Articles Archive

• Why God Became Man

  by Roger N. Wiles

  In his book, On The Incarnation, Athanasius wrote of The Divine Dilemma. How does God who promised death for the transgression of Adam keep His word, yet, save those created in His image and likeness? For God to not punish the transgression would make God a liar and therefore not God at all. But on the other hand, how could God, finding Adam and Eve in their nakedness and shame allow those created in His image, those who once reflected the very Word of God, disappear and the work of God be undone? “The creatures whom He had created reasonable, like the Word, were in fact perishing, and such noble works were on the road to ruin, what then was God, being Good, to do?” (Athanasius, On the Incarnation, p.12). What then was a good and holy God to do? Read the rest of this entry »

• The Pietist and the Perfectionist

  by Abraham Kuyper

  “He chastens us for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.” –Heb. xii. 10.

  SANCTIFICATION is a gracious work of God, whereby in a supernatural way He gradually divests from sin the inclinations and dispositions of the regenerate and clothes them with holiness.

  Here we meet a serious objection which deserves our careful attention. To the superficial observer, the spiritual experience of God’s children seems diametrically opposed to this professed gift of sanctification. One says: “Can it be that for more than ten years I have been the subject of a divine operation whereby my desires and inclinations were divested of sin and clothed with holiness? If this is the Gospel, then I belong not to the Lord’s redeemed; for in myself I perceive scarcely any progress; I only know that my first love has become cold and that the inward corruption is appalling. Some dream of progress, but I discover in myself scarcely anything but backsliding. No gain but loss, is the sad footing-up of the account. My only hope is Immanuel my Surety.” Read the rest of this entry »

• Delighting in Doing Good

  by Unknown

  “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” we are commanded in 1 Corinthians 10:31. But how do we best glorify God? By seeking our own pleasure. I will argue that pursuit of our own pleasure and pursuit of God’s glory are not two separate pursuits at odds with each other, but are in fact one and the same pursuit. This is because, as John Piper has said, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” Therefore, to abandon the pursuit of our pleasure is to abandon the pursuit of God’s glory. We will then examine how our pursuit of joy in God should cause us to do good deeds. This will provide a further answer to the question of why we cannot love people or please God if we fail to seek our own pleasure in doing good.
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