Posts by Nick Batzig
The great error of the Judaizers was not merely seeking to add circumcision to the New Covenant people of God for salvation–it was adding anything the finished work of Jesus for salvation. Essentially, Paul is pressing home the principle that Jesus plus anything else that you seek to add to His saving work will end in eternal loss. Adding to Jesus is subtracting from Jesus
Broader churches often tend to focus on "every member ministry"--while minimizing the need for robust pastoral ministry--while more stringently Reformed churches tend to focus on the primacy of pastoral ministry--to the minimizing of vibrant congregational life and ministry. Both approaches often appear to be overreactions to perceived deficiencies or abuses in the outworking of the opposite approach. The question with which we are faced is this: "Should ministry in the local church be done from the 'top down" or should it be "grassroots?'"
When we find ourselves in the mire of the trenches or on the front line of the battlefield of pastoral ministry, quitting is usually never the answer.
There are so many factors that contribute to our assurance of the lack thereof that it takes a great deal of care in sifting through the many nuances. There is the way in which personal sin shakes our assurance of God's love and grace to us in Christ. Then, there are the accusations of the evil One--who loves to paralyze believers after they have sinned. Different personalities can also be factors in an individuals attainment of and continuance in a state of assurance. Add to this, the many ways in which our own minds and heart deceive us. It was for these and other reasons why many of the Puritans were interested in "cases of conscience."
One of the most important of all the statements about the birth of Jesus is that He was "born under the Law" (Gal. 4:4). The one who gave the Law on Sinai was, "in the fulness of time," born under the Law. Of course, in making this declaration the question is raised, "Why was the One who gave the Law born under the Law?"
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