merciful than God.  ... Continue Reading