Pointing to Christ

      Over the past three decades, a growing number of professing Christians have begun to support same-sex relationships.[1] According to a survey done by the Pew Research Center, the percentage of White evangelical Protestants who affirm same-sex marriage has increased from 13 percent to 27 percent over the past fifteen years.[2] Overall, 64 percent of White mainline Protestants, 58 percent of Roman Catholics, 39 percent of Black Protestants, and 27 percent of White evangelical Protestants support same-sex marriage.[3] Often, these Christians who adopt an affirming attitude toward same-sex relationships are hailed by many as loving and compassionate. They argue that Jesus’ command to love your neighbor requires believers to affirm same-sex relationships as morally acceptable. Furthermore, they claim that in order to love those in the LGBT community, believers must affirm their sexual orientations and their same-sex relationships. Thus, Matthew Vines writes tha...

            During this time of year, it is helpful to take some time to reflect on what it really means to celebrate Christmas. More specifically, it is beneficial to think about what kind of attitude, or what kind of spirit, should mark us as a result of Jesus’s birth as the incarnate Son of God. The true Christmas spirit is not one of warm, sentimental emotions that result from sipping eggnog next to a Christmas tree. The true Christmas spirit is something much deeper and more lasting than the nostalgic feelings we often feel during this most wonderful time of the year. The Christmas Spirit is a Spirit of Worship             Christmas should be all about worship. We are celebrating the Advent of Emmanuel, when the Son took on flesh and dwelt with man so that he could save his people from their sins. What other response is adequate but awe and worship? Even the “wise ...

Introduction During the height of the Protestant Reformation, John Calvin wrote in an early edition of his Institutes of the Christian Religion that justification by faith “is the chief article of the Christian religion.” [1] Many of the Reformers would have said the same. Many today, however, argue that justification is of secondary importance. The doctrine of “justification by faith” in Romans especially has been the subject of intense debate. In the first five chapters of this letter, Paul lays out the doctrine of justification by faith. Thus, in understanding Romans, one must come to grips with what Paul teaches about this doctrine throughout the book. In the first five chapters of Romans, Paul suggests that justification occurs when God, once and for all, declares righteous, on the basis of Christ’s death and resurrection, the one who believes in Jesus, leading to great peace, access into God’s grace, and the certain hope of glory. Definition In his letter to the Roma...