Bray on Justification

I just enjoyed listening to Dr. Gerald Bray on Justification, John Piper, and N.T. Wright here. It humbled me to think of how easily we can be influenced by popular opinion and popular theology without even realizing it. We need to be deeply rooted in the Scriptures and to understand the history of theology so that we can, by God's grace, see more clearly.

Schreiner, Seifrid, and Vickers Assess Piper-Wright Debate

Yesterday, Tom Schreiner, Mark Seifrid, Brian Vickers, and Denny Burk had a conversation with the students of Boyce College about Paul’s doctrine of justification. In particular, they discussed Tom Wright’s new book Justification: God’s Plan & Paul’s Vision, which is largely a response to John Piper’s 2007 book The Future of Justification: A Response to N. T. Wright. For more info and to listen to the audio, go here.

HT: JT

Just for Starters

I have just started going through a Matthias Media Bible study called Just for Starters with some young believers at the Drop-in that I run. It is excellent for discipling new believers and for brushing up on the basics. As we were studying Romans 5:8-9:

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God (ESV).

I had never noticed before the difference between salvation and justification. Justification is being declared right with God in the present and salvation is being saved from the wrath of God on the last day.

I highly recommend you do it with a friend (but if you do, also purchase Preparing Just for Starters; they are all available at the Matthias Media store).