You've been baptized. But do you understand what it means? Baptism is the doorway into membership in the church. It's a public declaration of the washing away of our sin and the beginning of our new life in Christ. But the sacrament that is meant to unite us is often a spring of division instead. All Christians use water to baptize. All invoke the triune name. Beyond that, there's little consensus. Talk about baptism and you're immediately plunged into arguments. Whom should we baptize? What does baptism do? Why even do it at all? Peter Leithart reunifies a church divided by baptism. He recove... View More...
"He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world . . ." Among the traditional tenets of the Christian faith is the belief that God chooses or elects people for salvation. For some Christians, such an affirmation is an indication of God's sovereign and perfect will. For others, such a notion is troubling for it seems to downplay the significance of human agency and choice. Throughout the church's history, Christians have sought to understand the meaning of relevant biblical texts and debated this theological conundrum. With care and insight, theologian Mark Lindsay surveys the developm... View More...
"God is with us." We say this in our sermons, prayers, and songs, but what does it really mean? For many Christians, the whole notion of God's presence remains vague and hard to define. Exploring both the Old and New Testaments, Professor J. Ryan Lister seeks to recover the centrality of the presence of God in the whole storyline of Scripture, a theme that is too often neglected and therefore misunderstood. In a world that longs for--yet struggles to find--intimacy with the Almighty, this book will help you discover the truth about God's presence with his people and what his drawing near mean... View More...
Modern theologians have focused on the doctrine of divine impassibility, exploring the significance of God's emotional experience and most especially the question of divine suffering. Professor Rob Lister speaks into the issue, arguing that God's nature is fundamentally impassible and yet profoundly impassioned. After outlining the history of the doctrine in the views of influential figures such as Augustine, Aquinas, and Luther, Lister carefully examines modernity's growing rejection of impassibility and the subsequent evangelical response by theologians such as John Stott and John Frame. Wit... View More...
Who is the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14? The early church sometimes identified him as Nebuchadnezzar, but most also saw a deeper meaning in Isa 14:12-14, believing this section referred to Satan. Many current scholars reject both views and offer a variety of alternatives. Little argues that 'shining one' (Lucifer) in Isa 14:12 is the king of Babylon. This book analyzes the mashal (proverb) genre and argues that the Isa 14 mashal must be a real person, not a symbolic, ideal, eclectic, or representative king. Scholars have presented nine historic kings as the king of Babylon. Little compiles ... View More...
The pieces are in place. The curtain rises for the final act. God is about to die.An unprecedented conspiracy of injustice, cruelty, and religious and political interests sentenced a man guilty of no crimes to the most barbaric method of execution ever devised. The victim was no mere man. Jesus was God in the flesh. The Creator of life died.How did such a thing come to be? Who were the onlookers, the players, the fakes, frauds, and heroes? What was it like in the Upper Room that night, in the shadows of Gethsemane, or in the Praetorium awaiting Pilate's verdict? What is the meaning of the last... View More...
In Strange Fire, bestselling author and pastor John MacArthur chronicles the unsavory history behind the modern Charismatic movement.What would God say about those who blatantly misrepresent His Holy Spirit; who exchange true worship for chaotic fits of mindless ecstasy; who replace the biblical gospel with vain illusions of health and wealth; who claim to prophesy in His name yet speak errors; and who sell false hope to desperate people for millions of dollars?The charismatic movement has always been a breeding-ground for scandal, greed, bad doctrine, and all kinds of spiritual chicanery. As ... View More...
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." John 14:3 ESV Jesus Christ was very clear: One day he will return-and none of us knows when. Vocal fanatics claim to know the details of the second coming, causing many Christians to all but ignore the good news that Jesus is coming again. Yet God's own Word commands us to know the signs of the times, to remain watchful, and to be ready-whenever Christ comes. This book is a straightforward, in-depth exploration of the key biblical texts regarding the second coming; most no... View More...
The charismatic movement of the past quarter-century has made an impact on the church unparalleled in history. But one legacy of the movement is confusion and mushy thinking. In Charismatic Chaos, John F. MacArthur calls for biblical evaluation and analyzes the doctrinal differences between charismatics and non-charismatics in the light of Scripture. "My principal concern," writes John MacArthur, "is to call the church to a firm commitment to the purity and authority of the Scriptures, and thereby to strengthen the unity of the true church." To tough questions that seem to divide, Charismatic ... View More...
Walk through the gospel records of the "bold confrontations" of Jesus and discover how to use your newfound knowledge of the person of Jesus to defend the biblical truth of the Christian faith.Do you have any idea who Jesus really is?"What you think of Jesus Christ will thoroughly color how you think about everything else," writes John MacArthur. This is a critical truth in the life of every believer. Your view of Jesus affects the way you view God, the world, and every one of your decisions.These days, Jesus is often portrayed as a pacifist, a philanthropist, or a docile teacher. He strikes a... View More...
Do you wish you clearly understood the different views of the millenium and know why you believe which view you hold to? General editors and experienced bible scholars John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue help to provide a clear and convincing Biblical explanation for the interpretive approach to Scripture that results in a knowable futuristic view of Christ's millennial reign on earth. Christ's Prophetic Plans also helps provide the certain validity of God's promises to future Israel, and the crucial differences between Israel (as a people and a nation) and the New Testament church.Christ's Prop... View More...
Vivid style and keen insights make this book a delight and a genuine educational experience.--Moody Magazine In this richly illustrated volume--formerly titled In the Fullness of Time--Paul Maier visits the origins of Christianity, taking the reader back to the first Christmas, the first Easter, and the first Christians. His impressive research and brilliant insights correlate history, archaeology, and the New Testament to bring alive the true drama of earliest Christianity. This skillful narrative sheds a brilliant new light on the life of Jesus and the adventures of the courageous men and wo... View More...
There are many investigations of the Old Testament priests and the New Testament's appropriation of such imagery for Jesus Christ. There are also studies of Israel's corporate priesthood and what this means for the priesthood of God's new covenant people. However, such studies are less frequently connected with each other: key interrelations are missed, and key questions are not addressed. In this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume, Andrew S. Malone makes two passes across the tapestry of Scripture, tracing these two distinct threads and their intersection with an eye to the contemporary ... View More...
What does it mean to speak of a "canon" of scripture? How, when, and where did the canon of the Hebrew Bible come into existence? Why does it have three divisions? What canon was in use among the Jews of the Hellenistic diaspora? At Qumran? In Roman Palestine? Among the rabbis? What Bible did Jesus and his disciples know and use? How was the New Testament canon formed and closed? What role was played by Marcion? By gnostics? By the church fathers? What did the early church make of the apocrypha and pseudepigrapha? By what criteria have questions of canonicity been decided? Are these past decis... View More...
You know you know it...But then again, maybe you don't. Even if you go to church, it doesn't mean that you are being exposed to the gospel explicitly. Sure, most people talk about Jesus, and about being good and avoiding bad, but the gospel message simply isn't there--at least not in its specificity and its fullness. Inspired by the needs of both the over-churched and the unchurched, and bolstered by the common neglect of the explicit gospel within Christianity, popular pastor Matt Chandler writes to remind us what is of first and utmost importance--the gospel.... View More...
