…there are three reasons why we can affirm the Spirit’s indwelling of OT saints: regeneration, sanctification, and empowerment.

via OT Saints: Indwelt by the Spirit?.

I was actually just thinking about this the other night, while reading through Ezekiel 2-3. I’d heard the argument before that Old Testament saints were NOT indwelt by the Spirit ever, that that Spirit merely “came upon” them.

The text, however, shows otherwise:

Ezekiel 2:2

2 And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. (ESV)

Ezekiel 3:24

24 But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. (ESV)

While I include more detail in the book, the Biblical argument for conditional forgiveness is straight-forward.

• Christians are called to forgive others as God forgave them (Matthew, 6:12, Ephesians 4:32).

• God forgives conditionally. God only forgives those who repent of their sins and turn in saving faith to Him (1 John 1:9, John 3:36).

• Likewise, we also should offer forgiveness to all.

• We forgive those who repent. Indeed, we are obliged to forgive (Luke 17:3-4), knowing that whatever someone has done to offend us pales in comparison to what we have done to offend God (Matthew 18:32-33). (See what others say on conditional forgiveness here).

via Unpacking Forgiveness – Reformation21.

Now, if I’m immersed in God’s Word and biblically based literature, then and only then am I able to discern from the newspaper and Time and Hemingway and movies what values are being communicated and whether or not those values are true. Scripture becomes my grid, my moral filter by which I judge all other claims to truth. I can now pick and choose what is right based on my knowledge of God’s Word.

But If I do not spend sufficient time in Scripture, or if I fail to realize the essential authoritative difference of Scripture and all else, or if I interpret Scripture in light of Seinfeld or Hemingway or Gladiator, then I will be led astray. If I am biblically grounded I can read the Book of Mormon and a book by the Dalai Lama and evaluate it appropriately. If I’m not, by reading such things I run the risk of believing untruths and being sucked into anti-Christian heresy.

via Eternal Perspectives (Randy Alcorn’s blog): Building a Biblical Worldview.

My contention, and I am willing to prove myself wrong as I work through several other texts, is that social justice in the Bible is not an achieved result but equal treatment and a fair process. No bribes. No backroom deals. No slanderous judgments. No breaking your promises. No taking advantage of the weak. That’s what the Bible means by social justice. Ideally, justice is blind. That’s why Lady Justice on our courthouses has her eyes covered. That’s why the U.S. Supreme Court building has inscribed on it the words “Equal Justice Under Law.” Justice means there is one law for everyone, not different rules for different kinds of people.

via DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed: Social Justice and the Poor (2).

Incidentally, I highly recommend the October 1, 2006 session (The Doctrine of Creation, Part 3 of 4), where Dr. Grudem analyzes Darwinian evolution.

Grudem’s Christian Essentials on iTunesAugust 16, 2009 at 6:00 am · Filed under Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem Wayne Grudem’s entire Christian Essentials class is now on iTunes. This is five years of lectures going through his excellent Systematic Theology book.I’ve recommended this book more than any other book. It truly is a helpful work that is accessible, easy to read, and thorough.

via Grudem’s Christian Essentials on iTunes « Faith by Hearing.

You know them at work, they’re you’re friends for goodness sake, and you want them to be. And when they ask you: “So, you’re saying . . . if I don’t embrace your Jesus, you think I’m going to go to hell?”

What are you going to say right there? “Well, it’s kind of complex and there are disagreements in the church and there are a lot of scholars and a lot of opinions and . . .” Weasel, weasel, weasel!

read more at Strong Words From Pastor Piper « The Responsible Puppet.

See that they read it all. You need not shrink from bringing any doctrine before them. You need not fancy that the leading doctrines of Christianity are things which children cannot understand. Children understand far more of the Bible than we are apt to suppose.

via Ryle on Training Children in the Knowledge of the Bible — Cal.vini.st.

He suggested 4 ways to do so (though there are many more), in the forms of statements the Christian can make to the culture:

1. “Culture, I will not worship your gods.”
2. “I will not allow you to change the definition of truth.”
3. “I will not allow you to parent my children.”
4. “I will not allow you to take anyone with you down the wrong path.”

Listen to the whole sermon here.

Perhaps we have forgotten what happens to those who have not been born again. Before I made my commitment to follow Christ, I lived what I now call the “lie of the middle.”

Somehow I believed I wasn’t that bad, that I was in the “middle” and therefore deserved to go to heaven. That was a lie. The Bible states that either God is your father or Satan is your father. Either you are in a realtionship with Christ, or you’re not; either you are born again, or you’re not. You are either God’s child, or you are God’s enemy; you are either storing up wrath, or you are storing up mercy; you are either heaven-bound, or you are hell-bound. No one is in the middle. No one is “almost there.” Those who have chosen to reject Christ are condemned. It is wrong to believe a loving God will not send unbelievers to hell.

- William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd, Share Jesus Without Fear

The Logos edition of the ESV Study Bible puts the Bible text in one resource and all of the other content in a second resource. This enables you to view the Bible and study Bible content side by side—and even scroll synchronously when both resources share the same link set. The ESV Study Bible Notes resource will function just like any other commentary and will show up in the Passage Guide along with your favorite study Bibles and commentaries. So no matter what passage you’re studying, the ESV Study Bible with all of its rich content is always just a click away.

via ESV Study Bible Coming to Logos – Logos Bible Software Blog.

The unspoken upshot of this is that you will be able to, in Logos, view the ESVSB notes along with other translations, including the ESV Reverse Interlinear, NKJV, KJV, NASB, etc.