Yet the freedom and courage to love is what the world desperately needs to see in the church and from the church. The world does not need to see strident, triumphalistic evangelicals laying claim on their rights. The world needs to see the radical, risk-taking, Christ-exalting sacrifice of humble love that makes us willing to [...]
Posts Tagged ‘The Church’
What the World Desparately Needs to See
Posted in Piper, John, tagged Faith, Love, OIbedience, The Church on April 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Who, Then, Is the Heir of God’s Promises?
Posted in Clowney, Edmund, tagged Abraham's Seed, Galatians 3, Galatians 4, Genesis 12, Genesis 3, God's Promises, I Peter 1, II Samuel 7, Romans 15, Son of David, The Church on April 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Who, then, is the heir of God’s promises? Christ is the Son of the woman (Genesis 3:15), the Seed of Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), the Son of David (II Samuel 7:12-16). He alone is the rightful heir, for he alone is without covenant-breaking sin. Those who are united to Christ are heirs in him of all [...]
What is the Church?
Posted in Clowney, Edmund, tagged Anabaptist, Pentecostal, Reformed, Sacramental, The Church, Vatican II on April 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
According to the Bible, the church is the people of God, the assembly and body of Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Each of these views of the church has been favored in one of the major ecclesiastical heritages. The Reformed family of churches has emphasized the church as the people of God; [...]
The Calling of the Church
Posted in Clowney, Edmund, tagged Nurture, The Church, Witness, Worship on April 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The church is called to serve God in three ways: to serve him directly in worship, to serve the saints in nurture, and to serve the world in witness. – Edmund Clowney, The Church: Contours in Christian Theology, copyright 1988, page 117
Proof of God’s Will in the Life of a Christian and Use of Gifts
Posted in Clowney, Edmund, tagged Cults, Natural Gifts, Spiritual Gifts, The Church, Vocation on March 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The Christian proves God’s will in daily life by using natural and spiritual gifts to God’s praise. Christian nurture aids God’s servants in seizing opportunities to discover what their gifts are, and where to use them. While over-directness has moved some Christian churches towards the cults, other churches have erred by indifference, or have supposed [...]
A Transcending Unity
Posted in Clowney, Edmund, tagged Cultural Distinction, Ethnic Distinction, Nationalism, The Church on March 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
As God’s family, it models Christ’s love in the closest bonds of human relationships; as God’s new humanity, it rebukes the pride and intolerance of modern nationalism, showing a unity that transcends cultural and ethnic distinctions. No matter how tragically the church may fail to demonstrate the holy love of the kingdom, its mandate remains. [...]
The Church is not the Source for Divine Revelation
Posted in Clowney, Edmund, tagged Apostles, Divine Revelation, Galatians 1, Gospel, Revelation 22, The Church on March 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The church is not the source of the divine revelation given through the apostles (Galatians 1:1, 6-9). Rather, New Testament revelation is part of Christ’s work through his Spirit; it is the apostolic foundation on which Christ builds his church. The gospel witness that Christ gives through his apostles is not repeated, nor is their [...]
The Nurture of God, Son and Spirit
Posted in Clowney, Edmund, tagged Christ, God, Holy Spirit, The Church on March 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
God the Father instructs and trains his children; Christ teaches his disciples; and the Spirit equips the saints to serve the nurture of the Body. – Edmund Clowney, The Church: Contours in Christian Theology, copyright 1988, page 138
The Nurture of His Church
Posted in Clowney, Edmund, tagged I Peter 1, I Peter 2, Puritans, The Church, Word of God on March 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
In all the nurture of his church, Christ uses his Word and Spirit. Peter reminds Christians that they have been ‘born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishible, though the living and enduring word of God that was preached to them (I Peter 1:23, 25). The Word of God by which they came to [...]
The Commission and Constitution of the Church
Posted in Clowney, Edmund, tagged Gospel, Matthew 16, Matthew 28, Missions, The Church, The Great Commission on March 14, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Both words of Jesus are part of the same gospel. They must be understood together. The Great Commission of Matthew 28 requires the order Christ appointed for his church in the Constitution of Matthew 16. On the other hand, the Constitution of the church as a missionary purpose. – Edmund Clowney, The Church: Contours in [...]
