Cap-Quotes: The Prize to Be Won

Cap-Quotes: The Prize to Be Won

by | Apr 2, 2014 | Christian Living, General Theology, The Gospel

Here are a few more quotes from Tom Schreiner’s book, The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance. I really recommend this book as a helpful tool in understanding the purpose and use of the warnings of the New Testament and how they related to perseverance and eternal security. The Christian life is like a race, and we run to win a prize. Winning this race is the most important matter in our lives. If we lose this race, everything else we achieve in life is meaningless. 46   Two truths stand out in Paul’s assessment of his life. First, he was confident that he had lived in a way that pleased God….Second, the reason for Paul’s assurance was his perseverance in running the race. He had not quit halfway into the race; he had not abandoned the faith. 47   Both the present and future dimensions of salvation should be viewed as two aspects of an indivisible whole….Salvation is not merely a past reality; it is also our future destiny. 47   We are already saved, yet our salvation has not yet been completed or consummated. We must uphold the tension in the New Testament between the already and not yet when we think of salvation in the New Testament. Believers today are prone to oversimplify the biblical teaching and to think of salvation simply in terms of the present. When this happens, a crucial element of biblical teaching is surrendered… 52   If we wish to represent the New Testament correctly, we cannot say that eternal life is exclusively a present or a future...
Cap-Review: The Glory of God

Cap-Review: The Glory of God

by | Jul 18, 2011 | Biblical Studies, Bookreviews, Featured Articles, General Theology, Ordinary Pastor, Video

Cap-Review: The Glory of God from Bret Capranica on Vimeo. An Ordinary Pastor’s Brief Review of The Glory of God: Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson have blessed the church with a helpful volume in Crossway”™s “Theology in Community” series, entitled, The Glory of God.  The aim of the book is to ask and answer the question, “what does the Bible teach” about God”™s glory (20).  The editors seek a two pronged attack in achieving their aim.  Chapters 1-6 seek to “help us glorify God in our minds by focusing on biblical and theological truths related to his glory.  Chapters 7 and 8 help us rejoice in our hearts as they illuminate how these truths about God”™s glory shape our view and approach to the church, pastoral ministry, and missions” (21).  Nine different authors, all instructors at theological institutions, contribute to the volume.  The audience is intended to be college and seminary students and those pastors with such training (14). The book is arranged by addressing the subject of God”™s glory historically, then from the perspective of the Old Testament, New Testament, the Synoptic Gospels/Acts/General Epistles, John”™s Gospel/Revelation, and Paul”™s Epistles.  The book then contains a chapter on the overall theology of God”™s glory, and concludes with chapters on pastoral and missional implications of God”™s glory. I found the structure and arrangement of the book helpful.  Moving from an historical sweep to looking at how God”™s glory is described in detail from the Old Testament through the emphases in various New Testament genre, then to a more global evaluation of the biblical material, ending with more practical implications was...