Advent is here, and Christmas is approaching. It’s very easy for us to overlook Advent because of Christmas. This is a bit unfortunate in a way, and in another way it is actually very fitting. It is unfortunate, because the … Continue reading
Twenty years ago today my grandpa Preus celebrated his seventy first birthday, the last birthday he would celebrate before he died nineteen days later. I was eight years old when he died, too young really to understand all of what he … Continue reading
We can learn a lot from the imprecatory psalms. These are the psalms that speak godly judgment on the ungodliness of the world. And they are good for us to pray, because they teach us both to decry … Continue reading
What is worship? How do you worship? Well, the word worship literally means to ascribe worth to someone or something. And this is certainly what we do when we worship God. We ascribe to him worth. We confess that he … Continue reading
The following is an update of St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Sunderland, England, which was vandalized and burned back in January: We have exceeded our goal of raising $5,000 for St Timothy’s! Donations are still very welcome; the need is … Continue reading
Dear BJS readers, The following is found here, where you can give what you are able to help this congregation that serves as a diamond in the rough, confessing the pure gospel in the midst of an increasingly godless England. This … Continue reading
I am doing my sermon series for midweek Advent Services on the Magnificat. The first week’s readings are 1 Samuel 1:1-20 and Luke 1:26-45. The following is based off of the second reading, with a poem/prayer I wrote to fit … Continue reading
A fellow author for BJS, Pastor Joe Abrahamson, brought to my attention this testimonial of a woman who apostatized after realizing that her life as a Christian was not much different than her job as a saleswoman. From listening to … Continue reading
True unity is found only in pure doctrine. This is because the center of all Christian doctrine is the death of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. True unity is found in the gospel. To forgive your neighbor when he … Continue reading
The Carmen Christi (Song of Christ) is a song (or hymn) that St. Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote in the second chapter of his epistle to the Philippians. As a divinely inspired hymn, giving a good example … Continue reading
Since the word “vocation” is thrown around so much, I have been trying to work out in my mind and through study of God’s Word how we may actually speak of and teach about vocation. The following reflects what I … Continue reading
First, Objective Justification and Subjective Justification are not two different justifications, but rather two parts of the act of Justification. My brother David has put it well: Objective Justification = God justifies the sinner [through faith]. Subjective Justification = … Continue reading
In arguing against the Huberian error that because Christ has redeemed all men he therefore elected all men, Hunnius maintains: But we respond from the start that we steadfastly teach that Christ, by the decree, counsel, ordination, good pleasure and … Continue reading
Philip Melanchthon, Common Places: Loci Communes 1521, trans. Christian Preus (St. Louis:CPH, 2014). I have three reasons why our readers should purchase and read this new translation of Melancthon’s Loci Communes of 1521, published by Concordia Publishing House, besides the … Continue reading
Forensic justification is that God makes us righteous by crediting to us the righteousness of Jesus. He doesn’t make us righteous through a process that he works inside of us. What He works inside of us is a consequence of … Continue reading
“These are Your Words, Heavenly Father. Sanctify us by the Truth. Your Word is Truth. Amen.” I cannot count how many times I have heard this prayer. My dad, who was my pastor for the first eighteen years of my … Continue reading
O Sinner, come thy sin to mourn So vast and vile that it has borne Christ to this vale of anguish. Son of a Virgin, sweet and mild In poverty the Holy Child Thy substitute did languish. Behold with faith … Continue reading
In previous articles I have stressed the centrality of justification in Christian doctrine and thus the eminent relevance of doctrine to the people of God. When we understand such centrality it helps us avoid both legalism and antinomianism or gospel-reductionism. … Continue reading
Jesus blesses and sanctifies marriage. He does this in two ways. First He creates it, and then He redeems it. Jesus created marriage when He created Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were married. God gave Eve to Adam as a … Continue reading
What happens when Justification becomes peripheral and not the central article? I’ll tell you what happens: Doctrine becomes not life. Doctrine becomes something not for the people. The word Doctrine becomes theological jargon that is used only by theologians and … Continue reading
The students of Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary, St. Catharines, ON started a student journal last year, which is called Propter Christum. This year, they are continuing the journal as well as keeping a blog: propterchristum.blogspot.com. This post is from Tuesday, … Continue reading
I started writing this post about a month ago, and I stopped writing and almost forgot about it. But yesterday I read from the October 8th, 2012 issue of Christian News a response to Christianity Today’s “50 Women You Should … Continue reading
This past weekend, I taught on the 2nd Article of the Creed at a confirmation retreat. In preparation, I was given a nifty booklet with the whole lay-out of the lesson. Since I only had an hour to teach, I … Continue reading
Text: Mark 9:30-37 Our Condescending God and Lord Dear friends in Christ, When someone is condescending, we usually understand that to mean that he says things in a patronizing kind of way, making those to whom he speaks feel small … Continue reading
One thing I have noticed about the opponents of Objective Justification is that they tend to say that we who hold to it teach justification “apart from faith” or “whether you believe it or not.” I would like to demonstrate … Continue reading