Category: Doctrine
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Is God Really Good?
We often imagine God as a harsh, distant, or easily disappointed dictator. But that picture doesn’t come from God himself. It’s not how his Word reveals him. In fact, that picture comes from our sin. In the Garden, Satan introduced the idea that God has bad intentions towards us. In the form of a serpent…
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How to Listen to the Bible When Christians Disagree
When Christians disagree about doctrine, it is very easy to begin with the passages that seem to support our own position. That is understandable. We all do it. We notice a verse, a phrase, an image, or a promise, and we begin to ask whether it proves the point we already find compelling. But that…
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Universal Justification But Not Universal Final Salvation
I was recently asked a series of excellent questions about universalism. The questions arise from a real tension. The Bible teaches that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. God genuinely reconciled the world to himself through the blood of Christ. He sincerely desires the salvation of every person. Does that mean that…
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Sanctification Is Knowing God’s In a Good Mood with You
Many Christians think sanctification means becoming less disappointing to God. That’s why self-help books are quite popular with lots of Christians. And why many Christian books are quite similar to self-help books. Because if you view sanctification as essentially moral improvement, it is essentially “self-help.” Many of these same Christians rightly affirm that sanctification is…
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Luther Preached the Gospel So Objectively that It Sounded Universalist
A recent visitor to my church explained to me his understanding of the Christian Gospel: The visitor was earnest, lovely, a kind and gentle soul. The only problem is this: What he said is not the Christian Gospel. Point 2 is absolutely true, and is the teaching of God’s Law. Points 1 and 3 are…
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Owning the Keys Gives the Church Flexibility in the Call
When you turn wise human arrangements into divine commands, you obscure God’s Word and confuse Law and Gospel. At the extreme end of this kind of mistake, we end up falling foul of Jesus’ warning in Mark 7:7 (quoting Isaiah 29:13): in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. (Mark…
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All Christians Owning the Keys Supports the Public Call to Ministry—It Doesn’t Undermine It
The Augsburg Confession 14 rightly and biblically says “no one should publicly teach, preach, or administer the sacraments without a proper public call.” Many Christian churches agree with this statement in principle, but the biggest differences arise among Christians about what a proper public call is. Some claim that proper public call is created by…
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Jesus Thinks He Gave the Keys to Everyone
I’ve heard it argued that Jesus did not give the Keys of the kingdom to every Christian, because when Jesus gave the Keys, only the apostles were present. There are numerous problems with this argument. For example, when Jesus actually gives the Keys in John 20:22-23, John does not make clear who exactly was present.…
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Distinguishing the Power and Use of the Keys is Reckless
Some “Lutherans” preach that Jesus gave the power of the Keys to the whole church, but he gave the use of the Keys to pastors alone. Indeed, when I was once exploring the possibility of joining a particular Lutheran denomination I was told exactly this in a conversation about Matthew 16. The distinction is, of…
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Luther Said All Christians Have the Power of the Keys
In John 20:22-23 Jesus gave the power of the “Keys” to the church: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” But, a key question about these Keys is this: Who did Jesus give this power to? I am…