Mordecai’s words to Esther, in the Jew’s moment of existential threat, are apt for our present cultural crisis: For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time [kairos] as this?” Esther 4:14 Israel was … [Read more...]
5 Books on Knowing God in Troubled Times
The most basic and abiding need of God’s people is the knowledge of God. While all people in every time and place, as God’s image bearers, inescapably know God through his clear revelation in creation and conscience, sin causes man to suppress the true knowledge of God (Rom 1:18-21). The sinful inclination of the human heart is the desire ‘to be like God’; self-sufficient … [Read more...]
Romans: Justification by Faith Alone Verified from the OT, Part 4c
EXPOSITION: Chapter 4:1-25 The Problem of Gospel Myopia Gospel Clarity With his progressively prosecuted argument from 1:18 to its brilliant climax in the passage 3:21-31, the question must be asked as to why Paul continues with another chapter. Surely it is a case of overkill! Not at all, the apostle now goes for the jugular—the chapter is pure polemics and highly … [Read more...]
Romans: Caesar & Christ—Gospel Declared, Part 2
EXPOSITION: Chapter 1:1-17 Purpose & Theme 1:1-7 — Paul's Salutation 1-2 "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures"—While possessing intimate elements, Paul's opening salutation (longer than any other Pauline epistle) is in the style of … [Read more...]
Romans: Kingdom through Covenant, Part 1
The question will be asked, why another commentary on Romans? First, because Romans provides the ABC's of the Gospel, it is Christianity 101. From the early church to the present day, it has been recognised as the foundational teaching of Christianity, providing the Bible's most complete statement concerning God's purpose for humankind, its fall from that purpose, and his … [Read more...]
