Biblical Studies

I've finished going over chapter 20 of J. I. Packer's Knowing God (InterVarsity Press, 1973, 1993). This chapter, entitled "Thou Our Guide" is an excellent treatment of what it means to have God guide us.  Below are some of my highlights...  Christians are God's sons; and if human parents have a responsibility to give their children guidance in matters where ignorance and incapacity would spell danger, we should not doubt that in the family of God the same applies. "If you, then though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Mt 7:11). [p 232]  Again, Scripture is God's Word, "profitable" (we read) "for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim 3:16-17 RSV). "Teaching" means comprehensive instruction in doctrine and e

In chapter 18 of Knowing God , J. I. Packer writes the following... Think first, then, of the driving force in the life of Jesus. If you sit down for an hour and read straight through the Gospel according to Mark (a very fruitful exercise: may I urge you here and now to do it), you will receive an impression of Jesus which includes at least four features. Your basic impression will be of a man of action: a man always on the move, always altering situations and precipitating things-working mir- acles; calling and training disciples; upsetting error that passed as truth and irreligion that passed as godliness; and finally walking straight and open-eyed into betrayal, condemnation and crucifixion (a freakish sequence of anomalies which in the oddest way one is made to feel that he himself controlled all along the line). Your further impression will be of a man who knew himself to be a divine person (Son of God) fulfilling a messianic role (Son of Man). Mark makes it clear that the more Je

"But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed." (Romans 2:5 ESV) In the fourteenth chapter of Knowing God, J. I. Packer writes,  The problem of the psalmist who saw inoffensive people being victimized, and the ungodly "not in trouble as other men" but prospering and at peace (Ps 73), is echoed again and again in human experience. But the character of God is the guarantee that all wrongs will be righted someday; when "the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed" (Rom 2:5) arrives, retribution will be exact, and no problems of cosmic unfairness will remain to haunt us. God is the Judge, so justice will be done. Why, then, do we fight shy of the thought of God as a Judge? Why do we feel the thought to be unworthy of him? The truth is that part of God's moral perfection is his perfection in judgment. Would a God who di

"Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God." (Luke 8:11 ESV) "Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” (Luke 8:18 ESV) On growth in the Christian's spiritual life, Herman Bavinck writes...  The spiritual life implanted in regeneration is similar to the natural life in that it must be nourished and strengthened for it to expand and grow. In other ways there is a great difference between them, of course, inasmuch as the spiritual life originates in God as Savior, is acquired by the resurrection of Christ, and is eternal life that can neither sin nor die. Nevertheless, regenerate persons continually need to be "strengthened in their inner being with power through God's Spirit" (cf. Eph. 3:16). This strengthening of the spiritual life, like its beginning, originates with God and the riches of his grace. The life of spiritual persons,

At the last session of our Spiritual Life Conference, Tom Schreiner quoted the following from Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck. I'm posting the full quote here: "Among the Reformed the doctrine of perseverance was very different. It is a gift of God. He watches over it and sees to it that the work of grace is continued and completed. He does not, however, do this apart from believers but through them. In regeneration and faith, he grants a grace that as such bears an inamissible [ incapable of being lost ] character; he grants a life that is by nature eternal; he bestows the benefits of calling, justification, and glorification that are mutually and unbreakably interconnected. All of the above-mentioned admonitions and threats that Scripture addresses to believers, therefore, do not prove a thing against the doctrine of perseverance. They are rather the way in which God himself confirms his promise and gift through believers. They are the means by which perseverance in life is

The 2024 Spiritual Life Conferenc e at Blacksburg Christian Fellowship will be held February 25-27. Our speaker will be Dr. Thomas Schreiner on the topic, "Running the Race to the End." Sessions will be held Sunday morning and evening, and Monday and Tuesday evenings.   Dr. Schreiner is a professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, an Associate Dean for the School of Theology, the James Buchanan Harrison of New Testament Interpretation, and Professor of Biblical Theology. He is a Pauline scholar who has written extensively on this subject and many more, having authored over 20 books and commentaries. He is married to Diane, and they have four children.  Session 1 : Sunday, Feb 25, 9:45 & 11:15 am (identical services). Session 2 : Sunday, Feb 25, 6:30 pm. Session 3 : Monday, Feb 26, 6:30 pm. Session 4 : Tuesday, Feb 27, 6:30 pm. There will be no live streaming of this event, but the recorded sessions will be available afterwards at s ermonaudio .com/bcf.   Mor