There are some wonderful instances of ordinary Christians, not least the young, who are concerned to preach the whole gospel unabashedly and do good first to the household of God and then, as much as is possible, outside as well. That has got biblical mandate behind it. . . .

My warning would be to those who are coming along and talking a lot about, “I want to be faithful to the gospel, but I also want to do social justice and good works.” My warning would be: it is not just what you do, it is what you are excited about.

If I have learned anything in 35 or 40 years of teaching, it is that students don’t learn everything I teach them. What they learn is what I am excited about, the kinds of …

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An ironically encouraging post by Sam Crabtree about the things you will never accomplish in life.

Jonathan Edwards, from Miscellanies #188:

The best, most beautiful, and most perfect way that we have of expressing a sweet concord of mind to each other, is by music. When I would form in my mind an idea of a society in the highest degree happy, I think of them as expressing their love, their joy, and the inward concord and harmony and spiritual beauty of their souls by sweetly singing to each other.

Do you think he's right? Why or why not?

Such was the love of the Son of God to the human nature, that he desired a most near and close union with it, something like the union in the persons of the Trinity, nearer than there can be between any two distinct [beings]. This moved him to make the human become one with him, and himself to be one of mankind that should represent all the rest, for Christ calls us brethren and is one of us.

How should [we] be encouraged, when we have such a Mediator! 'Tis one of us that is to plead for us, one that God from love to us has received into his own person from among us.

And 'tis so congruous that it should be so, and is also so agreeable to the Scripture, that it much confirms in me the truth …

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Jonathan Edwards:

Though [God] hates sin in itself, yet he may will to permit it for the greater promotion of holiness in this universality, including all things and at all times. So, though he has no inclination to a creature's misery, consider it absolutely, yet he may will it for the greater promotion of happiness in this universality.

God inclines to excellency, which is harmony; but yet he may incline to suffer that which is unharmonious in itself, for the promotion of universal harmony or for the beautifying of the harmony that there is in the universality, and making of it shine the brighter. (Miscellanies #170, paragraphing added)

Not surprisingly, John Piper agrees with Edward…

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Rev. Ian Hamilton explains. What do you think?

Here's a taster:

This is what so many miss in their assessment of, or espousal of, Calvinism. It is not first and foremost a theological system; it is more fundamentally a “religious attitude”, an attitude that gives inevitable birth to a particular, precise, but gloriously God-centred and heart-engaging system of theology.

Before sovereign grace is a truth to defend, it is a captivating truth to glory in.

The Experiential Calvinist honours God’s unconditional sovereignty. How? By consistent prayer.

I wish I could have been at Tom Schreiner's presentation last night at the ETS Annual Meeting. According to Justin Taylor, it was a helpful, careful, and charitable critique of N. T. Wright's teaching on justification.

The debate over justification—which is the doctrine in focus this year at ETS—has brought about an emphasis in recent days on differences between believers. That is appropriate, considering our understanding of justification can be a life and death issue, touching the very heart of the gospel. Any differences simply must be paid attention to and worked through if we are to faithfully maintain and pass on the apostolic word.

However, it is always essential to remember that…

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According to Jonathan Edwards, Satan's desire to destroy man in the garden grew out of envy. His haughtiness and pride were insulted to see earthborn creatures receiving such honor while he, a native of heaven with such natural strength and knowledge, was cast down and dishonored. Thus, in this jealousy, Satan deceived Eve to bring an end to the insult.

Edwards paints the scene, and then he exposes the irony:

And oh, how may we conclude Satan triumphed when he had brought 'em down! How did he as it were laugh, to think how sorrowfully they found themselves disappointed in their expectations of coming to higher honor and being like gods.

But their fall has been the occasion of the…

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On Friday we pointed to Justin Holcomb's response to Project Reason and Fast Company's mutual misrepresentation of the Bible. Since that post, a couple other notable responses have been issued as well.

While Holcomb gives a solid, high-level answer to the "contradictions in Scripture" claim, Doug Wilson's response serves readers by getting nitty-gritty with a sampling of supposedly contradictory verses and showing how, in context, they aren't antithetical after all.

And Matt Perman's response is helpful in its diagnosis of what is really happening when we think we see contradictions in the Bible, and why identifying and chasing them down (as Wilson has done) is really a healthy and good …

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Today in the United States we celebrate the great and many sacrifices our war veterans have made over the years in service to our nation. (Two years ago, John Piper wrote of his gratitude for such veterans in his post "Thankful They Embraced the Risk.")

The History Channel recently created this short video to tell the story of when and why November 11th became the day for remembering our veterans, and what changes the holiday has seen since that time: