Crossway Articles

Breaking Down Jesus’s Speech on the Mount of Olives

Murray Smith — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 19, 2025 by: Murray Smith

Look for the Coming King!

In a changing and uncertain world, God’s promises give us hope.

Each of the three Synoptic Gospels records Jesus’s Speech on the Mount of Olives (Matt. 24–25; Mark 13; Luke 21). This was his last extended word to his disciples before he faced his death, and it is full of promises designed to give us hope. The speech comes after Jesus’s final entry to Jerusalem on a donkey, and after his interactions with Jerusalem’s leaders in the temple (Matt. 21–23; Mark 11–12; Luke 19–20). It comes immediately before his celebration of the last supper, his betrayal by Judas, his arrest in Gethsemane, his trials before the Sanhedrin and Pilate, and his crucifixion (Matt. 26–27; Mark 14–15; Luke 22–23). The speech is often called “the Olivet Discourse” because Jesus “sat on the Mount of Olives” when he spoke these words (Matt. 24:3; Mark 13:3). Knowing that his death, resurrection, and ascension are near (Matt. 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22), Jesus prepares his disciples for the end. He most immediately addresses those first disciples, and Mark specifies that he speaks privately to Peter, James, John, and Andrew (Mark 13:3). But our Lord knew that change and uncertainty would cause fear and confusion in every generation, and so he also speaks into the future—to every generation, including our own. At the end of the speech he makes this clear, “what I say to you I say to all” (13:37).

The immediate context for the speech is Jesus’s prophecy that the temple will be destroyed (Mark 13:1–3; cf. Matt. 24:1–2; Luke 21:5–6). His disciples then ask him, “when will these things be, what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” (Mark 13:4; cf. Matt. 24:3; Luke 21:7). Some interpreters see the whole speech referring to events in the first century (the “preterist” interpretation). Others hold that the whole speech refers to events that even now remain in the future (the “futurist” interpretation). The most common interpretation, however, and the best, understands that Jesus speaks of both the immediate and the ultimate future. He speaks about “these things”—events that will occur within a generation. Beyond that, he also speaks of the whole church age and of his own return in glory at the end. In this speech, therefore, our Lord teaches his first disciples—and us—how to live faithfully in the period between his resurrection and return.

There are differences between the three synoptic accounts, but Jesus’s speech has the same basic structure in each of them. Recognizing this structure helps to unlock its meaning. In the Gospel of Mark, we find that Jesus teaches his disciples to expect first God’s judgment on Jerusalem (13:5–23), and then his final coming as the Son of Man (13:24–27). “All these things” relating to God’s judgment of Jerusalem, he says, will occur within a generation (13:28–31; cf. 13:4), but “that day and hour”—the day and hour of his return—will come at an unknown future point (13:32–37). This gives Jesus’s speech an A B A1 B1 pattern. He first addresses the question of what to expect, in two parts (A 13:5–23; B 13:24–27), and then the question of when the prophesied events will occur, also in two parts (A1: 13:28–21; B1: 13:32–37). We can lay this out as follows:

Introduction	Mark 13:1–4	Jesus’s prophecy and the disciples’ question
A	Mark 13:5–23	What? “These things” concerning the temple’s destruction
B	Mark 13:24–27	What? The “coming” of “the Son of Man”
A¹	Mark 13:28–31	When? “These things” within a generation
B¹	Mark 13:32–37	When? “That day” unknown

By structuring his speech this way, Jesus teaches that the two climactic events are theologically related but chronologically distinct. They are theologically related because they both manifest God’s judgment—first on Jerusalem, and then on all the nations. They are chronologically distinct because there will be a significant period between the destruction of Jerusalem and the end itself (13:20, 24; cf. Luke 21:24).

This significant period between the destruction of Jerusalem and the end itself opens space for the church’s life and mission until Jesus’s returns. Jesus’s speech therefore includes warnings that apply to the whole church age. The whole period will be characterized by wars, earthquakes, famines, persecutions, divisions, and deceptions (13:5b–13, 21–23). These things are not yet “the end” (13:7, 13). They are only “the beginning of the birth pains”—signs that God’s new world is on the way (13:8). We should not be alarmed (13:7). But we must be on our guard, so we are not led astray (13:5b, 9, 21–23). Jesus’s speech also includes commands and promises that apply to the whole church age. The gospel must be proclaimed to all nations (13:10). The Holy Spirit will enable us to bear witness to Christ (13:11). The one who endures to the end will be saved (13:13).

In the midst of these general instructions, Jesus warns his disciples that within their own lifetimes “the abomination of desolation” will be found “standing where he ought not to be” (13:14). He draws this image from the prophet Daniel, who links “the abomination” to the “desolation” of the Jerusalem temple (Dan. 8:13; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). Jesus thus prophesies that Jerusalem itself will be destroyed, as the Gospel of Luke makes clear (Luke 21:20). This prophecy was fulfilled in AD70 when God sent the Roman armies to besiege and destroy the city. It was God’s judgment on his faithless people, on the city that rejected his Son. Jesus therefore warns his disciples to flee from the city at that time (13:14). He also promises that God himself will “cut short the days” so that the gospel will go out to the nations and all of God’s “elect”—believing Jews and Gentiles together—will be saved (13:14–20).

Ultimately, this final day—when Jesus comes to judge the world—will be a day of joy for all of those who are waiting for him.

At the climax of the speech, Jesus lifts our eyes to the end. In Mark 13:24 he says “but in those days, after that tribulation …” The strong contrast indicates that he now speaks of a new period of time. Jesus underlines the distinction by explaining that while the disciples will see the destruction of Jerusalem—“when you see …” (13:14), the whole world will see the climactic events of the end—“then they will see …” (13:26). What the world will see is Jesus himself, “the Son of Man, coming in clouds with great power and glory” (13:26). This is the glorious final day of Jesus’s return to judge the world. He speaks of himself as “the Son of Man”—the glorious figure from Daniel’s vision who comes on the clouds to establish God’s kingdom over all the earth (Dan. 7:13–14). It is true that in his first coming, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). But in his second coming, he will come from heaven in power and glory to judge and to reign over all the earth. Every eye will see him coming (cf. Rev. 1:7). And then he will send out his angels to gather his elect from the ends of the earth (13:27).

This final coming of Jesus will be nothing less than the final coming of God. Like the coming of God announced in the prophets, Jesus’s coming will convulse the cosmos (Mark 13:24–25; cf. Isa. 13:10; 34:4; Joel 2:10; 3:14–15). In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus adds that—like the coming of God at Sinai—his coming will be announced by a “loud trumpet call” (Matt. 24:31; cf. Ex. 19:16–17; Isa. 27:12–13; Zech. 9:14–17). It will light up the sky “like lightening” (Matt. 24:27; cf. Ex. 19:16; Ps. 18:14; Zech. 9:14). Jesus further expands this picture to make it clear that when he comes, he will come to judge and to reign. He will be seated as “King” on his royal “throne” (Matt. 25:31, 34). All the nations will be gathered before him to receive his blessing or his curse (25:31, 34, 41). His faithful servants will hear his voice saying “well done good and faithful servant” (25:21, 23). They will “inherit the kingdom prepared” for them “from the foundation of the world” (25:34). But the wicked, who rejected him, will be cast out of his presence and suffer eternal punishment (25:41, 46). And so God’s kingdom will come in all its fullness.

These are weighty realities, and so Jesus urges his disciples—and us—to be ready for that great final day. Unlike “all these things” relating to the destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred within a generation (Mark 13:29–30; cf. 13:4), the final “day” and “hour” are unknown (13:32). Faithful disciples must, therefore, “be on guard” and “keep awake,” ever ready for the Lord’s return (13:33). To be ready for the coming King we must, fundamentally, repent of our sins, and embrace him as our Savior. We must avoid being weighed down with sin and pray for his strength to persevere in faith (Luke 21:34–36). We must serve him with the gifts and talents he provides (Matt. 25:14–30). We must care for the least of these his brothers (25:35–40) and play our part in taking the gospel to the nations (24:14). Ultimately, this final day—when Jesus comes to judge the world—will be a day of joy for all of those who are waiting for him. The apostle Peter, who was there on the mountain when Jesus gave this speech, encourages us: “set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13). In a changing and uncertain world, this promise of yet more grace is what we need to give us hope.

Murray Smith is the author of Jesus’ Speech on the Mount of Olives: A 12-Week Study.

Murray J. Smith (PhD, Macquarie University) is lecturer in biblical theology and exegesis at Christ College, Sydney. He is the author of several books and articles. Murray serves as general editor for New Testament of the Reformed Exegetical and Theological Commentary on Scripture, as coeditor of the series We Believe: Studies in Reformed Biblical Doctrine, and as cohost of the Down Under Theology podcast.

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Overcoming Anxiety and Insecurity in Parenting

Adam Griffin — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 18, 2025 by: Adam Griffin

The Fruit of the Spirit

Two of the most common things that parents face are anxiety and insecurity. And in Galatians 5, you’ll not find anxiety or insecurity listed as fruits of the Spirit. They are not something that comes from God and walking with God. It’s intrinsic and natural for parents to feel this way. Anxiety comes from a desire to have control over our circumstances and not lose things, and insecurity comes from a self-awareness that admits, I’m not perfect. I’m falling short.

It’s typical for us to feel anxiety because we want something important to go well, and we feel like it’s up to us to do so. And when it doesn’t, we get scared, or we feel like, by the power of our worry, we might be able to control our circumstances.

But what you see in the Gospels is a difference between people who aren’t Christ and Christ himself. People who aren’t Christ will be anxious in a boat that’s in a storm. They’re afraid, they’re fearful, they’re crying out, Are you not concerned about what we’re concerned about?

And yet they look to Christ, and what is Christ doing? Christ does not fret. He’s not anxious. Paul actually tells us we have nothing to be anxious about—“Be anxious about nothing” (Phil. 4:6). Similarly, insecurity is a natural part of being a person who’s aware of their own propensity to make mistakes. But that is not a fruit of the Spirit. Peace is a fruit of the Spirit. Insecurity is not a fruit of the Spirit. But you know what is? Goodness.

Somehow, even in our imperfection, even in my sin (we all fall short of the glory of God), God would say that somehow goodness is in me. Where does that goodness come from? It’s not intrinsic to me. It comes from the Lord. But when I walk with the Lord, there can be goodness in me. There can be peace in me. And peace is not the absence of difficult circumstances; it’s the presence of contentment in the midst of them. And our sense of goodness is not the absence of sin in our lives. We will always, on this side of heaven, have sin. But we believe that there is good work to be done that the Lord calls us to, and he is pleased with those who have faith.

If we want peace and goodness, it starts with faith.

If we want peace and goodness, it starts with faith. It comes from trusting that God knows, God can, and God is taking care of me. And so when I trust that I am home-free—that my victory is assured, and no one can take it away from me, and no one can separate me from the love of God—then I have faith and trust in a holy God who will not drop me, and no one can wrestle me away from his grip.

So where do I lay my anxiety? Scripture says I can cast all my anxieties onto him because, Peter says, he cares for me. And since God cares for me, everything I have that is anxious and insecure can be cast down at his feet. And that is one of the greatest privileges of the Christian parent. All that anxiety and insecurity I can cast off. It doesn’t have to stick to me. Let it roll off my back. Why? Because he cares for me.

Adam Griffin is the author of Good News for Parents: How God Can Restore Our Joy and Relieve Our Burdens.

Adam Griffin (DEdMin, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the lead pastor of Eastside Community Church in Dallas, Texas. He is the host of The Family Discipleship Podcast and the author of numerous books for parents and children including Family Discipleship: Leading Your Home through Time, Moments, and Milestones and When Wrong Seems Right: A Kids Bible Study on Making Good Choices. Adam is married to Chelsea and they have three sons, Oscar, Gus, and Theodore.

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Why Do We Fail to See God?

Paul David Tripp — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 18, 2025 by: Paul David Tripp

Value Mismatch

Sometimes we struggle with God not because he is unloving or unfaithful (he never is!) but because our values don’t match his. When we read through the biblical narrative, we realize that God’s primary agenda is not that we would achieve a comfortable and pleasurable life between the “already” and the “not yet.” Think about what makes you frustrated, irritated, disappointed, or sad. Think about what makes you happy, satisfied, or content. What causes these feelings? How many of your joys and sorrows have anything whatsoever to do with the kingdom and purposes of God? How often do you mourn your lack of conformity to his perfect and wise will? How often do you celebrate the outpouring of daily grace? How often are you grieved because your heart still wanders? How often are you grateful that God meets you every day with rescuing and restraining mercies? Many of us don’t need a disaster in order to feel frustration and disappointment; no, a flat tire or missing the subway on the way to work can wreck our day.

We experience sturdy joy—the kind that does not rise or fall with our circumstances—when what we want most for ourselves matches what God wants for us. But if what we want is not the thing that God wants most for us, then we are living at cross-purposes with him and struggle to see him as kind, good, faithful, and loving. And when we begin to question the goodness of God, we stop going to him for help and instead we seek help only from those who we think are good and trustworthy.

Elihu entered the scene of this great moral drama in Job 32 to correct Job’s three counselors. Although in some ways Elihu is as legalistic as Job’s other friends, he has moments of wisdom and insight:

God speaks in one way,
and in two, though man does not perceive it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
while they slumber on their beds,
then he opens the ears of men
and terrifies them with warnings,
that he may turn man aside from his deed
and conceal pride from a man;
he keeps back his soul from the pit,
his life from perishing by the sword. (Job 33:14–18)

Elihu is on to something. Why do we fail to see God? Why do we fail to hear his words? It is not because he has forsaken us. It is not because he is silent. It is because while we are worrying about why our lives have been so hard, God is working on something much more significant and glorious than the comforts of the moment. With wisdom, faithfulness, and rescuing grace, he is securing our eternal rescue. And that is a reason to celebrate!

This article is adapted from Everyday Gospel Christmas Devotional by Paul David Tripp.

Paul David Tripp (DMin, Westminster Theological Seminary) is a pastor, an award-winning author, and an international conference speaker. He has written numerous books, including Lead; Parenting; and the bestselling devotional New Morning Mercies. His not-for-profit ministry exists to connect the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life. Tripp lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Luella, and they have four grown children.

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Podcast: How to Read 4 Confusing and Controversial Passages in Romans (Brian Rosner)

Crossway — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 17, 2025 by: Crossway

This article is part of the The Crossway Podcast series.

How to Read Romans Better

Dr. Brian Rosner discusses how to read Romans as an exposition of the gospel in all its fullness, and the various ways this book strengthens the church for Christian living. Dr. Rosner also takes a closer look at some of the controversial, confusing, and difficult passages in Romans by taking into account the book’s background, context, and purpose.

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00:32 - Presenting the Gospel

Matt Tully
Brian Rosner lectures a New Testament at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia. He’s also the author of Strengthened by the Gospel: A Theology of Romans, which is part of the New Testament Theology Series from Crossway. Brian, thanks so much for joining me today on The Crossway Podcast.

Brian Rosner
Thanks, Matt. It’s great to be here.

Matt Tully
Romans has to be one of, if not the most, studied book of the Bible. I think we probably all have a sense for why that might be. There’s just so much packed into this incredible letter that the apostle Paul wrote, but I’d love to hear your explanation. Why is it that you think Romans is so well-studied and so important for us as Christians?

Brian Rosner
I think there are a few reasons. The first would be its influence throughout the centuries, even millennia. Romans has been absolutely fundamental right from the word "go." And in particular, as we all know, the Protestant Reformation found Romans and Galatians to be formative and significant and revolutionary, really. So, that’s the first reason. The second reason is it’s the longest Pauline letter, and it lays out in the most systematic, comprehensive and complete way that Paul understood his gospel. And as Christians, the gospel’s such an important thing. That has meant two things. One, it’s been really helpful, but on the other hand, it’s been really controversial in so many ways. There are so many passages in there that produce enormous debates and sometimes, unfortunately, conflict.

Matt Tully
We’re going to turn to some of those tricky passages here in the conversation today, but that was one of the challenges for me as I was thinking about this conversation. Which passages do I pick? There are so many really important, really foundational doctrines that Paul explains in this book and addresses in this book. It’s kind of hard to know where to start sometimes.

Brian Rosner
Yeah, I think that’s right. And it’s partly, as I said, because Romans is the first letter in the Pauline letter collection in the New Testament. And from the earliest days of the Christian church, that was pretty much the order that the scribes and the church put it in. And I think that’s actually for a reason. It presents Paul’s gospel. And then, if you like, the following letters apply that gospel. Paul takes the gospel and he applies that gospel to the different contexts and problems and settings in which the churches and the individuals to whom he’s writing find themselves. And certainly, the reason he does that (lays out his gospel so helpfully and comprehensively) is he’s never visited Rome. So, whereas usually in the story of the New Testament letters to churches, Paul’s already been there and he’s established the church. So, he is really writing with a lot of knowledge which is assumed by the church, and he is applying that knowledge to a different set of problems or contexts. Whereas in Romans, he’s never been there, so he has to present the gospel in full in order to commend himself to the church.

Matt Tully
Oh, that’s such an interesting insight. That explains the slightly more systematic, and like you said, comprehensive nature to the book of Romans.

Brian Rosner
Yes, I think that’s right. And the purpose of Romans then, once you understand its purpose, it helps us to discern what use to put the book. I think that’s a really significant feature.

Matt Tully
What do we know about when Romans was written, relative to the other Paul epistles?

Brian Rosner
It was probably written somewhere around the mid 50s. So, the chronology of the early church and the documents that make up the New Testament, it’s highly debated, really. But from what we can tell, on one of his missionary journeys, Paul wrote to the Romans. And scholars usually talk about three different reasons he wrote. He wrote with a missionary purpose. In Romans 15 he says that he wants to take the gospel to Spain, where Christ has never been named, and he’d like to use Rome as a base of operations. He wants them to set him off on his way to Spain. And actually, the Greek word, propempo, which basically means he wants them to financially support him. So, that’s a missionary purpose. There’s also an apologetic purpose. He wants to commend his gospel and defend it to the Romans so that they find his apostleship acceptable and they come in his orbit. And then the third reason is a kind of pastoral purpose. But I’ve got a slightly different take than many commentators, actually, on the pastoral purpose of Romans.

Matt Tully
What is that?

Brian Rosner
Oh, glad you asked. Basically, Romans used to be thought of, by the Reformers, as a compendium of Christian doctrine—you go there to find about human depravity, the wrath of God, justification, union with Christ, the place of Israel, sanctification, and so on. Although, I think that’s not really doing the Reformers a good service, but we could talk about that another time.

Matt Tully
That’s our shorthand version of how they read it.

Brian Rosner
Exactly. And then scholars have realized Romans is actually an occasional letter, like all the other Pauline epistles. And many scholars have said that the occasion into which Paul’s writing is revealed to us in chapters 14 and 15. There’s a disagreement between Jewish and Gentile background believers in Rome, and Paul writes Romans right from the start with that in mind, because Jew/Gentile is a big theme throughout. And that’s the reason he wrote Romans. The only problem with that is I disagree with it. One scholar has a book called Reading Romans Backwards, so you basically read the letter in the light of that dispute. However, I actually think there are problems with that scenario. If you do what’s called mirror reading Romans, you kind of wonder, Why does Paul say that that is an issue that’s reflected (mirror) in the church in Rome? And if you do that, then you could imagine just as much divisions in Rome as sexual immorality and all sorts of other problems. So, I think a better way of understanding the purpose of Romans is given to us in what’s called the letter frame—the opening thanksgiving and address and then the closing greetings. So, in Romans 1:11 and 15, we get a clue to the purpose of the letter. Romans 1:11 says, "I want to impart you a spiritual gift, which will strengthen you." And then in Romans 15 he says, "I want to preach the gospel to you in Rome." And then in Romans 16:25 he says, "Now may God strengthen you with my gospel," and I could put in brackets, "which I’ve just preached to you throughout the letter." And it’s fascinating because the verb for "to strengthen" is only used twice, at those points in Romans. And then he only uses that verb elsewhere in the Pauline letters in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, when he writes back to them to strengthen them with the gospel. And then a very similar verb is used by the book of Acts, where Paul has already been to an established church, and he goes back to, you guessed it, strengthen them with the gospel. So, I think that’s really the purpose of Romans. Paul’s writing to the Roman church not just to get them on his side for his mission, but to strengthen them for Christian living, to give them hope, to cope with suffering, to deal with sin and divisions, and all sorts of matters. That makes the letter so helpful for us in our day because, basically, that’s why we should read Romans as well. You could sum up Paul’s career with two verbs: evangelize (or preach the gospel) and strengthen. And he does the same thing with that gospel everywhere we read his letters and in Acts.

Matt Tully
What do we know about the Roman church at this time?

Brian Rosner
Oh, very little, to be honest. What we know is there were house churches. The greetings might clue us into that, in Roman 16. We know that there were both Jewish background and Gentile background believers, just by the way Paul writes to different groups in the letter.

Matt Tully
Because Rome was a very multicultural, very broad city with people from all over the world at the time, gathering there.

Brian Rosner
Yes, exactly. It was a cosmopolitan city, the capital of the empire. There were believers from Rome, we read in Acts 2, at Pentecost, and some may well have become believers then and taken the gospel back to Rome and established churches themselves. As I said earlier, Paul had never been to Rome, so I think that’s quite significant in working out the context and setting of the letter and his purpose in writing.

Matt Tully
One last question before we get into a number of tricky or difficult to understand passages in this book. Obviously, with the whole New Testament, the backdrop for the letters that Paul wrote and the Gospels that the Gospel writers wrote, is the Old Testament—the Old Testament Scriptures. There are so many allusions and quotations from the Old Testament that become really central to how we understand what was going on with Jesus and the gospel. If you had to point to one or two Old Testament books, which ones would be most significant, most foundational for the book of Romans?

Brian Rosner
Yes, a good question. You’re right. Paul opens the book by saying he’s going to tell them about the gospel of God, and then verse two says, "which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures." And then at the end of the book, he says pretty much the same thing. So, yes indeed. There are several books that are really significant for Romans. The Book of Genesis—Genesis 15:6. "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness" is a significant text in his doctrine of justification. The book of Habakkuk, which he quotes in Romans 1:16–17, "The just shall live by faith."

Matt Tully
Not one that we’ve read in our Bible study recently, most likely.

Brian Rosner
Possibly not.

Matt Tully
Maybe we should.

Brian Rosner
Indeed.

Matt Tully
Paul certainly had.

Brian Rosner
And the book of Isaiah is also very important. And all of Paul’s letters are indebted to the Old Testament. The Old Testament’s basically the backstory, if you like, of the gospel. You could read Harry Potter volume four and still make sense of it, but if you really want to get it in full technicolor surround sound, you need to read the first three volumes. So, the best prep for reading Romans is to read the Old Testament.

Matt Tully
It’s such an interesting facet of Paul’s identity and his mission as an apostle is he comes from the ultimate Jewish background. He is like the Jew of all Jews, essentially. And yet he is then sent (commissioned) to go to the Gentiles and bring this gospel to them. But he nevertheless has so much of this understanding of the Old Testament—really rich theology built into his thinking and writing.

Brian Rosner
Absolutely. The study of the Old Testament in the New Testament is the key to biblical theology, and making those links and recognizing those links is fundamental. Now, it is true that Paul was a Jew and very much took that identity, and it remained for him. But on the other hand, he’s also a Roman citizen. In a sense, he was well-equipped. He was fluent in Greek, and he was suited to the task of taking the gospel of God to the Gentile world. He never left behind his passion—the burden of preaching the gospel to his fellow Jews—and that comes through in Romans 9–11, of course, and in other parts of the letter. So, it’s true to say Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, but not exclusively.

12:33 - Romans 5:12–14

Matt Tully
Yeah, absolutely. Let’s turn to some of these tricky passages. The first one I want to talk about is Romans 5:12–14. It is a really important passage that explains how sin and death enter the world and how that entrance of sin parallels, in some ways, Christ and his work of salvation. My first question is, How can we understand the justice of this idea that sin and death spread to all humanity through the disobedience and through the fall of one man, Adam?

Brian Rosner
It’s a good question, and it’s one that Christian scholars have wrestled with throughout the ages. Romans 5:12–21, as you say, makes a comparison between Adam and Christ, or really, a comparison and contrast. That’s important.

Matt Tully
There are similarities and differences.

Brian Rosner
Absolutely. In Paul’s view of the world, there are only two sorts of people—there are those people who are in Adam, and there are those people who are in Christ. Now, we divide the world up in all sorts of ways, as did the ancient world. The ancient world had Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slaves and free, and so on. Paul cuts through all that, and he says the only division that really counts is between those who are in Adam and in Christ.

Matt Tully
That could have been a pretty shocking statement, especially for a Roman citizen but certainly also for a Jew, to kind of downplay all those other cultural distinctives and identities and say it’s really just about these two things.

Brian Rosner
Absolutely. And the radical nature of that statement is that it levels people in society. It makes possible the brilliance of the early church, which was that people of all backgrounds and social statuses were part of one body of Christ on an equal level, which was absolutely revolutionary for the ancient world—and it still is today. The best churches have that varied membership. People don’t come along and the rich get the best seats. When things are working well, they ought not to get the best seats. There’s a sense in which the multi-background and varied nature of the early church is a wonderful gift to the world, because it brings people together who don’t ordinarily belong together and unites them on an equal basis in one body simply by their love of Christ.

Matt Tully
But that’s rooted in this representation issue, or this idea that Paul’s outlining. Go back to how that can make sense. How can that be just?

Brian Rosner
The best way to understand it is through the word you just mentioned—representation. So Adam represents everyone on his team, if you like. Team sports might be a helpful analogy. And because of his sin, all of us get condemned to death. Now, that does sound unjust. One little note there is that we also are condemned to death clearly and justly through our own sin. Elsewhere in Romans, you’ve got that affirmed—"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The first three chapters make that point. But the good news about the fact that we all die in Adam—that we die through a representative—is that we can also rise through a representative. And that’s the beautiful thing about the analogy that Paul paints here for us. Therefore, as he says in verse 18, just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness—that’s Christ’s act of righteousness in his life and death—leads to justification and life for all men. So, there’s this wonderful truth that our completely hopeless condition of being dead in sin before God can be rectified through the death and resurrection of our representative head, namely, Christ.

Matt Tully
That verse you just quoted, some people will point to that and say for the parallelism to hold true, then if literally all of humanity is counted sinful in Adam, then likewise, all of humanity will ultimately be saved and be declared righteous in Christ. How do you respond to that? That seems to be what the parallelism would indicate.

Brian Rosner
You’ve got to let Paul say one thing at a time. That’s the best way to understand that. The previous verse, verse 17, makes it clear that those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness will reign through Jesus Christ. The statement in verse 18 that we just read is to be understood in light of that condition. So, even though Paul says "the many will be made righteous," "the many" is to be understood in the context of Romans 5 and elsewhere in Romans, as those who’ve responded in faith.

Matt Tully
And clearly, Paul makes it very clear that faith is the key that unlocks justification.

Brian Rosner
Absolutely. Yes. As I said, you’ve got to allow Paul to say one thing at a time. He’s a very forceful communicator sometimes. I love this part of Romans because, as I said, it gives us, at the deepest level, an understanding of how we can be raised to life, namely, through our representative, Christ. We died with Christ in union with him, and we can also rise with him.

Matt Tully
Last question about Romans five. Going back to verse 13, what does it mean when Paul says that sin was not counted before the law, and what law is he even referring to in this passage?

Brian Rosner
Basically, he’s talking about sin as trespass, which is when you break a law. And between Adam, he says, and Moses, there wasn’t a law to be broken. It doesn’t mean no one sinned, but there isn’t a trespass, a breaking of the law. So you have to ask yourself, Well, why is it that people died between Adam and Moses? And the answer’s right there. It’s because we died in Adam. Adam was our representative head, and his sin is counted against us. And for that reason, we die even though we haven’t sinned ourselves, let’s say. But as I said, the rest of Romans makes clear that our condemnation is just, even on the basis of our individual sin.

Matt Tully
Is Paul just acknowledging the fact that between Adam and Moses there was no divine law, like Israel got from Moses?

Brian Rosner
There was no Mosaic covenant. There were no Ten Commandments.

Matt Tully
But he’s not denying that humanity was sinful and rebellious and that, therefore, they were deserving of death.

Brian Rosner
Absolutely not. If you read the opening chapters of Genesis, it’s just terrible. Mm-hmm. You’ve got the violence, for example, that led to the flood, that judgment. And Adam did commit a trespass, because he did have a law—he was not to eat of the tree—and that’s the reason he died, because he broke a law. So, Paul’s trying to make his comparison—his analogy between Adam and Christ—work, and there’s a problem for him, because if we all die because of Adam’s trespass, then how come the people between Adam and Moses didn’t die? It’s clear why people died since Moses, we all break laws. How come the people between Adam and Moses didn’t die? The answer is because Adam was their representative and we die in him.

20:24 - Romans 7

Matt Tully
Let’s move on to Romans 7, another really important, debated passage when it comes to how Paul is speaking about his own life and his decisions, his will, and the power of the law over him. Let’s dive into Romans 7:8, where Paul says that "sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, through the law, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died." What is he saying? Maybe this is similar to what we just talked about, but how does he understand the law and sin in our own life?

Brian Rosner
Romans 7 is one of the more controversial passages. And just to paint the big picture, the question is, When Paul describes this situation where this indwelling sin is causing him to be, let’s say, enslaved to sin (to use the strongest language), how could that be a Christian’s experience? Is it just a carnal Christian’s experience, a kind of subpar Christian experience, or is Paul talking about his non-Christian experience before he came to Christ as a Jew? My sense is quite a bit of that debate is exaggerated, because the people who think Romans 7 is about Paul’s pre-Christian experience, they’re not saying that there’s no conflict in the Christian life. Because Romans 8 has conflict. It’s got conflict between the flesh and the Spirit (Gal. 5, Eph. 6, the spiritual warfare). And those who see Romans 7 about Christian experience would say that Romans 8 compliments, or supplements, or gives the fuller picture of what it is to be in Christ. So I think this passage is a realistic account of the struggles of the Christian life, but it doesn’t leave us despairing because, as I said, when you get to the end of the chapter and then on into Romans 8, the solution is there for us, namely, the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, which enables us to put sin to death and not have sin have mastery over us.

Matt Tully
How do we understand what he’s saying though about the effect of the law on sin in us? He talks about how, again, apart from the law, sin lies dead. What’s he getting at there?

Brian Rosner
One of the big issues Paul has to struggle with and has to explain is the role of Torah, the Law of Moses. As a good Jew, he regarded the law as a good thing. In fact, in verse 12, a few verses later, he says exactly that—"the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good." But the question comes up, If God gave us the law, how come it didn’t lead to salvation? And his answer is that it’s not the law’s problem; it’s our problem. And the fact is, the law, ironically, in the end stirred up sin because the commandment came, and human nature is such that when we’re given a commandment, it’s almost as if it stirs up disobedience.

Matt Tully
A desire to disobey.

Brian Rosner
I don’t know if you are like this, Matt, but if you’re walking past something that says "Wet paint. Don’t touch," it’s very tempting just to touch it.

Matt Tully
"Wet concrete"—you just want to stick your little footprint in there just to see what happens. When he says, "for apart from the law, sin lies dead, " he’s not saying that, again, that sin isn’t a problem without the formal written law.

Brian Rosner
No. Absolutely not. In the opening chapters of Romans, Romans 1:18–32, he’s talking about people without God’s written revelation and all sorts of evil behavior. It’s a really ugly chapter in many ways. You’ve got idolatry, you’ve got sexual immorality, and then at the end of the chapter, you’ve got this terrible vice list about disobedience to parents and rage and foul language and so on.

Matt Tully
And it strikes me as another good example—and there are so many of these throughout Scripture, particularly in Paul’s writings—where if we just take one verse, or even a couple of verses, out of context, we can understand Paul to be saying something very different from what I think he’s actually saying, as we read him in the fuller context of his own writings but even of the whole Bible. Speak to that a little bit—the importance of reading with a slightly broader view when it comes to interpreting some of these difficult passages.

Brian Rosner
I think, as I said earlier, the backstory is important—understanding why Paul is, in this case in Roman 7, needing to deal with the law of Moses? What’s the big deal? And the answer is that one of the big problems for the early church was that it was to include both Jews and Gentiles. The other issue is simply the literary context of the book itself. And the way I would explain it is we tend to read books like a bowling ball. You kind of knock over one verse after another, whereas we should read them like a snowball. So, there should be a cumulative effect of our reading. So, you’ve got both prospective and retrospective reading. Retrospective reading would be looking back at the argument up to this point in the letter, and on subsequent readings of the letter, you’ve also got in mind what’s following. To get the full picture, you’ve really got to read the whole book. That’s why I advocate both fast reading and slow reading.

Matt Tully
That just speaks to, even as Christians in our normal day-to-day lives, the importance and the value of reading and probably rereading passages in books of the Bible, not just kind of giving it one pass and thinking we’ve kind of got it. Most of these books, certainly a Pauline letter, can really demand repeated readings, as we understand the flow of his argument.

Brian Rosner
And the truth is, too, when you read something, you bring your own circumstances and background to it. For example, if you’re not suffering, you’d barely notice what the book of Romans teaches us about suffering. But if you’re really struggling with something in your life, suddenly, these quite familiar passages pop out at you and bring great comfort. Another example would be that in our day, personal identity has become a really important hot button topic, and the Bible says so many amazing things. Roman 6 is such a classic passage on this and gives us this idea that the defining moment of our lives isn’t something we achieve in our life; it’s that we died with Christ. And we also have a defining destiny, that we’ll rise with him. Yeah, I recommend rereading the Bible.

27:13 - Romans 11

Matt Tully
Let's go ahead to Romans 11, another one of these somewhat controversial chapters where Paul speaks a lot about Israel—this idea of Israel, the people of Israel. He has some interesting comments. In verses 25 and 26, he speaks of this partial hardening that has come upon national Israel until "the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way, all Israel will be saved." And obviously, there are Christians throughout the decades who have disagreed and debated about what he means by "all Israel;" what he means when he says, "all Israel will be saved;" and what the hardening is that he references. What’s your take on this passage?

Brian Rosner
I think it’s good to read it in context, believe it or not. The immediately preceding context is quite surprising because at the end of this profound discussion of the place of Israel in God’s plans, election, reprobation—all those big topics in Romans 9–11—at the end of chapter 11, he says, "Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and inscrutable his ways! Who has known the mind of the Lord?" No one.

Matt Tully
The implied answer is no one.

Brian Rosner
So there’s a sense we should approach some passages, let’s say, with humility and some modesty. Now, it doesn’t mean we don’t really know God, but we don’t know the depths of God. When we come to this passage, I think that’s a good way to set up the discussion. So, the big question here is, Who is Israel? The two options are that Israel is really another name for the church. The church is the new Israel. The problem with that is Paul doesn’t use the word "Israel" for anything other than national or ethnic Israel. That’s debated, of course. One of the key texts there is Galatians 6:16, where Paul says that he gives a blessing to the Israel of God. But here, if all Israel is ethnic Israel, the questions then are, When will this happen? When will it be that the deliverer will come from Zion and banish ungodliness from Jacob? When will it be that all Israel will be saved? What does it mean all Israel will be saved? So, I’m of the view, and as I said just tentatively along with those who understand that at the end time, for Israel (referring to ethnic Israel) there’s a future salvation promise to them. This salvation’s a future of event that will become a reality when Jesus returns. So, the deliverer will come from Zion. All Israel is actually a phrase from the Old Testament. It doesn’t mean every Israelite; it means a remnant of Israelites. So, all Israel needs to be interpreted as well. I think this is somewhat of a mystery, but it does seem that God’s historic people will eventually, a great many of them at the return of Christ, acknowledge that their Messiah has come and be saved.

30:24 - Romans 14

Matt Tully
Maybe as a last passage to talk about, let’s turn to Romans 14. And you already said that some people view Romans 14 as an important insight into some of the issues that Paul was trying to address in this letter to the Romans.

Brian Rosner
It’s a wonderful passage. Romans 14 and 15 deals with how Christians are to disagree agreeably, if you like. There’s some real emotional intelligence insights here because he talks about not condemning and not despising one another. And sadly, of course, the church falls into those traps. People of a more conservative background often despise those of less conservative background and condemn them and vice versa. So, what’s happening in Romans 14 is—and I don’t think it’s necessarily the reason for the letter, but I think this is teaching that Paul found important wherever he went, because he was bringing Jews and Gentiles together. People from a Jewish background wanted perhaps to keep the laws to do with diet and calendar. He talks about days and food. And people from a Gentile background said, "No, we’re not under the law. Paul himself teaches us that earlier in the letter and says we don’t have to do that." So there were disputes in churches like Rome, in all likelihood, and in other parts of the Roman Empire where Paul taught. And what’s so remarkable about the passage is what we open with, this idea that the gospel strengthens us. Paul doesn’t just say they need to stop squabbling because it’s a bad look, or for pragmatic reasons. It’s for deeply theological reason. It’s because of the gospel. He says that the lordship of Christ is the important thing here, that each person is accountable directly to the Lord Christ, and must give an account. And he also says that God is able to make each one of us stand, so the gospel of justification is there. At another point, he says the kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking, not about these disputable matters; it’s about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God is a big theme there. And then the glory of God comes in at the end of the passage. So, it’s remarkably theologically grounded, but it’s also extraordinary, as you opened with, that Paul thinks some matters can legitimately be those which Christians come to a different position on, according to your cultural background. One of the wonderful things about the Christian faith is it doesn’t impose a culture; it comes into a culture and contextualizes the gospel into that culture. Some of the Christians in Rome wanted to keep Sabbath the food laws, and Paul says that’s fine, as long as everything you do is of faith, because whatever’s not of faith is of sin. Faith there means something like "whatever isn’t of confident assurance in your walk with God." In different cultures, disputable matters might be all sorts of different things. Asking ourselves what’s a matter that’s disputable and what’s beyond dispute, of course, is a tough one. Sometimes people talk about gospel issues and non-gospel issues, or primary issues and secondary issues. The secondary issues are not secondary for the people who hold those convictions. So we’ve got to be careful in the language we use. But it’s a wonderful passage which demonstrates the way in which the gospel can lead to a harmonious, edifying Christian community. And then ultimately, he goes on in the rest of chapter 15 talking about his gospel message and his mission work. And he wants them to praise God with one heart, mind, and voice, so that the gospel can succeed. What’s at stake when we disagree badly is not just the harm and pain that causes; it actually impedes the progress of the gospel, because our reputation as the church is inextricably linked to the gospel and to God’s own reputation. It’s really a sobering thought. So, how we behave will either adorn the gospel or it’ll bring disrepute to the gospel.

Matt Tully
As you said already, it can be so hard to know which disagreements fall into this kind of category. One of the main ways that I’ve heard people interpret this passage is they’ll kind of say that these weak Christians who think they can only eat vegetables, in this case, or think they must observe certain holy days, that Paul ultimately would disagree with them. He says they’re wrong, but because they have this erroneous or immature conviction, they shouldn’t go against it because that would be, in their mind, intentionally disobeying or dishonoring the Lord, and that would be a sin. Do you take that view? When it comes to people who have these convictional restrictions, are they inherently always kind of immature in their thinking? Or do you think that there are certain convictions that could be God-given that might differ from person to person?

Brian Rosner
I think verse 14 is really helpful here in chapter 14, where Paul says, "I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself." So there’s a sense in which Paul actually does identify with the strong. In a sense, what he’s doing there is he’s doing some teaching. So it may be that the weak Christians (the weakened conscience) will read that and hear that and think, I’m not really under the law, so I don’t need to keep these laws anymore. But Paul doesn’t insist on it. So there’s a sense in which Paul says each person should be convinced in their own mind. And as I said earlier, whatever is not of faith is sin for that person. So I think, yes, we need to teach on disputable matters, but we ought not to exaggerate their significance. We ought not to teach insistently on disputable matters. And my view would be we only really need to teach on disputable matters when they concern our behavior. If we have to have a policy at the local church level on certain disputable matters, that’s fine. But we shouldn’t give the impression that anyone who disagrees with us is disobeying God or is to be despised. That’s when the challenge comes. So it’s remarkable that the apostle Paul, who’s known as the head kicker—"Whoever doesn’t believe the gospel I’m preaching, let them be accursed," he says in Galatians 1—but in other parts of Romans, he’s much more insistent. But on disputable matters, he’s not. My criterion for determining if something is disputable would be are there faithful Bible teachers who hold to a different view on these matters? And we ought not to impugn other people’s motives. It’s very easy for us to say, "Well, that person holds that view because of this, that, and the other." But the truth is, we don’t know their motives. And most of our motives are mixed anyway. So we should ask ourselves, Is this really an issue that we should be dividing over? Is it an issue that should cause the body of Christ to be rent asunder? Romans 14 is a wonderful call to, as he puts it in verse 19, for pursuing what makes for peace and mutual edification.

Matt Tully
Maybe as we wrap up our conversation today, is there any other passage or verse or two in this book that you feel just captures the essence of what Paul’s trying to do? And what should we take away from this incredible letter?

Brian Rosner
I think reading Romans as an exposition of the gospel in all its fullness and its implications for Christian living is the best way to read the letter. And when you do that, Romans 15:13 is fulfilled. Paul’s got this beautiful benediction there. He says, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope." Joy, peace, and hope—they are three such attractive things, aren’t they? And they’re certainly three things I want in my life. And the way to find them is to be strengthened by the gospel.

Matt Tully
So good. You also have faith in there, joy and peace in believing, through the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s just incredible. Brian, thank you so much for walking us through some of these tricky passages in Romans, helping us perhaps even to have a better understanding of what Paul’s doing, big picture, in a book that I’m sure we’ve all spent a lot of time in. We appreciate it.

Brian Rosner
Thanks, Matt.

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What Do Fire and Water Tell Us About Creation?

Tyler R. Wittman — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 17, 2025 by: Tyler R. Wittman

Theology of Creation

What is the doctrine of creation about?

At first glance, the doctrine of creation seems to be about creatures: the world and its many inhabitants (invisible and visible, organic and inorganic) as well as their origin, purposes, and so forth. That’s all true, but not quite true enough. After all, there are many ways of studying these things. We can know a great deal about the world, its environs and residents, without knowing any of it as created. That is to say, we can study these things in non-theological ways. The biologist, for example, knows a great deal about physiology and behavioral characteristics of living organisms but cannot really tell us that they are “creatures,” for that implies a “Creator.” So what makes the consideration of creatures theological?

Theology is “theological”—a discourse (logos) about God (theos)—when it keeps God as its primary subject matter and considers whatever else it considers in relation to God. Since God is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of everything, who holds it all together, and for whom all things exist, then we can only understand creation theologically in this light. Therefore, the doctrine of creation looks at creatures “as they are related to God.”¹

The doctrine of creation therefore gives us unique insight into life, the universe, and everything because it speaks about the Creator. Two brief illustrations help illustrate theology’s consideration of creation: What does theology say about fire and water?

Theology does not look at fire like a chemist does, as an exothermic reaction, but “as representing the sublimity of God.”² One reason God created fire is to symbolize his purifying holiness, which dispels darkness and cannot be approached incautiously: “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). Without this mysterious element, our world would be dark and cold, uninhabitable. Theologically, this is interesting because of what it reminds us about God: He dwells in light unapproachable, and it is by his light that we see any light at all (1 Tim. 6:16; Pss. 36:9; 104:2). As fire brightens and warms, so the Light creates understanding and affection: “Did not our hearts burn within us?” (Luke 24:32). Of course, God also created fire to physically warm us, brighten our paths, help us to boil our water, cook our food, and many other practical uses besides. But none of these purposes exhaust fire’s ultimate significance, which resides within its depths and is invisible to the purely natural mind (1 Cor. 2:14).

Now consider water. Theology’s interests are not in water as a compound substance, a molecule made of hydrogen and oxygen, but rather as a sign of God’s life-giving goodness. Water symbolizes God’s beneficent care, causing life to spring up out of the dry earth: “He did good by giving you rains from heaven” (Acts 14:17; cf. Deut. 28:15; Ps. 104:6–17). Water also reminds us of what is beyond our control. The water is untamed like God’s goodness, and it threatens to wash away what pollutes the land, and so refresh it (Gen. 8:2; Ps. 65:7; 1 Kgs. 18:41–46). For all these reasons, it teaches us the Spirit’s grace (Isa. 55:1; John 4:14).³

Other sciences can tell us things about the creation that theology cannot, but they cannot tell about things that depend neither on sense nor reason, but on the wonder of God’s love. Too often we think these sorts of reflections are fanciful “extras” to the “real” knowledge of, say, fire or water according to their elemental properties. But that is no different from someone too busy with the nutritional facts of a meal that he neglects to ever eat it. Little surprise, then, if he goes hungry.

The Word through whom all things were created has within himself the deepest truth of all things.

Wonder at God’s Works

Let’s take things one step further and suppose that our curious man proceeds to eat and enjoy the meal for its flavors and textures. What he has perceived is good, but it is not all that is good about the food. There are depths in the food he has eaten he has not appreciated because they cannot be perceived with the senses. Part of the doctrine of creation is to help us understand why this is the case. For every creature, every morsel of bread, cluster of grapes, or spoonful of honey extends to us infinite depths of the Creator’s wisdom and love. We appreciate them for the way they sustain our bodies and delight our senses, as we should, but we have not appreciated them rightly until we see them as tokens of the Creator’s goodness.

In one sense, squirrels may enjoy acorns more than any other animal. But the squirrels “consider neither the sun that gave them life, nor the influences of the heavens by which they were nourished, nor the very root of the tree from whence they came. This being the work of Angels, who in a wide and clear light see even the sea that gave them moisture: And feed upon that acorn spiritually while they know the ends for which it was created, and feast upon all these as upon a World of Joys within it.”⁴ The Word through whom all things were created has within himself the deepest truth of all things. And insofar as the Word is the “food of the angels,” it is by contemplating creation in the Word of the Father that the angels consider so many spiritual depths.⁵ They see all created things—which we often take for granted—as miraculous rivulets of God’s wisdom and love. Moreover, angels serve as examples to us in this regard. Whether we consider a drink or not, it quenches our thirst: “but to see it flowing from His love who gave it unto man, quencheth the thirst even of the Holy Angels. To consider it, is to drink it spiritually.”⁶ Such spiritual “eating” and “drinking” is part of what the doctrine of creation encourages by virtue of its God-centered orientation. In short, a well-tuned doctrine of creation should foster a sense of surprise and wonder at God’s works.

This lesson is crucial, so that we aren’t distracted by secondary concerns when studying creation. Distraction happens through excessive attention to philosophical apologetics and the attempt “to understand and parrot the scientific knowledge of the world.” The doctrine of creation has implications for other sciences only to the extent that it concentrates on its unique subject matter, which is God. Acknowledging that the Creator is “uniquely absolute,” this doctrine relativizes any sense we have of the absolute importance of ourselves, our world, and our own questions and concerns.⁸ However, as theology focuses its attention on the Creator, it focuses on the One who knows the innermost secrets of his creatures and delights in them: “may the Lord rejoice in his works” (Pss. 104:31; 139:15–16). Just so, we are freed to imitate the Creator by studying and delighting in creatures as the works of his hands: “May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord” (Ps. 104:34).

Notes:

Aquinas, SCG II.4.1-2.
Aquinas, SCG II.4.1.
Both fire and water teach us about God’s judgment, but this is not different from saying that they teach us about the largesse of his goodness. For that goodness will brook no peace with evil, and God often punishes sinful creatures by depriving them of some goods in the pursuit of even greater things, such as his righteousness and peace. God thus establishes limits to the “sea” and his punishment of sin alike (Prov. 8:29; Exod. 34:7).
Thomas Traherne, Centuries I.26. I have substituted squirrels for Traherne’s pigs.
Bonaventure, Sermones selecti de rebus theologicis 4.12 (Opera 5:570).
Thomas Traherne, Centuries I.27. On the association of “eating” and “drinking” with spiritual perception and learning wisdom in the OT and Talmud, see Moses Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed I.30
Johann Auer,Die Welt, Gottes Schöpfung. Kleine Katholische Dogmatik III (Pustet, 1975), 24.
Auer, Die Welt, 66.

Tyler R. Wittman is the author of Creation: An Introduction.

Tyler Wittman (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is associate professor of theology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of the book God and Creation in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth and a variety of journal articles. Tyler and his wife, Jessie, have four children.

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The Surprising Benediction to the Book of Romans

Brian S. Rosner — Sun, 16 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 16, 2025 by: Brian S. Rosner

The Surprising Benediction in Romans 16:20a

It is tempting to skip over the final paragraphs of Paul’s letters, thinking they are simply polite and perfunctory formalities. But this misunderstands the function of such elements. The letter closings have much to offer and often round off the teaching of a letter in memorable fashion. Romans 16:20a is a case in point. It certainly packs a punch and is worth pondering at length.

In the letter closing of Romans, immediately before the final greetings (Rom. 16:21–23) and doxology (Rom. 16:25–27), Paul offers a striking benediction in 16:20a, which is an allusion to Genesis 3:15. It contains several unexpected elements. Three things take us by surprise: (1) it is the God “of peace” who undertakes the violent action against Satan; (2) it will happen under “the feet” of the Roman Christians; and (3) it will happen “soon”!

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet (Rom. 16:20a).

I [God] will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman
and between your offspring and hers;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel (Gen. 3:15).

In this short benediction, Paul recalls major gospel themes in Romans, including the work of Christ, union with Christ, suffering in the Christian life, the use of the Old Testament, and God’s final victory over evil. The promise of Romans 16:20a is a fitting way to recall and reinforce the key teaching of Romans on the gospel and the end of all things. It is also a wonderful encouragement for Christians today.

The basic message of Rom. 16:20a, the promise of the victory of believers over evil, picks up and draws together ideas from two specific texts in Romans 12–13. First, in Romans 12:17–21, Paul points to God’s decisive eschatological action against evil (Rom. 12:19: “leave room for God’s wrath”). He also holds out the prospect of believers having a part in overcoming evil themselves: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). In this way, the promise of God defeating evil in connection with the activity of believers in Romans 16:20a brings to mind the earlier text in Romans and is a fitting further encouragement for believers to do good in the present.

The reference to “evil” in Romans 12:21 picks up on two occurrences of the same word in Romans 12:17a (“Do not repay anyone evil for evil”). Given the widespread association of Satan with evil across the New Testament and the use of “the evil one” as a moniker for Satan (e.g., Matt. 5:37; 6:13; Luke 11:4; John 17:15; Eph. 6:16; 2 Thess. 3:3; 5x in 1 John), it is significant that in Romans 12:21 it is believers who triumph over evil.

A similar link can also be seen between Paul’s benediction and Romans 13:11–14. If in that passage Paul calls on Christians to behave well in the light of the coming eschaton, doing battle with the evils of self-indulgence and social strife, in Romans 16:20a, he repeats that the final victory will occur “soon” and the end of all evil is in sight. When the Roman Christians heard Paul’s sure promise of this future victory in the letter closing, they would have taken it as further encouragement to live in ways (mentioned in Rom. 13:11–14) that are in keeping with that coming day.

Yet Romans 16:20a is not entirely good news, even if it includes believers in God’s ultimate triumph over Satan and evil. For, in God’s crushing of Satan under the feet of believers lurks the suspicion that the battle will not be without some cost. Indeed, Genesis 3:15a sets the tone for the verse as one of mutual hostility between the serpent and Eve’s offspring: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers.”

When read in the light of Genesis 3:15, where the serpent bruises the heel of Adam’s seed, Romans 16:20a can be seen to include the sobering implication that the victory of believers over such a formidable adversary will involve some personal distress. However, Paul has prepared the Roman Christians well for dealing with this reality with his profound teaching about the suffering of believers in union with Christ. Extensive treatments of the beneficial purpose of such suffering occur in Romans 5:3–5 and Romans 8:12–39, where such suffering is seen to be “the divinely orchestrated means by which God strengthens their faithful endurance and hope by pouring out his own love and Spirit to sustain or deliver them in their distress.”¹

If Romans 16:20a reminds the Christians in Rome of the travails of their lives as those in union with Christ as they wait for God’s imminent victory, the recollection of Romans 8 would comfort them that their suffering is the pathway to sharing in Christ’s glory: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword” (Rom. 8:35)?

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20a). These words strike notes of joy and hope, recalling key texts in Romans that summarize several major themes in the letter. Paul reminds the Roman Christians of their deliverance by God from the power of sin as those in union with Christ, urging them to understand the present time by overcoming evil and doing good. He also reminds them to be comforted in their suffering—all in light of the reassurance that the night is almost over and the day will soon be here—all of this in eleven short words (fourteen in Greek)!

Notes:

S. J. Hafemann, “Suffering” in Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, ed. G. F. Hawthorne, R. P. Martin, & D. G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 920.

Brian Rosner is the author of Strengthened by the Gospel: A Theology of Romans.

Brian Rosner (PhD, Cambridge) was principal at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia from 2012–2024, where he now lectures in New Testament. He previously taught at the University of Aberdeen and Moore Theological College. Rosner is the author or editor of many books, including How to Find Yourself: Why Looking Inward Is Not the Answer. He is married to Natalie and has four children.

What Does Romans 6:23 Mean?

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Life is complex. Gray areas abound. Yet Jesus taught that we all face a simple but fateful either/or: a wide way leading to woe, or a narrow way leading to life.

The Message of the Book of Romans in One Sentence

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Romans is about the good news—the gospel. The word gospel is prominent at the beginning and end of the letter. And we can summarize the bad news and the good news with four words.

5 Myths About the Book of Romans

Brian S. Rosner

October 30, 2025

Scholars continue to debate the purpose of Romans. However, the reasons Paul wrote Romans are hidden in plain sight in the opening and closing sections of the letter.

What Is Distinct About the Theology of Romans?

Brian S. Rosner

October 19, 2025

Paul had never visited the church in Rome when he wrote Romans. For that reason, the theology of Romans is the most complete and comprehensive of any of his letters.

A Devotional for Talking with Your Kids About Why We Suffer

Beth Broom — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 15, 2025 by: Beth Broom

The following is composed of three daily devotional readings from 10 Questions About Pain and Suffering: 30 Devotions for Kids, Teens, and Families, a new devotional written especially for children ages 8–14.

Consequences for Sin

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, God let them experience consequences. They had to leave their home in the garden, and that caused pain and suffering. You get it, right? When you mess up, you deal with consequences. Maybe you forgot to clean your room, and then you didn’t get to go to a friend’s house. Or maybe you were grounded from your favorite video game because you didn’t do your homework.

The Bible is full of people who suffered consequences because of their sin. The Israelites had to wander in the wilderness for forty years because they refused to obey God (Num. 14:20–24). Jonah was swallowed up by a huge fish because he didn’t want to follow God’s plan (Jonah 1:7–17).

Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” This is a farming example. It means that if you sow (or plant) sin in life, that seed of sin will reap (or create) a consequence.

Consequences are not fun, but we have them so we will learn. They are supposed to be a bit painful. That’s what helps us remember to obey next time. Not all suffering happens because you did something bad, but sin usually causes painful consequences. We don’t have to be glad about being disciplined. But we can remember that God gives us consequences because he loves us.

Think about it like this: If your dog runs out into the street, you will do something to make sure he doesn’t get run over by a car. You might yell at him. You might even put a training collar on him. You don’t do this to be mean. You want to teach him, with a little pain, that the street is dangerous and could bring bigger pain. This is what God does when he disciplines us. He knows that sin is dangerous, and he wants us to know it too.

So why do we suffer? Sometimes we suffer as a consequence of our sin.

Pain Caused by Others

We can’t have a world full of sinners and not have a world where we hurt each other. Let’s say you and I are friends. One day I come to school in a very bad mood. You ask if I want to hang out after school. I yell, “Leave me alone! I don’t even like you.” Of course you’d be surprised. Your feelings would be hurt. Even if I didn’t mean it, you’d still feel sad. Maybe you’d even be angry.

This is an example of how someone else’s sin can cause suffering. You didn’t do anything to deserve what I said, but you’re still hurt by it. In the Bible, David was hurt by other people, when he didn’t do anything wrong. Listen to Psalm 56:1:

Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me.

The person who was hurting David was doing it on purpose. Someone was treating him so badly that he felt like he was being smashed down into the dirt. This is what it means to be oppressed.

Have you ever felt like this? We all feel sad and angry when someone else does something that hurts us. And sometimes we experience consequences when someone hurts us. Sometimes the pain inside us leads to other bad things.

If I yell at you, then you might not feel good about being friends with me. Our friendship might end. That’s a consequence you wouldn’t deserve. If someone hurts you over and over, you might start to wonder if you did something to cause it. When other people hurt us, it’s hard to understand the reason. It can be easy to blame ourselves. But we are not in charge of other people’s actions or feelings. It’s not our fault when someone else sins.

Jesus is the best example of someone who experienced consequences because of someone else’s sin. Imagine never doing anything wrong and still being killed. Jesus was treated like he was the worst person on earth. He took punishment even though he didn’t deserve it. Yet he is the perfect Savior and friend to us. As our Savior, he forgives our sin. And as our friend, he is with us when we suffer.

So why do we suffer? Sometimes we suffer as a consequence of our sin, and sometimes we suffer when other people sin.

Let’s remember this: God wants a relationship with us, but sin keeps us from being close to him.

A Fallen World

Before Adam and Eve sinned, the world was very good.

After they sinned, the world changed. Here is what God said to Adam after he sinned:

Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken; for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return. (Gen. 3:17–19)

After sin came into the world, thorns and thistles started coming out of the ground. Adam’s work as a farmer got a lot harder. Suffering can happen because we live in a fallen world. What does it mean to say the world is fallen? It means everything on earth is affected by sin. God made his creation perfect. It’s still good and wonderful—yet it’s also broken.

My son’s friend recently fell into a thornbush while they were playing. The thorns scratched and bruised his legs. He had to stop playing and clean up the cuts, and he was in a lot of pain. Our fallen world caused him to suffer.

Do you know someone who has a disease? Have you ever broken a bone or had to get stitches? Has your town had a tornado or hurricane? These are all ways we suffer because we live in a fallen world. And here is the worst type of suffering: Genesis 3:17–19 tells us we will all die someday.

Let’s remember this: God wants a relationship with us, but sin keeps us from being close to him. So he made a way for us to be made clean from our sin. He sent Jesus into the world to die in our place. We still have to live in a world where sin causes suffering. But we can be close to God and be forgiven by God (1 Pet. 3:18).

So why do we suffer? Sometimes we suffer as a consequence of our sin, sometimes we suffer when other people sin, and sometimes we suffer because we live in a fallen world.

This article is adaped from 10 Questions About Pain and Suffering: 30 Devotions for Kids, Teens, and Families by Beth Broom.

Beth Broom is a licensed professional counselor supervisor (LPC-S) and certified clinical trauma professional, level 2 (CCTP-II). She is the executive director of Bridgehaven Counseling Associates, a nonprofit counseling practice in Raleigh, North Carolina. Beth is the founder and director of Christian Trauma Healing Network, a nonprofit organization that equips Christian helpers to care for trauma survivors. She cohosts Counsel for Life, a podcast engaging in conversations about mental health and the Christian life. Beth is married to Kenny and has three children, Sarah, Levi, and Elijah.

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Christians who fail to note this shift are going to find themselves very confused by the incomprehension of, and indeed the easy offence taken by, the world around them.

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Paul David Tripp

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Why Tim Keller Taught That Sin Isn’t Just “Missing the Mark”—It’s Misplaced Worship

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Introducing the ‘Everyday Gospel Christmas Devotional’ by Paul David Tripp

Crossway — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 14, 2025 by: Crossway

Celebrate Christmas with 25 Devotions from Paul David Tripp That Connect Scripture to Everyday Life

Jesus’s birth isn’t the beginning of the Christmas story. The glorious narrative of redemption starts when sin enters the world and continues until Christ’s victorious return. In this special devotional, Paul David Tripp helps you celebrate your salvation by reflecting on biblical events—from Genesis through Revelation—that make Jesus’s incarnation so miraculous.

Adapted from Tripp’s 365-day devotional Everyday Gospel, this condensed edition features 25 selected readings, each with study questions, making it ideal for personal study or family devotions. Count down to Christmas Day with Tripp’s heartfelt reflections and contemplate the beauty and significance of the Savior’s birth.

Read an Excerpt

Great Christmas Activity: Devotional leads individuals, families, and churches on a guided journey through the full gospel narrative
Adapted from the Everyday Gospel Devotional: Written by Paul David Tripp, these 25 condensed readings are taken from his full 365-day devotional
Part of the Everyday Gospel Suite: Also includes the Everyday Gospel book and the ESV Everyday Gospel Bible
Fosters Consistent Bible Study: Inspires readers to apply God’s word daily and experience renewal through the gospel
Concise Readings for Your Family During the Advent Season: Features study questions for each daily reading

Learn more about Everyday Gospel Christmas Devotional today!

What It Means That God Is Immutable and Why That Matters for You

Joel R. Beeke, Paul M. Smalley — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 14, 2025 by: Joel R. Beeke, Paul M. Smalley

God’s Unchangeable Being

Change fills our lives. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus famously said that you cannot step into the same river twice.¹ The Roman poet Ovid said, “Time is the devourer of things.”² We grow up and grow old in years that, in hindsight, seem to have passed as swiftly as a flying bird.

Some theologians say that God changes. However, the Bible teaches that he never changes. This is the doctrine of God’s immutability. For us, the prospect of never changing would be horrible, for it would trap us in our limited, imperfect lives. But as Johannes Wollebius said, “The immutable life of God is absolutely perfect and absolutely blessed.”³

“In the beginning,” God already existed in all the power, wisdom, and goodness by which he created the universe (Gen. 1:1). There is no history of how God was born and grew up. In Psalm 90:2, Moses says, “From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” What God was, he is now and always will be, for he is eternal.

Men’s lives are disappearing “like smoke,” passing “like a shadow,” and withering “like grass” (Ps. 102:3, 11). But the believer can say to God, “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end” (Ps. 102:25–27). “We ought therefore,” John Calvin said, “to seek stability nowhere else but in God.”⁴

Immutability, then, marks a basic difference between the Creator and his creation, including humanity. God says, “I am the Lord, I change not” (Mal. 3:6). This verse links God’s immutability to his name “the Lord” (YHWH), or “I Am” (Ex. 3:14). God is the One who is. His self-existence and faithfulness guarantee that he will not change but will keep his ancient promises.

God’s attributes do not change. His love and faithfulness cannot change (Psalm 136). God never loses any of the infinite power he used to create all things (Isa. 40:28). God’s wisdom is immutable, for no one has ever “instructed him . . . [or] taught him knowledge” (Isa. 40:14). Nothing can increase his insight, for that would imply that his knowledge was limited, but “there is no searching of his understanding” (Isa. 40:28).

God is immutable because of his infinite perfection and sufficiency. He already has an unlimited fullness of goodness and glory. He can neither decrease nor increase. All change comes from a cause, but God’s aseity teaches us that he receives nothing from causes outside of himself (Acts 17:24–25). However, though God is unchanging, he is the living, personal, and active God, “the fountain of living waters” (Jer. 2:13).

The Bible uses various pictures for God’s immutability. He is called the “Rock,” a massive cliff or mountain (Deut. 32:4). This image shows his strength and stability. Another picture of God’s immutability is light. James writes, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17). The sun, moon, and stars are always moving in the sky and changing in appearance. God, the Creator of these lights, is the eternal light that never changes.

God’s Unchangeable Will

God is immutable not just in the perfections of his nature but also in the purposes of his heart. God’s immutable purpose of grace flows out of his immutable nature. He says, “I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Mal. 3:6). The immutability of God’s will is reflected in the stability of his Word (Ps. 119:89). Heaven and earth will pass away before his words pass away (Matt. 5:18; 24:35).

Even wicked Balaam had to say, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Num. 23:19). Men are changing and unreliable. Sometimes they lie, promising one thing but doing another. Sometimes they commit to do something, but afterward change their minds. However, God is not human. He does not lie or change his mind or purposes. Thus, his blessing on his chosen people will not fail (Num. 23:20). Greg Nichols writes, “The church will never perish. Persecution will never destroy it. Temptation will never overwhelm it. Its enemies strive in vain. God has decreed its preservation and victory.”⁵

God has absolute freedom to decide what he pleases. His decree is “the counsel of his own will” (Eph. 1:11). He freely decided his good pleasure in eternity (Eph. 1:4) and now performs that unchanging plan in time (Dan. 4:24, 35). Man’s plans are often frustrated and have to be changed. God’s plan is never frustrated and will stand forever (Ps. 33:10–11).

Therefore, Christians have a hope that is “an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast” (Heb. 6:19). God has revealed “the immutability of his counsel” (Heb. 6:17). His promises will never expire, for his plan will never change. We can trust his Word. Over the whole Bible flies this banner: “These words are true and faithful” (Rev. 21:5).

Only God’s immutability can be the basis of our hope.

Questions About God’s Immutability

The doctrine of God’s immutability has rich implications for our faith and obedience. But like God’s eternity, it can puzzle our minds. Two major theological questions confront us when we consider God’s immutability. We may summarize them in the words relationships and repentance.

God’s Relationships and Immutability

As we have seen, the Holy Scriptures teach us that God does not change in his being or plan. But the Scriptures plainly say that God’s relationships change. Unbelievers live under God’s wrath, but when they repent of their sins and believe the gospel, they come under God’s forgiveness (John 3:16–18, 36). Thus, the gospel of Christ demands that we recognize that God’s relationships change.

Some evangelical theologians argue that though God does not change in his attributes or plan, he changes in his experiences and emotions as his relationships with us change.⁶ This would mean that one part of God is unchanging (his attributes and plan) and the other part is changing (his experiences and emotions). However, there can be no change in God, for he says, “I am the Lord, I change not” (Mal. 3:6). The Bible also says nothing about God having two parts. Rather, God is one (Deut. 6:4). He is simple. His very essence is love (1 John 4:8). Therefore, if his love changed, his very being would change.

God’s affections are not changing emotions. God’s relationships with creatures in time, though very real, are not part of his essence. Relationships are outward actions of God. Changes in them involve no change in God himself. His relationships change, but he never changes.

We All Need Reminders!

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God’s Repentance and Immutability

In light of the Bible’s teaching that God is unchanging in the perfection of his nature and purpose, it sometimes confuses people to read that God does “repent” or, as it also can be translated, “regret” or “relent” (ESV). For example, Genesis 6:6–7 says, “And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”

Teachers of open theism point to Scripture passages such as Genesis 6 as evidence that God does not have an unchanging plan.⁷ Rather, he is said to change his plan to respond sensitively to those whom he loves. This means that when evil spread on the earth in the time of Noah, God felt regret over his decision to make man. Under this view, God had not known that man would sin. But if this is true, God makes decisions with horrible outcomes.

On the contrary, God is eternal and perfect in wisdom. He is not limited by time and cannot make mistakes. When this passage says that God “repented,” it tells us that he was very displeased with human sin, as the word “grieved” shows (Gen. 6:6). The Creator of the perfect world thus became the destroyer of the sinful world. However, that does not mean God changed his plan because of events he did not foresee. That would contradict the message of Genesis that God knows events many years before they happen (Gen. 15:13–16; 25:23; 37:5–8).

Sin does not cause God’s plan to fail but mysteriously fulfills it. Joseph could tell his brothers, “Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good” because of results that came years later (Gen. 50:20). Therefore, we should interpret God’s repentance in Genesis 6:6–7 to refer not to a change of his plan but to a change in his dealings with man. God planned the flood from the beginning for his glory in judgment and salvation. Augustine said, “Thou . . . changest Thy ways, leaving unchanged Thy plans.”⁸

Trusting the Unchangeable

Lord God’s immutability entered our changeable world when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). In his human nature, Christ has changed and developed (Luke 2:40). In his eternal divine nature, he never changes. The Son remains the immutable Creator (Heb. 1:10–12). Once he became man, he is forever the God-man. Hebrews 13:8 celebrates “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

Therefore, if we trust in Christ alone for salvation, we can know that God has loved us with an everlasting love (Ps. 103:17; Isa. 54:7–10). John Preston said, “When thou knowest that God is knit to thee by an unchangeable bond, that he is a friend whom thou mayest build upon forever, whom thou mayest trust; this makes thy heart to cleave to him.”⁹

We should imitate God’s immutability by keeping our word. We should be reliable people by God’s grace (2 Cor. 1:17–20). We must change through the lifelong process of repentance. However, our repentance pursues greater steadiness and stability in the image of God.

Though we strive to imitate God’s faithfulness and admire the saints for their perseverance, we must view mere men realistically. People are full of changes: “As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth” (Ps. 103:15). Therefore, we cannot hope in any mere man.

Only God’s immutability can be the basis of our hope. We must say with the psalmist, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved” (Ps. 62:5–6).

Samuel Willard said, “Live upon this attribute; it is enough to keep up your spirits, and strengthen you with patience to run that weary and difficult race that you are called unto. It is true, you meet with many changes among creatures . . . yet faint not, nor be weary, for in all these you have an unchangeable God to stand by you.”¹⁰

Notes:

Cited in Plato, Cratylus, 402a, in Plato, vol. 4, Cratylus, Parmenides, Greater Hippias, Lesser Hippias, trans. Harold North Fowler, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1926), 67.
Ovid, Metamorphoses, 15.234, in Ovid, vol. 4, Metamorphoses, trans. Frank Justus Miller, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1916), 380.
Johannes Wollebius, Compendium Theologiae Christianae, 1.1.(3).3.iii.3, in Reformed Dogmatics, ed. and trans. John W. Beardslee III, A Library of Protestant Thought (New York: Oxford University Press, 1965), 39.
Calvin, Comm. on Ps. 102:25–27.
Greg Nichols, Lectures in Systematic Theology, ed. Rob Ventura, 4 vols. to date (Seattle: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017–2024), 1:256.
Bruce A. Ware, “An Evangelical Reformulation of the Doctrine of the Immutability of God,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 29, no. 4 (December 1986): 440–41; and God’s Greater Glory: The Exalted God of Scripture and the Christian Faith (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 148, 150.
Open theism is a form of finite theism or belief in a limited god. See chaps. 10 and 14.
Augustine, Confessions, 1.4, in NPNF1 , 1:46.
John Preston, Life Eternall, or, A Treatise of the Divine Essence and Attributes, 2nd ed. (London: by R. B., 1631), 2:88.
Samuel Willard, A Compleat Body of Divinity in Two Hundred and Fifty Expository Lectures on the Assembly’s Shorter Catechism (Boston: by B. Green and S. Kneeland for B. Eliot and D. Henchman, 1726), 64–65.

This article is adapted from Essentials of Reformed Systematic Theology by Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley.

Joel R. Beeke (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) has written over one hundred books. He is chancellor and professor of systematic theology and homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary; a pastor of the Heritage Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan; the editor of Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth; the board chairman of Reformation Heritage Books; the president of Inheritance Publishers; and the vice president of the Dutch Reformed Translation Society.

Paul M. Smalley (DD, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary) is faculty research and teaching assistant to Joel Beeke at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He is also a part-time pastor at Grace Immanuel Reformed Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and previously served for twelve years as a Baptist pastor in churches in the midwestern United States.

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Can You Love Jesus but Not the Church?

Rebecca McLaughlin — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 14, 2025 by: Rebecca McLaughlin

Jesus’s Bride and Body

One of the metaphors or pictures that we have for the church in the New Testament is that the church is Jesus’s bride. And we see in that picture and in the expression of it, especially in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in chapter five, where Paul says to Christian husbands, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” So, if we want to be followers of Jesus, if we want to be imitating him, if we want to be doing the kinds of things that Jesus does, at the center of that is loving the church.

Now, Jesus is under no illusions about the sinlessness of the church. In fact, Jesus died for the members of the church because we were so sinful that we needed the Son of God to die for us. The fact that we look at our local church—or at the church writ large—and see a lot of sinful behavior and undesirable people (for one reason or another) isn't that we have a clear-eyed view of the church and Jesus has this sort of starry-eyed vision that doesn’t really see that.

No, Jesus knows the sin of your local church better than you do. He also knows the sin of our hearts better than we do. And the radical message of the gospel is that the same person who is the one human being who knows the absolute worst of my heart and mind also loves me literally to the point of death.

And so in order for me to say, I love Jesus and I want to follow Jesus, but I don’t love the church and I don’t want to follow and be part of Jesus’s people, is sort of a radical contradiction in terms. Instead, if we are followers of Jesus, we will love the church like Jesus loves the church, which is in all her imperfection. Not because we rejoice in sin—ourselves or other peoples—but because we see Jesus’s extraordinary, radical commitment to the church and his one one-flesh union with the church.

And another metaphor that the New Testament uses for the church is that we are Jesus’s body here. If somebody said to me, I love you, but I hate your body and I don’t mind beating up your body, but I’m still going to say that I love you, it just doesn’t make any sense. We know that if you love somebody, you must also love their body and treat their body well. So if we are not loving the church and treating Jesus’s body well, how can we say that we, in fact, love Jesus?

Rebecca McLaughlin is the author of How Church Could (Literally) Save Your Life.

Rebecca McLaughlin (PhD, Cambridge University) is the author of Confronting Christianity, named Christianity Today’s 2020 Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the Year. Her subsequent works include 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity; The Secular Creed; and Jesus through the Eyes of Women. Rebecca is the host of the Confronting Christianity podcast.

An Open Letter to the Church Member Hurt by Their Local Church

Daniel P. Miller

March 25, 2024

Local churches hurt people. People hurt people, of course; but since churches are people, churches have the capacity to inflict severe relational pain.

5 Questions about the Local Church

Edward W. Klink III

November 06, 2021

Ultimately, the local church makes visible what is invisible, and reflects in words and deeds the kingdom life that is to come.

Podcast: Preparing Our Kids for a Post-Christian World (Rebecca McLaughlin)

March 15, 2021

Rebecca McLaughlin discusses what it looks like for parents to prepare their teens for a life in a post-Christian world, reflectong on kids' propensity to ask hard questions and why that's a good thing,

Podcast: Why You Can't Put Jesus in a Box (Rebecca McLaughlin)

September 19, 2022

Rebecca McLaughlin discusses a number of unbiblical misconceptions that we may have about Jesus and offers encouragement for those with questions about who Jesus is.

One of the Best Defenses Against Depression That Never Gets Mentioned

Rebecca McLaughlin — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 13, 2025 by: Rebecca McLaughlin

Diagnosis

Since you’re reading this, I’m willing to bet that either you’ve struggled with significant depression or you love someone who has. The new millennium has seen a surge in depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation across the West. Between 2015 and 2023 in the United States, the proportion of adults diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives went up by almost 10 percentage points to 29 percent. In the same period, the proportion of people who have been or are currently being treated for depression went up by 7 points to 17.8 percent.¹ We’ve removed much of the shame and stigma once associated with mental health struggles. But we haven’t succeeded in reducing the struggles. Instead, they’ve spread like an oil spill, entrapping more and more of us like seagulls with our wings weighed down.

As a young friend of mine experienced, this mental health disaster has hit women hardest. We see ourselves as living in the most pro-woman culture in all human history. Yet women in our culture are increasingly unhappy. Thirty-seven percent of women now report being diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives, compared with 20 percent of men.² The mental health crisis has also been particularly hard on younger people. In 2023, 27.3 percent of girls and 9.4 percent of boys ages twelve to seventeen reported experiencing a major depressive episode in the past year, more than double the rates in 2004.³ Likewise, between 2009 and 2021, the share of American high school students who said they had “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” rose from 26 percent to 44 percent.⁴ Tragically, between 2007 and 2021, the suicide rate among ten-to-twenty-four-year-olds also increased by 62 percent.⁵

So, what’s driving this depression and despair?

We might look to COVID to shoulder the blame. The effects of the social isolation bred by the pandemic are certainly profound. But as one 2022 report points out, depression was “an escalating public health crisis” in the United States before we had ever even heard of COVID.⁶

One cause of the mental health crisis is the rise of smartphones and social media, which have driven isolation, negative comparison, and the social contagion of a host of mental health conditions. Again, women and young people have been most affected. By 2023, the evidence for the dangers of smartphone and social-media use for children and adolescents was so clear that the US surgeon general issued an official public health warning.⁷ But smartphones can’t take all the blame.

Another factor undermining mental health is the decline in marriage. Many nonreligious people think increased societal acceptance of sex outside marriage leads to better mental health and greater happiness. But the data tells a different tale. For women in particular, increased numbers of sexual partners correlates with more depression, sadness, suicidal ideation, and increased likelihood of substance abuse. Marriage has the opposite effect.⁸ After analyzing data from a large-scale, long-term survey, University of Chicago Professor Sam Peltzman noted, “Being married is the most important differentiator with a 30-percentage point happy–unhappy gap over the unmarried.”⁹ Likewise, research conducted by the Institute for Family Studies found that “married people are approximately 16 percent more likely than unmarried people to describe their mental health as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ within every category of formal education.”¹⁰ Marriage, it turns out, functions less like a restrictive straitjacket and more like a protective seat belt.

But alongside the astronomic growth in smartphone use and the decline in marriage, it’s increasingly clear that one major driver of the mental health crisis is the decline in church attendance.

We All Need Reminders!

Prescription

Even if you haven’t seen Disney’s Encanto, the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” probably lives somewhere in the basement of your mind. In this song, the Madrigal family tells Maribel about her uncle Bruno, who disappeared some years ago. The Madrigals mistakenly believe Bruno caused a host of bad things he prophesied. That song came to my mind just now as I clicked on link after link to articles with titles promising the “Top 10 Mental Health Hacks” or something similar. I wondered whether any would mention going to church. None did. You can try the exercise yourself.

Psychologists are keen to let us know how exercise, good sleep, and eating healthy foods can boost our mental health and happiness. They advocate yoga, mindfulness, and meditation. But like the awkward uncle we’re all trying to forget, we don’t talk about “organized religion.”

Like Bruno in his family’s perception, church often has negative associations. We’ve all heard stories of people who at last felt free to be themselves when they left church behind. Maybe that was your experience. What’s more, in a culture that promotes self-love, unbounded freedom, and the good of always following our hearts, some Christian teachings—like the idea that many of our deep desires are sinful—seem like they’d be bad for mental health and happiness. Before she turned to Jesus, the young friend I mentioned earlier had a mug that said, “Nobody’s perfect. I’m nobody.” But when she finally became convinced that Christianity is true, one thing that brought relief was the new understanding of herself the Bible gives. Whereas she’d tried to believe she was basically good, the Christian message gave her tools to recognize the many ways she was in fact quite bad. At the same time, her newfound faith gave her deep confidence she is loved by the Creator God of all the universe, who sent his Son to die for her.

Many in our culture think prioritizing self-love and rejecting the uncomfortable beliefs that come with Christianity will lead to happiness. But the evidence is quite the opposite. Going to church weekly is actually one of the best protections against depression, sadness, and suicidal ideation anyone has found. A 2022 analysis of studies showed “a roughly 33 percent reduction in the odds of subsequent depression for those attending services at least weekly versus not at all.”¹¹ In other words, if you aren’t currently a churchgoer and you start attending weekly, you reduce your chances of developing depression by a third.

If you aren’t currently a churchgoer and you start attending weekly, you reduce your chances of developing depression by a third.

A medication this effective would be widely prescribed. But while your therapist or doctor may encourage yoga, meditation, or more time outside in nature, he or she almost certainly won’t recommend you go to church. The benefits of “organized religion” don’t fit with the big story we are telling in the West about the goodness of abandoning traditional beliefs. So, despite the studies showing how good religious services can be for people’s mental health, we don’t talk about Bruno.

Can these positive effects be explained away because those battling depression are less likely to have energy for church? That’s a great question. The answer is no. Studies have controlled for baseline depressive symptoms and found that church really is making a difference. If you’re currently depressed, the thought of getting out of bed on Sunday morning and heading to a church can feel completely overwhelming. Especially if you don’t already have a church community, the idea of going to a place where you don’t yet know people—and might not know the songs they’ll sing or prayers they’ll pray—may feel like a steep hill to climb. I’ve had friends struggling with depression share the difficulty of making it to church.

But evidence shows that attending each week is more like a life rope—even if it takes a lot of effort to grab hold and cling on. Not only do churchgoers cut their chances of depression by a third; depressed people who attend church weekly also have a significantly better chance of recovering than those who don’t.¹² Instead of dragging you still further down into depression, church could be just what you need to pull you out. But like any other medication, you’ll need to stay the course to see the positive effects.

You may read this and think, You just don’t get it. I’ve been hurt by church. Maybe you’ve experienced hypocrisy, judgmental attitudes, or even terrible abuse. I know people who’ve been profoundly hurt in church and who bear scars of pain and disillusionment from the experience. Just as our families can be the places of greatest love and of most horrific pain, so church can be a place of safety or of harm. But just as growing up in an unhealthy family wouldn’t lead you to give up on family for good, so the experience of an unhealthy church need not mean giving up on church. A genuinely loving, healthy church may be just what you need to heal. Indeed, it can be literally lifesaving.

Notes:

Dan Witters, “U.S. Depression Rates Reach New Highs,” Gallup, May 17, 2023, https://news.gallup.com/.
Dan Witters, “U.S. Depression Rates.”
Preeti Vankar, “Percentage of U.S. Youths with a Major Depressive Episode in the Past Year from 2004 to 2023, by Gender,” Statista, November 4, 2024, https://www.statista.com/.
Derek Thompson, “Why American Teens Are So Sad,” The Atlantic, April 11, 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/.
Sally C. Curtin and Matthew F. Garnett, “Suicide and Homicide Death Rates Among Youth and Young Adults Aged 10–24: United States, 2001–2021,” National Center for Health Statistics data brief, no. 471, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 15, 2023, https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/128423.
Renee D. Goodwin, Lisa C. Dierker, Melody Wu, Sandro Galea, Christina W. Hoven, and Andrea H. Weinberger, “Trends in U.S. Depression Prevalence from 2015 to 2020: The Widening Treatment Gap,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 63, no. 5 (2022): 726–33, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2022.05.014.
“Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory,” Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, https:// www.hhs.gov/, pdf.
See, for example, Tyree Oredein and Cristine Delnevo, “The Relationship Between Multiple Sexual Partners and Mental Health in Adolescent Females,” Journal of Community Medicine and Health Education 3, no. 7 (2013), https://www.researchgate.net/, and Sandhya Ramrakha, Charlotte Paul, Melanie L. Bell, Nigel Dickson, Terrie E. Moffitt, and Avshalom Caspi, “The Relationship Between Multiple Sex Partners and Anxiety, Depression, and Substance Dependence Disorders: A Cohort Study,” Archives of Sexual Behavior 42, no. 5 (2013): 863–72, https://pubmed.ncbi .nlm.nih.gov/.
Sam Peltzman, “The Socio Political Demography of Happiness,” George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State, working paper no. 331, July 12, 2023, https://ssrn.com/.
Kevin Wallsten, “Less Marriage, Worse Mental Health: The ‘Marriage Advantage’ in Mental Well-Being,” Institute for Family Studies, March 6, 2024, https://ifstudies.org/blog/.
See Tyler J. VanderWeele, Tracy A. Balboni, and Howard K. Koh, “Invited Commentary: Religious Service Attendance and Implications for Clinical Care, Community Participation, and Public Health,” American Journal of Epidemiology 191, no. 1 (2022): 31–35, https://academic.oup.com/. See also Bert Garssen, AnjaVisser, and Grieteke Pool, “Does Spirituality or Religion Positively Affect Mental Health? Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies,” International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 31, no. (2021), https://doi.org/10.1080/10508619.2020.1729570
Tyler J. VanderWeele, “Religion and Health: A Synthesis,” in Spirituality and Religion Within the Culture of Medicine: From Evidence to Practice, ed. Michael J. Balboni and John R. Peteet (Oxford University Press, 2017), 357–401.

This article is adapted from How Church Could (Literally) Save Your Life by Rebecca McLaughlin.

5 Myths about Depression

Michael S. Lundy

July 27, 2018

Depression can be quite as fiery a trial as any other. The good news is that God does indeed hear the cry of the afflicted.

Podcast: Preparing Our Kids for a Post-Christian World (Rebecca McLaughlin)

March 15, 2021

Why Does Life Feel So Unsatisfying?

Matthew McCullough

September 02, 2025

Why does life feel unsatisfying? It does, more often than we wish that it did. The better we have it, the more pronounced our depression, or at least unhappiness. What is that about?

Podcast: Why You Can't Put Jesus in a Box (Rebecca McLaughlin)

September 19, 2022

Rebecca McLaughlin discusses a number of unbiblical misconceptions that we may have about Jesus and offers encouragement for those with questions about who Jesus is.

Podcast: The Growth of the African Church and the Dangers Facing It (Ken Mbugua)

Crossway — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 12, 2025 by: Crossway

This article is part of the The Crossway Podcast series.

The Challenges Facing the Growing African Church

Ken Mbugua talks about his testimony and what growing up in a baptist church in Nairobi, Kenya was like. Ken uses his experience as the director of Ecclesia Africa to discuss some of the challenges that the African church is facing and the ways that church has seen encouraging growth over the last decades.

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Topics Addressed in This Interview:

Background
A New Generation
Misconceptions
Ekklesia Afrika
The One Million Bibles Initiative
Pray for the Church in Africa

00:30 - Background

Matt Tully
Ken Mbugua serves as the senior pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Nairobi, Kenya, and is a council member for the Gospel Coalition Africa. He’s also the managing director of Ekklesia Afrika, which promotes biblical resources for building healthy churches throughout Africa. Ken, thanks so much for joining me today on The Crossway Podcast.

Ken Mbugua
Thanks for having me.

Matt Tully
Today we’re speaking about the amazing ways that God is moving throughout the continent of Africa to grow his church and to raise up Christian leaders and pastors who are equipped to shepherd the flock of Christ. To kick us off, can you share a little bit about your own life, your own ministry, and the work that you’re doing these days?

Ken Mbugua
I was born and raised in Kenya, Nairobi specifically. I became a Christian later on in high school. I felt a burden for the Christian work, church work. I got my Bible training in Zambia at a school called Central Africa Baptist University. I started serving as a pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church in 2010. I became lead pastor there in 2015. I met my wife in Washington, DC while doing an internship at Capitol Hill in 2014. We now have three little humans running around the house: Eden, Zion, and Judah (eight, five, and three). I’m most thankful for the grace of God upon a sinner such as I, and every good thing that I enjoy in my life is clearly evidence of his grace upon me.

Matt Tully
You said you became a Christian in high school. Did you grow up in a Christian home? Were your parents believers?

Ken Mbugua
No. My home was not Christian. My dad would have us go to church. He never used to go.

Matt Tully
Why do you think that was?

Ken Mbugua
I do not know. Not quite sure actually, even now. I could guess and say this or that, but I’m not really sure why. My mom became a Christian when I was maybe nine. I don’t think that changed significantly the influence in the home. I got to see her faith. And it might be because I was dead in my trespasses and sins and just blind to any changes in my mom’s life. Now that I’m a Christian, she’s like a Christian hero, an evidence of the transformative power of the gospel. She’s maybe the clearest example of Jesus I have and I’ve ever had. But I don’t remember any of that, growing up in my home. I ended up becoming a Christian because of my dad’s insistence on going to church.

Matt Tully
What kind of a church were you going to?

Ken Mbugua
I was going to a Baptist church. We chose the church simply because it was the closest church to our house. My dad insisted we go to church, and they had a teen service that was only an hour long.

Matt Tully
So your dad didn’t pick the church even?

Ken Mbugua
No. He didn’t care. I could have gone to a Catholic church and I don’t think he would have cared. In fact, because my mom was now a Christian, she was going to a church that was an Assemblies of God church that was kind of far away, and so my dad, with his wisdom, said, “Go to any church. There’s a church right across the road. You can go there.” I’m like, “I like that idea.” So I ended up there, and that’s where I got to hear the gospel, from a brother who’s now with the Lord, Timothy Joiner.

Matt Tully
And then were you a part of that church after that?

Ken Mbugua
I attended there in my high school life, heard the gospel, but didn’t really believe it. I thought I did. They presented the gospel using the Romans Road, which is good. It’s the Bible. The book of Romans is, of course, an excellent book. But there’s a phrase they kept using: “Once saved, forever saved.” That’s a true phrase as well, but it was a very formulaic approach to things, and it left me knowing the gospel but not understanding the implications of the gospel. And so it made me a false convert for quite a long time. I thought it was a very academic thing. I just say certain words, I believe certain things are true, and I’m saved. And once I’ve said those words, I’m in—kind of a decisionism. So, that was me for four years. And then someone somewhere spoke about the name “Lord” not being Christ’s third name but meaning he’s actually King, and those who believe in him bend the knee. And those implications of the gospel made it clear to me I was not a Christian. And so I can’t remember where I heard that, but the Lord convicted me as I was trying to pray. I’d pray about three times a year, whenever I was in big trouble—about to get expelled from school or something like that. I’d pray, “Help me, and I’ll be a better boy.” I thought to myself, Why would God hear me? I love the stuff he hates. I’m famous for it. And as I’m thinking about it, I just realized, He’s not my Father in that regard; he’s my judge. And if I was to meet him today, I have no reason to have hope that I’d not be cast into eternal judgment or wrath. So, I believed in the same gospel from the Romans Road. I knew that I was a sinner and that Christ died for sinners, that salvation was not by works but through faith. And so those same verses that I’d memorized for many, many years are the same as the Lord used to bring me to himself.

05:52 - A New Generation

Matt Tully
For those of us living in the US, many of us have heard of the incredible growth of the church in Africa over the last number of decades. But I wonder if you could just help us understand what are some of the stats, what are some of the big picture ways that God is moving in Africa that you’ve seen and that you’ve been a part of over the last couple decades?

Ken Mbugua
Africa’s a big, big continent, and there’s a few of us there. We are more than a billion, obviously. Roughly half of those are going to be belonging to countries that call themselves Christian. The population has been growing, and it seems like it will continue to grow. The trends for that over the next couple of decades seem to show that the cities in Africa will be some of the largest cities in the world. So, those trends are there, and I think there’s a lot of credibility to them. When it comes to the church specifically, I always like to say whilst there’s a God who sits on his throne in heaven, we should always be very careful about trends. We want to be careful about presuming on him, assuming that because yesterday this is what happened, it also means tomorrow this will happen. Because we are those who believe in the sovereignty of God. The Lord takes pleasure in changing stories and trends whenever he wants, and things that should have died a long, long time ago don’t, and things that seem to have died, resurrect. So, I don’t know how much I can say about the future of the church in Africa. The population certainly seems to be in a trajectory of significant growth. A couple of things to add to those trends that can help complicate the conversation of projecting stuff into the future is the Westernization of Africa. Western values that have caused the Western population to stagnate and even shrink in some ways, those values are the values being adopted very fast by the younger generation. So, you don’t want to assume.

Matt Tully
What are some of those values?

Ken Mbugua
Values of materialism—stuff is more important than kids. For my parents and my grandparents, there’s nothing more precious than little humans, and so they had as many of them as they possibly could. And now we want a nice car, and we want to take our kids to expensive schools, and we want to live in nice neighborhoods. And we think, falsely, that we have a whole lot more control over our lives. All those are Western ideas. I don’t know how those things they will affect the trends we are projecting into the future. The other thing is the African church has grown, in the past, very culturally. I’ve spoken to you about my dad sending me to church, I don’t know why. And so the church in Africa hasn’t historically (historically, being more recent, not Augustine historically) hasn’t been founded on clearly defined theology. Our denominations are almost just kind of tribal. If you were to ask an average Presbyterian why they’re not an Anglican, I’m not sure they would really be able to articulate that.

Matt Tully
They wouldn’t cite theology.

Ken Mbugua
They wouldn’t cite theology. If you look at the differences, the fallouts, they’re hardly ever theological. I always reference how the big denominations became egalitarian overnight. Without much of a theological debate, feminism hit hard, the culture shifted fairly quickly, and it became the buzzword—equality. In Kenya it was the phrase “the girl child,” and just the church changed. It did not have women pastors, and then it had women pastors. Why? What theological conversation or conviction preceded that? No, that’s not what happened. So, that’s a trend that concerns me about the church in Africa. When we look at the younger generation that’s coming up, being so radically different even from my generation—the Gen Zs. Are they the Gen Zs?

Matt Tully
I think so. It’s hard to keep up.

Ken Mbugua
Yeah. There you go. The Gen Zs, the iced latte with venti and all those things. That group is very different from even us. We have teenagers in our church who will ask questions about gender—the male/female questions that are now in the West. The LGBTQ normalization that’s already happened here.

Matt Tully
It’s so easy for us in the West to assume that these things have not reached Africa, that that’s not the same kind of thing that you all would be struggling with. But that’s not the case.

Ken Mbugua
There are buzzwords, for example. People will celebrate how Obama, when he came to Africa, he was told off by two African presidents to not bring the LGBTQ agenda to the continent. I don’t celebrate that at all, because those presidents are simply playing to the masses. And the masses currently are us guys. We are the ones who are voting for him, and that’s our cultural standard. But the guys who are right now in high school, that’s not their view at all. Netflix has done the job. It has succeeded. Hollywood has accomplished its ambition. They’re coming in with a completely different ideology. These are guys who are now twenty years old, and they have a very different ideology from people who are in their late 30s. So as far as trends go, and you’re talking about the population increase that’s coming by 2050, we need to understand that that population increase will not be made up of the same type of people as the ones that are currently in Africa. Those people are rejecting a lot of the things that their parents have taught them. They are disruptors in every way. And one of those things is religion. They are not following the same path in religion that their parents took, whereas their parents took the same path that their parents took. But we are about to see something quite different. It’s already evident. So, that again tells me the churches that are not really built on strong theological foundations, churches like the Presbyterian church don’t know where they place the Westminster Confession. They can’t trace it anymore. They were given the shorter version to start with, and even that shorter version is not a very core part of their church. Baptist churches, I don’t even know what a Baptist is. Baptists are anything. Baptist are Episcopalian in their structure. You’re like, wait, what does it even mean to be a Baptist?

Matt Tully
What’s the cause of that theological rootlessness that is so prevalent?

Ken Mbugua
I think it has a lot to do with the way the Great Commission work happened. We focused a lot on church planting but not church strengthening. We set the church up for that initial stage. There’s a lot of literacy that needs to happen. I can sympathize with this—we’ve been to other parts of Africa where you feel like what the original missionaries felt like. You’re coming in, you’re having to teach people first of all how to read. And so as you’re setting the church up that way, you set it up with its bare minimum. And I think that’s okay, but the problem becomes we don’t equip it to be able to keep advancing. And so you find that a church that was set up with the bare minimum theological framework in its statement of faith, for example, has not done much to keep developing that and to learn from the rest of the historical church and the church around the world. So, the roots were always weak. They were never really strengthened, as the church kept growing. I think there was, especially in the 1970s, a lot of liberal influences amongst the leaders of the broader denominations that helped to undermine those theological roots even farther, and they changed the focus of those big denominations from being theology to other things—being a voice to the times, being a voice to the government. They picked up a lot of those things—liberation theology had its little influences there. So, the church, as it has matured, has not had a firm grasp on the Scriptures. Things have remained too loose, and my concern with that weakness is the next generation is going to be asking the church questions she has not really thought about. She has been happy to receive people coming in who are not really asking theological questions. They’re doing it because it’s what you do. And this next generation are not coming in. And so when they start asking questions of us, I’m not sure the church is quite ready to answer those. So, I’m not being a prophet of doom, but just to say trends mean very little.

Matt Tully
When you think about your country, Kenya or East Africa in general, two other boogeymen, we’ll say, of African Christianity that have been discussed in the past have been syncretism and then also prosperity gospel. How big of a threat are those to the church today?

Ken Mbugua
Syncretism will always be a challenge to Christ’s bride, no matter what context. I think what happens is the gods we try and mix up with our worship of the one true God just keep morphing and changing. The prosperity gospel, for example, is a type of syncretism. It's trying to worship the one true and living God and also worship the god of Mammon, trying to mix those things up, be as materialistic as possible, was claiming allegiance to the one true God. So that’s something that’s happening there. The prosperity gospel in Africa and the version that it has, which might be the same for you guys here, is going to look very much like witchcraft. You have one person who’s going to tell you things nobody else could about what’s really going on in your life—why you didn’t get that promotion. It’s just the same thing the witch doctor used to do. So you expect that we will always be tempted to make a god after our own image, and that might look like the wildly charismatic stuff we experience in Africa or the prosperity gospel. But we need to, even when we don’t preach the prosperity gospel, it’s the same temptation that I feel like you and I have of opening our Bibles up in the morning and wanting to read our most current situation into the text. I think that impulse that you and I face is the same thing that you see played out in pulpits, and we just kinda formalize that. We actualize that. We develop that further and create the kind of religion that is for you, that is practical. And people will gravitate to that, because it’s what Paul said, “itching ears.” And they load up for themselves the kind of teaches us that they want to hear. So, the prosperity gospel has had an adverse effect on the continent. In one sense, it’s not surprising, because it’s a poor continent, and that message offers people what they want.

17:33 - Misconceptions

Matt Tully
It’s interesting in this conversation so far, because it’s easy for us sometimes to emphasize the differences, the things that make us different from other people in other parts of the world, but there are so many similarities. The root issues that we all face are the same. Our sin, our need for God’s grace, and even just the way that our sin kind of distorts how we think about things, it’s all the same. As you think about your interactions with, let’s say Americans and people in the West, when you talk about the church in Africa and you talk about Christianity and the need for sound theology, what are some of the biggest misconceptions that Western Christians tend to have about your context?

Ken Mbugua
It’s interesting. I read that question, because you had me look at the questions earlier, and the primary answer I had, and I’m sure there are other answers that are also useful, was the comment you just made before asking this question. I think the primary misconception is the Western church sometimes thinks the church in the rest of the world is too different from itself. And that’s a dangerous thing. That’s a dangerous thing on multiple levels. Because one, we know that the most important thing about our identity is what we have become in Jesus. Everything else becomes an opportunity to express what we have actually become. I’m black, you are white, I’m African, you are American, but those differences and that diversity is not the identity. The identity is what we have become in Jesus. And I think the American church, in what actually might be an eagerness to learn and respect the differences, we can overstate the differences. And the danger is sometimes when you overstate the differences, we end up giving a pass on things we should not be giving a pass on. Well, it’s just the church in Africa. Well, we can’t impose Americanness. Or in Africa, that’s a good thing to be careful about. I think that has been done. And that continues to be done in some ways.

Matt Tully
It’s a reaction, perhaps, to real problems that have existed in the past.

Ken Mbugua
Yes. So, let’s be sensitive to that. But that’s not the biggest danger that we face, actually, in our conversation. Your Americanness is not the primary thing that will hurt me. But if you let go of the core roots of the gospel, and even the implications of it, and start excusing ways in which the church you’re interacting with or the brothers you’re interacting with from those things because they’re African, you start losing a center for any type of partnership. I’ve had quite a few interactions with American churches, because sometimes I’m that guy. Hey, Ken, somebody reached out to me from here. Do you mind talking to them, or do you know them? And in many of those interactions, it’s like the type of reasoning one would typically use in interacting with another pastor, even an antenna of, Hmmm. That does not sound good. That does not sound wise. That’s a bit sketchy—it’s like all that stuff is turned off when it comes to interacting with me, because it’s Africa and we don’t want to impose ourselves. Maybe that’s just how they do it. Let’s not judge. And what that does is sometimes the interaction—I can hear of a very healthy charge in America that has had a relationship with a very unhealthy church in Africa that hasn’t moved an inch. And it’s because, Well, they’re Africans. There’s no authority that both of our churches—the American church and the African church—need to bow down to. And that’s kind of how we should approach this conversation. We are different. We have different contexts and different cultures, but the reason we are even talking is because of one King, one Lord. It’s one Bible. It’s one hope. And those things are the ones that we come together under. And so that might be the thing that I would say the church in the West needs to be especially careful about as they interact with us.

Matt Tully
That’s a really helpful correction to the way that we often think. With that said, are there any specific challenges or dynamics to what pastors specifically in East Africa, where you minister primarily, are facing that it’d be helpful for us in the West to understand and to better know what that’s like?

Ken Mbugua
Interestingly, there’s the West and then there’s America, because America is very different from the West. I was talking to German pastors yesterday, and I was telling them when I visited their country, they’re very much like us in the needs that they have. The key needs that make a difference between the church in Africa and the church in America will have to do with resources. God has blessed your country in almost an abnormal way. This is not normal, which is why I don’t even want to call it the West. And the resources are certainly financial, but they’re more than just financial. They will have to do the English language and the fact that—I don’t know, somebody should do a calculation on this—but a vast percentage of available Christian resources are going to be in the English language. And those are resources that countries that don’t speak English don’t have access to. But also the financial muscle that is unusual in history that is almost a phenomenon of the season that we are in, has meant that those resources, whether it’s theological education, the kind of quality of theological education that the church in America can support, it’s wild. Because you’re able to really invest in it—invest in people going to school and paying really high fees to get the theological education. But those theological institutions are all loss-making institutions. And so that takes more money to be able to pay really high quality professors, to be able to continue doing that work meaningfully. So if you think about those things, there are two elements to it. One, I don’t ever want to say we need that for us to continue doing the work in Africa. Because actually, the church has not ever been this rich. So, you don’t just want to look over the fence and go like, Wow! We have to have that. If we had that much money, then the church would be completely sorted. And yet at the same time, we are one church. It’s one body. And so the resources that the Lord has given to America are not nothing. They’re not pointless. I think they are important for the season that we’re in. The Lord knows exactly why he has given this church this stewardship.

Matt Tully
And they’re not just for America.

Ken Mbugua
And they’re not just for America. It is one church. And so in some ways, even the American church keeping its head down and doing the work, they’re still serving us, as you know. The brothers you guys talk to all the time are working hard on writing books. They might not be thinking about the church in the world necessarily, but as he puts out another book on biblical theology, that process was aided by all the resources that are available here in America. But that book that has come out can be of use to the church around the world. So, the only thing there is for us to understand is there’s such a stuck difference in availability of resources, and the only area of continued growth, because the church in America is a very generous church already, I think it has, in many ways, a consciousness of the rest of the world and can to continue to grow in that, is just to do that. To be aware that as we write a book and as we steward our resources, how do we do this in such a way that will benefit the people that are here, and also the people that in the rest of the world, and the generations that are going to come after us. To steward this season, because, I don’t know, America might become broke like Kenya in another 100 years. That would be hard. But you just never know. This might be a momentary stewardship that the church has been given for now, and for the church to steward that as faithfully as possible, seeking the maximum impact for today’s generation, not only in America but the rest of the world and for the coming generations.

26:29 - Ekklesia Afrika

Matt Tully
And this connects a little bit to your work at Ekklesia Afrika. You’re the managing director, as we said before. I wonder if you can just share a little bit about what you do. What does that work entail? What is that organization all about?

Ken Mbugua
It started in 2017. I did my internship in 2014 at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. It was an interesting internship—weird even, in some ways. You mainly just read books. Nobody really tells you anything, because it’s a very Socratic approach that Dever uses.

Matt Tully
You read books and you sit around and talk about them, right?

Ken Mbugua
That’s it. You ask questions, you’ll get a lot of shrugging shoulders: Just keep reading and keep observing and keep chatting, especially with your cohort. And some answers are along the way, but they’re very strict in that model. But what that did for me is just finishing that, I’m going, Wow! Just books could teach me this much? And that gave me some hope that we might not be able to replicate Westminster Theological Seminary overnight—or even ever—in Nairobi, but we can read books. That we can do. And so the simple issue there becomes a church in Africa is starved of theological resources. There is something like an abundance of resources, even too much, but there’s also something like a famine, as Bill Walsh has used that phrase.

Matt Tully
A theological famine.

Ken Mbugua
A theological famine. And that’s where the church in Africa is. And so it seems like there is a very clear opportunity, very low-hanging fruit, of being able to strengthen and equip the church in Africa by providing her with theological resources to help herself with, for her to just not have only the basic information on certain key teachings of Scripture. Som that’s what Ekklesia Afrika has sought to do—to strengthen the church in Africa by providing access to theological resources.

28:27 - The One Million Bibles Initiative

Matt Tully
And that kind of connects to one of the reasons why we wanted to talk with you today. We did a One Million Bibles initiative previously, and now we’re doing another 1 million Bibles campaign. And as we look ahead to this particular work we’re be doing together (we’re partnering with you in doing that work in some ways) can you share a little bit more about how Ekklesia Afrika was involved in the previous initiative? How did you actually get resources into people’s hands throughout the continent?

Ken Mbugua
Speaking of resources and our need for resources in Africa, the Million Bible Initiative is beautiful because there are so many books available. To the writing of books, there’s no end (as somebody once said). And so as we are doing that work, it’s so important to look at the continent of Africa and do a triage of what are the most important things we can ship over there. Because you want to be highly selective. You don’t just want to load up containers with stuff and send it over. That can almost make Africa like a garbage disposal destination for books nobody’s really interested in.

Matt Tully
If they’re not helpful in meeting the needs that are there.

Ken Mbugua
Exactly. But of all the books, like which book could we always say the church in Africa needs other than the Bible? So, just to highlight the fact that the need is real. There actually are pastors who don’t have a complete text of the Scriptures on the continent. And if that’s the case for pastors, then that means it’s the case also for members. Second is to note that in cases where that’s the reality, it’s not simply because they have no place where they can go and buy a Bible. In many cases, there is, to some extent, you can even send somebody who’s going to the city. It’s a direct connection, again, to just a poverty on the continent. And so where the cases of poverty are extreme on the continent, the need for theological resources is real. And it is to the extent that even access to a copy of the Scriptures, a complete one, is not possible for some. Or for others, it’s a good version of the Scriptures—a reliable translation—that is not available. With Ekklesia Afrika, by God’s grace, the network has grown, and continues to grow, of the pastors that we are training, of the churches that we’re trying to equip in Kenya, in Uganda, and now in Ethiopia. And that means that oftentimes we are working in places where there is dire need. We also have friends who will come by Nairobi to get some books that we have that we’ve reprinted from acquiring copyrights from entities like Crossway, and those guys are working in similar places. So, you’ll find that on the continent, when you identify the lack of availability of resources, the next and most important thing that you need to address is distribution. In some cases, the reason the resources are not actually available is because there are no functioning distribution networks. Building a functioning distribution network is one of Ekklesia Afrika’s main goals.

Matt Tully
How do you do that? What are the primary channels through which to do so?

Ken Mbugua
Such a good question. In some ways, what you have to do to develop one network is to give the people what they want, just for me to sound like a marketer. Or another way of saying that is to scratch what itches—to identify a need that is very obvious to people. And there’s no need that you’re going to highlight for pastors anywhere that is as clear to them as, "Hey, you need resources." Nobody else is giving them resources.

Matt Tully
What does a typical pastor have, let’s say in Kenya, how many books or Bibles would a pastor have on his own?

Ken Mbugua
You first of all want to really differentiate pastors in the city and pastors in the rural settings. There’s a divergence there. So, you could have a pastor who has access to a lot. Those are going to be very few. And so average is hard. I would want to do a proper survey. That’s the other thing Africa really needs—data on the church. It’s ridiculous the kind of data you guys have here. It’s wild. I listened to a David Brooks talk yesterday, and the kind of data he was quoting. He’s even saying stuff like, “We are sadder—this percentage of people, that percentage . . . .” Wow. Where’d you get all that information from? So it’s hard.

Matt Tully
It’s expensive.

Ken Mbugua
It’s very expensive. I’m just going to be guessing as I’m throwing out that number to you, but most pastors will have a Bible—most pastors. And that’s why we’re speaking about the pastors in that category who don’t have Bibles, neither do their members, which is why the Million Bible Initiative is so important. Most pastors will have a Bible. And then I’d say they’ll have a collection of random books that are going to be, to varying degrees, useful or not useful. Pastors love books more than they love reading books.

Matt Tully
That must be a universal condition.

Ken Mbugua
It must be.

Matt Tully
That’s true all around the world.

Ken Mbugua
Yeah. You’ll visit a pastor and find, typically he has a collection of books. I don’t how useful they are. Which, again, is the why for the way we’ve approached distributing of resources. That phrase I’ve just used—an effective distribution network. Effective includes not just getting the book to the pastor, but it’s set up in such a way that the pastor in this network is aided to get into the book and understand the point of the book and discuss the book. So we would rather have a slower growing network that is actually helping pastors. Because you could distribute a million books in just like that. Pastors would be happy to pick them, and 5 percent of those might read all the way through. Maybe 25 percent might start reading, and 10 percent might get halfway. This is me completely guessing stuff. But I hope it’s an intelligent guess from what I expect there. So, we don’t want to be involved in work like that. But when it comes to Bibles, because of the broad network that exists, I think Ekklesia Afrika is in a position to be able to know what parts are hurting the most, so that the resources that are coming in and not being wasted. A pastor will be happy to take his twentieth Bible, even though he has so many others. So, we don’t want that kind of distribution that actually hurts. We want pastors who can afford a Bible to be buying a Bible. And so the breadth of the network is useful in us being able to really steward. This person needs it. You don’t need it.

35:32 - Pray for the Church in Africa

Matt Tully
It requires a nuanced understanding of the different channels and the different needs that are out there. That’s amazing work that you all are doing, and it’s such a privilege for Crossway to get to partner with you all and really leverage your expertise and your experience in country as we just equip with the resources. As a final question for you, Ken, if there’s one prayer or a couple things that you would ask American Christians to be praying for as you do your work, as you see the gospel spread in your context, and as you try to equip pastors and leaders with resources, what should we be praying for?

Ken Mbugua
Pray that the Lord will give to the church in Africa an ever deepening hunger for his word. Pray that the Lord would bless the church in Africa with an abundance of gifts—the Ephesians 4 gifts of pastor/teachers who will be used by God to satisfy that hunger as they open up God’s word and accurately teach it. That’s the most important thing you could pray for the church in Africa. If we get hungry not for famous people, big names, apostolic leaders, big church buildings (none of those things are bad), but if there’s a hunger for the word and brothers who are able to teach it accurately, which means to put forth Christ every Sunday they stand up behind that pulpit, we’ll be just fine. So, pray that the Lord would increase those two things.

Matt Tully
Ken, thank you so much for speaking with us today.

Ken Mbugua
Amen. That was a joy.

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Breaking Down Jesus’s Sermon on the Plain

C. D. "Jimmy" Agan III — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 12, 2025 by: C. D. "Jimmy" Agan III

The Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17–49)

J. R. R. Tolkien loved to create stories about places he called “perilous,” places where we come into contact with a kind of power that, if rightly respected, leads us to unexpected joy and, if taken too lightly, leads to overwhelming misery. The “level place” where Jesus delivered his famous Sermon on the Plain is such a place. As Jesus says, “everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). If we will trust Jesus to reshape our hearts to reflect all that he is and all that he offers, we are on a path that leads to perfect and permanent happiness: “Blessed are you . . . .” If we choose any other path, it will lead to misery and ruin: “But woe to you . . . .”

One peril we encounter as we hear this sermon is the danger of dismissing it as second best. After all, Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount is three times as long and is more widely known. Details of the Gospel texts allow for two possibilities: Matthew and Luke may recount two distinct moments in Jesus’s teaching ministry, or they may give accounts of the same event. Either way, a fully trained disciple will give full attention to all of Jesus’s teaching. When we hear the Sermon on the Plain on its own terms, key themes for the training of our hearts emerge.

First, we notice that what happens in this perilous place is more than a sermon. Somewhere near Capernaum (Luke 7:1; Luke 5:17), Jesus had spent a night praying in the hills surrounding the Sea of Galilee (Luke 6:12; Luke 5:1). As day broke, he called a group of disciples and chose twelve of them as apostles. He then comes down to stand on “a level place” (Luke 6:17)—the detail that gives rise to the title, Sermon on the Plain, referring either to flat ground at the foot of a steep hill or to a level terrace on a hillside. Here Jesus is joined by another “great crowd” of his disciples and by a “great multitude” of others who have come to hear him and to be healed. While power is going out of Jesus to heal many in the crowd, he lifts up his eyes “on his disciples” and begins to speak. What happens on the Plain is therefore an encounter with Jesus’s powerful deeds, which can restore the body, and his powerful words, which reshape the heart. Luke wants us to see Jesus as a Teacher who both says and does. A fully formed disciple will therefore never speak empty words. We will not only call him “Lord” but will also put into practice everything Jesus says (Luke 6:46–47). Hearing is perilous, because it confronts us with a choice: are we attracted to Jesus’s power, willing to hear what he says? Or will deeper commitment make us willing to hear and obey? Whether we are among the disciples to whom Jesus speaks most directly or among the crowds in whose “hearing” as he speaks (Luke 7:1), we must choose.

Second, the setting of this sermon in Jesus’s unfolding ministry speaks to another kind of peril: being trained as disciples of Jesus will expose us to controversy, conflict, and criticism. In Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount begins before we read of any opposition to Jesus’s public ministry. By contrast, Luke lets us see that in addition to early successes, Jesus faces opposition, whether murderous rage (Luke 4:28–29), suspicion of blasphemy (Luke 5:21), objection to his association with “tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 5:30), or criticism of his lax practices regarding fasting and sabbath rest ( Luke5:33; Luke 6:2). The Pharisees and scribes, looking for reasons “to accuse him,” are “filled with fury” when they find one (Luke 6:7, 11). Against this backdrop, the Sermon on the Plain issues a challenge. It warns us that being a religious person who is committed to knowing the Scriptures and serious about applying them to life is not enough. Many teachers matching that description also reject Jesus. They are blind guides (Luke 6:39). Only Jesus’s approach to understanding and applying the Scriptures will lead to joy in the end. But with this challenge comes a promise: Jesus offers grace to sustain us when following him is costly. If we are hated now because of our commitment to him, we are on the path to a future of infinite joy (Luke 6:22–23). When floodwaters rise against us, he is strong enough to keep us safe (Luke 6:48). Being near to Jesus is a perilous place, multiplying both hardship and grace.

Being near to Jesus is a perilous place, multiplying both hardship and grace.

Finally, as the two previous themes have hinted, the Sermon on the Plain has a relentlessly Christological, or Jesus-centered, focus. While this could be said of all of Jesus’s teaching (in fact, of every part of Scripture!), this sermon sharpens the focus in a very specific way. Verses 39–40 (whose near equivalents in Matthew are found outside the Sermon on the Mount) stress two facts: negatively, a disciple cannot rise above the limitations of the teacher; positively, a fully formed disciple will “be like his teacher.” We could take this to mean that Jesus is only a great teacher and a good role model. But neither Jesus nor Luke leaves us this option. Luke invites us to marvel at the unique authority of Jesus’s teaching (Luke 4:32, “his word possessed authority”). As the miracle following the sermon shows us, when we embrace this authority, we aren’t simply obeying commands but putting faith in the Lord who speaks them (Luke 7:7-10). Jesus underscores the point as he opens the sermon. He speaks words of blessing and woe as the Son of Man, declaring who will and won’t enter the kingdom of God (Luke 6:20–26). Jesus goes on to answer the question raised by controversies with scribes and Pharisees: Whose approach to Scripture is best? “But I say to you . . . Love your enemies” (Luke 6:27) is Jesus’s way of saying that his approach to knowing God through the word is best, for two reasons. First, Jesus is not only a student of the word but its definitive interpreter (Luke 6:5, “Lord of the Sabbath”), its fulfillment (Luke 24:44, “everything written about me”), and even the source of revelation (“I say”). Second, divine perfection lets Jesus lead us to places no other teacher could safely go. He can call us to love our enemies because his love is always perfect, as the cross will supremely show. He can tell us that the Father’s infinite mercy and generous forgiveness set the standard for our lives because he himself embodies these things (Luke 6:36-38). Jesus’s life shows not a hint of hypocrisy (Luke 6:42) and it produces no bad fruit, because the “treasure of his heart” is completely good (Luke 6:43–45).

All of this magnifies a subtle signal Luke sends as he introduces the Sermon on the Plain, using an emphatic pronoun to stress the fact that it is Jesus who speaks: “And he himself. . . began saying . . . ” (Luke 6:20). What is most significant about this sermon is not its content, says Luke, but its preacher. This is what makes the “level place” so perilous. How could we overestimate the joy of trusting—or the misery of refusing—the One who offers to train us in the ways of perfect spiritual integrity, divine mercy toward those who least deserve it, and everlasting blessing for any who will receive it as a gift?

C. D. “Jimmy” Agan III is the author of Luke: A 12-Week Study.

C. D. "Jimmy" Agan III (PhD, Aberdeen University) serves as senior pastor of Intown Community Church in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the author of The Imitation of Christ in the Gospel of Luke: Growing in Christlike Love for God and Neighbor.

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Despite Having Few References to Jesus, the Book of James Is Remarkably Christological

Robert L. Plummer — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 11, 2025 by: Robert L. Plummer

Explicit References to Jesus

Unlike Paul’s letters, the letter of James has few explicit references to the person of Jesus. As we explore the Christological nature of the letter, it seems advisable to start with the two passages where James unambiguously mentions Jesus by name.

In James 1:1, the author of the epistle identifies himself as “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Several things are noteworthy about James’s reference. Jesus is identified with the title “Lord” (kyrios). Although “Lord” can be used as a title of polite address (similar to “sir” in modern English; see, e.g., John 4:11), the context of James 1:1 indicates that the author is using “Lord” as an exalted title. Jesus is a Lord whose followers are his slaves or servants, implying his authority and majesty in the spiritual realm. Furthermore, James calls himself one of these slaves/servants (i.e., a doulos) of this Lord, putting himself in both a place of submission and delegated representation. Because James was also a son of Mary, for him to identify himself as a slave/servant of his half brother was to recognize that Jesus was much more than a gifted rabbi (cf. 2 Cor. 5:16).

In James 1:1, Jesus is also called the Christ (Christos). Christos is a translation of the Hebrew word for “Messiah” and means “a person anointed” (by God). Scholars debate whether “Christ” always retains its titular sense in the New Testament or whether for some authors it almost functions like a second proper name of Jesus.¹ Regardless of one’s conclusions about this question in other texts, it is unthinkable that the Jewish audience to which James wrote would not have understood a titular nuance to “Christ.”

In the Old Testament, different classes of persons were anointed to set them apart for God-ordained tasks, most notably priests (Ex. 29:7), kings (1 Sam. 10:1), and prophets (1 Kings 19:16). Despite these anointings, Old Testament authors expected a preeminent anointed one would eventually arrive (Isa. 42:1–4; Dan. 9:25)—an anointed one who would perfectly fulfill the priestly, kingly, and prophetic duties that forerunners had only anticipated and approximated. Jesus is that promised anointed one (Messiah/Christ); and in James’s application of that title to Jesus, the apostle affirms the multifaceted biblical expectations for that role. To call Jesus both “Lord” and “Christ” in the opening lines of his letter is a clear affirmation of Jesus’s authority, dominion, and messianic status.

James further instructs his readers in these opening lines by putting Jesus on a parallel plane with God, implying their equality and shared majesty. Both an equality of majesty and distinction of persons is communicated. James describes himself as a servant/slave of both the Lord Jesus Christ and of God. James does not employ the nuanced language of later creeds, but the way he speaks of God lays the groundwork for later Trinitarian reflection. God (the Father) is given equal glory alongside God the Son (Jesus), who is honored with the title kyrios (Lord), a term frequently used to translate the tetragrammaton (four-letter Hebrew name for God) in the Septuagint (e.g., Isa. 40:3). The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is not mentioned here, but he is possibly appealed to later in the letter (James 4:5).²

James 2:1 includes the letter’s only other explicit reference to Jesus by name. James writes, “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.” Again, we see that Jesus is honored with the titles “Lord” and “Christ.” Significantly, Jesus is further identified with the title “the Lord of glory.” If there was any doubt about whether “Lord” had an exalted spiritual sense in application to Jesus, this appositional designation removes all such objections. Glory (i.e., the splendor of the divine presence) is something uniquely associated with God in the Scriptures and is only derivatively and partially experienced by God’s people. We see, for example, in Revelation 7 the heavenly hosts ascribe glory (and other divine attributes) ultimately only to God:

And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” (Rev. 7:11–12)

Yes, humans hope in the glory they will experience in God’s presence (Rom. 5:2) and are glorified by God (i.e., changed to reflect his glory, Rom. 8:30), but God alone is inherently glorious.

By calling Jesus “the Lord of glory,” James ascribes to Jesus dominion over the realm of glory (i.e., the realm of God’s splendor, perfection, goodness, and presence). Jesus himself is glorious and reigns as Lord over the realm of glory. Nevertheless, God the Son (Jesus) reigns in such a way that his lordship is never at odds with—and in fact only magnifies—the glory of the other members of the Trinity.

Jesus himself is glorious and reigns as Lord over the realm of glory.

Parallels Between the Letter of James and the Teachings of Jesus

Nearly every verse in the letter of James could be laid alongside a teaching of Jesus from the Gospels to demonstrate that the epistle is a faithful, though selective, recapitulation of the Lord Jesus’s instruction. Much of the letter parallels Jesus’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, but prior to investigating that frequently observed pattern, let us consider teachings of Jesus and James on the new birth.

It is common in evangelical circles to emphasize the necessity of the new birth (conversion) as an essential element of true evangelical theology.³ Indeed, one does not become a Christian by being born to Christian parents. As Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

One might query, Isn’t this teaching of Jesus a far cry from the epistle of James? Surely the letter of James is filled with moral injunctions and contains nothing about being born again, right? Absolutely not! In fact, the very same teaching about spiritual regeneration can be found clearly in James: “Of [God’s] own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18). Ultimately, why are some people Christians and other people not? James tells us that the decisive reason for this spiritual divide is the will of God: “Of his own will he brought us forth.” The underlying Greek verb translated as “he brought us forth” (apekyēsen) usually refers to the physical act of giving birth, and many English translations choose to reflect this sense. For example, the NIV of James 1:18 reads, “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”

What is the instrument that brings about this spiritual birth? It is “the word of truth.” God’s “word of truth” is his declared or written word that tells us the truth about who he is, who we are, and what he has done in Jesus to save us from our sins. As this saving word is heard, the Holy Spirit brings new life to elect sinners, formerly dead in their transgressions. They are born again!

The apostle Paul similarly emphasizes the proclamation of the gospel as the means God uses to save sinners: “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Rom. 10:13–14, quoting Joel 2:32). The people to whom James writes had heard the gospel (i.e., “the word of truth”) and had experienced spiritual birth by the will of God. Furthermore, this new life, which they had received as a gift, was an anticipatory sign of the renewal of the entire cosmos that will happen when Jesus returns. In other words, Christians are “firstfruits”—the early part of the harvest dedicated to God that anticipates the final and complete harvest. We see, then, that a careful reading of James’s letter coheres with both Jesus’s teaching on the new birth and the apostle Paul’s teaching about salvation.

Conclusion

When Jesus walked along the Emmaus road with two unnamed disciples, Luke tells us that Jesus rebuked them:

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:25–27)

If the Old Testament is all about Jesus (and it is), then how much more is the New Testament focused on Christ! The letter of James is no exception. Admittedly, the letter has only two explicit references to Jesus by name (James 1:1; 2:1), but the whole letter pulsates with the teaching of Jesus—sometimes in nearly word-for-word quotations (e.g., Matt. 5:34–37; James 5:12). More commonly, the teaching of Jesus is selectively reported and slightly repackaged for a new generation of disciples seeking to be faithful to their Lord.

Notes:

L. W. Hurtado writes, “Close examination of christos in Paul’s letters . . . shows that he uses the term almost as a name, or as part of the name for Jesus, and not characteristically as a title.” L. W. Hurtado, “Christ,” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, ed. Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, and I. Howard Marshall (InterVarsity Press, 1992), 108.
Douglas Moo offers this balanced analysis of James 4:5: “It is not clear whether James thinks of ‘the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’ as the Holy Spirit given to believers, or as God’s creative spirit by which he has invigorated humankind (Gen. 2:7). Perhaps the latter is slightly more likely, however, since James never elsewhere refers to the Holy Spirit.” Douglas J. Moo, The Letter of James, PNTC (Eerdmans, 2000), 190. Favoring a different interpretation, The NET Bible note on James 4:5 reads, “Interpreters debate the referent of the word ‘spirit’ in this verse: (1) The [NET] translation takes ‘spirit’ to be the lustful capacity within people that produces a divided mind (1:8, 14) and inward conflicts regarding God (4:1–4). God has allowed it to be in man since the fall, and he provides his grace (v. 6) and the new birth through the gospel message (1:18–25) to counteract its evil effects. (2) On the other hand, the word ‘spirit’ may be taken positively as the Holy Spirit and the sense would be, ‘God yearns jealously for the Spirit he caused to live within us.’ But the word for ‘envious’ or ‘jealous’ is generally negative in biblical usage and the context before and after seems to favor the negative interpretation.
David W. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History form the 1730s to the 1980s (Routledge, 1989), 1–19.

This article is adapted from Living Faith: A Theology of James by Robert L. Plummer.

Robert L. Plummer (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the Collin and Evelyn Aikman professor of biblical studies at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and host of the popular screencast at DailyDoseOfGreek.com. He has authored, coauthored, or edited numerous books, including 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible; Beginning with New Testament Greek; Greek for Life; and Held in Honor.

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What Are the Challenges of Ordering the Bible Chronologically?

Andrew E. Steinmann — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

November 11, 2025 by: Andrew E. Steinmann

Wide Range of Interpretation

To arrange the biblical text chronologically is quite a challenge because we don’t always know when a certain book of the Bible was written. For some books, we’re very confident. Some of Paul’s letters we know within a month or two of when he wrote them. But other books are open to a wide range of interpretations as to when they were written.

The prophet Obadiah is notoriously difficult to date precisely. We know he had to write after a certain date and before another date, but that span can be, according to which scholar you look at, between 150 or 200 years. There are at least twelve people in the Old Testament named Obadiah. We don’t even know which Obadiah it was. Or maybe the Obadiah that was the prophet is the thirteenth Obadiah. We simply don’t know. So the challenge is where to put that book since it’s kind of fuzzy.

The same thing goes on with the book of Psalms. For some of the psalms, we have a superscription that says, “David wrote this when he fled from his son, Absalom.” We can date that with fairly high confidence. But many of the psalms do not tell us when they were written. We have some indications, since the psalter is divided into five books, of when each book was compiled, so that gives us kind of an end date for each of the five books of the psalms. But it doesn’t tell us anything before that.

So, that’s one of the things, when I was editing the ESV Chronological Bible, I had to make decisions on. Where do we slot these psalms in where it makes fairly good chronological sense without being dogmatic about knowing exactly when a particular psalm was written.

We’re more confident of New Testament books at times than Old Testament books. Some Old Testament books we’re fairly confident of. We know Moses wrote the first five books during his forty years in the wilderness. So, that gives us a span of time. He couldn’t have written Deuteronomy much before he died because it was his last word. So, we can be very confident about dating some books like that.

Other books, like 1 and 2 Samuel, we know had to be written after David’s reign, but we’re not exactly sure how far after David’s reign. The thing that helps us with the book of Samuel is that we don’t really need to know when it was written; we need to know when the events in the book of Samuel took place. We can be more confident about that. So, that’s the big challenge is figuring out where to slot things, especially when some things simply are unknown and, in some cases, unknowable.

Andrew E. Steinmann is the editor of the ESV Chronological Bible.

Andrew E. Steinmann is Distinguished Professor of Theology and Hebrew at Concordia University Chicago, where he has taught since 2000. He has published over eighty articles and book reviews in the areas of Hebrew and Aramaic grammar, Old Testament, New Testament, and Bible chronology. He is author of nineteen books including the widely-consulted From Abraham to Paul: A Biblical Chronology.

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