Biblical Exposition

Christmas is fast approaching and images of Mary are everywhere – from cards to Nativity scenes – but she is strangely absent from many, if not most Protestant pulpits. Yes, she may be accorded a passing reference in the Christmas narrative, but she can come across very much as a bit-part, or an ‘...

There are any number of passages on prayer to which one could turn. But there is something powerfully succinct about Paul’s words in Colossians 4: “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (v. 2). Here we have directions concerning our attitude and response, which...

I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. [1] One of the frequently asked questions about God's sovereignty is: if God is sovereign, why pray? On the one hand, it is an understandable...

The leader of a major campus ministry recently said "If forty people approach a campus minister with an objection to Christianity, one worries about Bart Ehrman and his attacks on the authority and reliability of Scripture. The other thirty-nine have moral questions: Why does the Bible have a...

As I begin this series, it seems right to introduce myself, since my training and experiences will inevitably shape the series. This blog will range from Biblical Exegesis to history of Christian thought to Ethics because my dissertation, on the exegesis of ethical texts in the Reformation era –...

God created the first Adam in His own image, and appointed him to rule over the works of His hands. He also gave him a commandment. Gen. 2:16, 17: “Of all the trees of the garden you may freely eat. But from the one tree—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—you may not eat. For in the day you...

The Westminster Confession of Faith … What is it? Is it a document that presents cold intellectual faith? Dead Orthodoxy as it seems to some… Is it a historical artifact that has no relevancy to the pastor or the people of God? Is it an idol that reformed Christians elevate to a higher standard of...

I was in a store just a couple of days ago when a smiling clerk asked if she could help my wife and me with some pictures we were admiring. However, talk about beautiful pictures gave way to a less than attractive reality. When we were finished, we asked where she would spend Thanksgiving. That’s...

Last words are important and often intriguing and none more so than the last words of Jesus. They are best remembered as expressed by Matthew at the end of his Gospel where Jesus tells the Eleven, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all...

This week on Theology on the Go, Dr. Jonathan Master is joined by Emily Van Dixhoorn (M.A.R., Westminster Theological Seminary; B.A., Brown University). Emily is a mother of five children and loves theology, mathematics, tennis, and time with her family. She has been leading Bible studies and...