When we fail to fulfill its demands because the bar is way too high for our human striving, we are not told to "do more!" and "try harder!"; but rather we are shown that Jesus came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it perfectly for us (Matt 5:17).
The Law diagnoses sinners: condemned and dead in their sin (Gal 3:19). It's purpose is to amplify sin and to silence every self-justifying argument before God.
Read moreBut here is the problem. If a person rejects that church affiliation, and abandons the religious community, how long can they maintain that solitary or non-affiliated religious practice before it dies altogether? Ten years? Thirty? And can that attenuated practice be passed on to the next generation? When does "no religious affiliation" transform into a simple "No religion at all, seriously, and I mean it"?
Read moreTo be sure, the main problem is not that Cruz deems the Ugandan laws too strict. That is a reasonable stance for conservatives to take. The issue here is Cruz's full-throated embrace of an outdated conservatism that idolizes individual autonomy at the expense of the culture's moral and spiritual health. By paying lip service to the powerful gay lobby, which seeks to annihilate traditional values, Cruz is just another symptom of the moral compromise that pervades today's conservatism.
Read moreIt's not a simple question. That's why I took so long to work it through. It actually isn't a simple question, as so many people who are committed to the cause of the gospel and the authority of the Scriptures show because they remain in structures like that.
Read moreWarnings come to us all -- not only in these exceptional circumstances, but also during times when all seems normal and safe. Some years ago, I was the rector of a seaside parish church in a suburb of Richards Bay, a port city on the east coast of South Africa. Between our suburb and the town centre was a lake that flowed into an estuary via a canal. A bridge over the canal carried the access road from our suburb into town.
Read moreWhy do Church of England bishops wear mitres? In our age of visual media, there is a tendency to reach for visual symbolism; it seems sometimes that those on television they don't think they are actually talking to a bishop unless the person is wearing a purple cassock. But there are many reasons for saying goodbye to mitres once and for all.
Read moreThe object of the Bill is to establish a comprehensive and enhanced legislation to protect the traditional family by--
(a) prohibiting any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex and the promotion or recognition of sexual relations between persons of the same sex.
So strong was he as a leader, and with such commitment to Christ, that he was consecrated bishop despite great protests. Crowther protested himself! People who knew him described him as a very humble man, a simple evangelist, who only wanted the opportunity to tell others about God's love for sinners. But in the end he was finally convinced that becoming a bishop was God's will for his life and for the church.
Read moreIt was made clear to the bishops at February Synod that commendation via B5 meant that the legal position was left unchanged, and it was made clear that those opposed to Prayers in Love and Faith thought the Bishops legal justification for the Prayers was not sound.
Read moreBottom line: The schismatic is the one who [by false doctrine] causes the separation, not the one who separates (schismaticus est qui separationem causat, non qui separate) in order to preserve the integrity of the Gospel.
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