8 Jan 2024

Does Matthew 24 Describe the Rapture of the Church? (Part 1)

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The Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24–25 is the longest prophetic section in the NT outside of the book of Revelation. If the next prophesied event that believers are looking forward to is their gathering to meet the Lord in the air, you might expect our Lord to refer to this event in his lengthy prophetic...
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1 Jan 2024

DBTS Th.M. Seminars Available Remotely

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Looking for a New Year’s resolution? Consider working towards a Master of Theology (Th.M.) degree at DBTS. As described in our catalog, the Th.M. is “offered for those desiring advanced training beyond the Master of Divinity level.” It is designed for both pastors seeking more advanced education and anyone planning to do Ph.D. work. The...
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25 Dec 2023

The Virgin Birth and the Immaculate Conception

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This post originally appeared on December 25, 2013. During Christmas season each year, we read the accounts of Jesus’ birth in the Gospels (Matt 1:18–25; Luke 1:26–38), and we are reminded once more of our Savior’s Virgin Birth. What exactly do we mean by the Virgin Birth of Christ? Maybe that’s obvious, but let’s start...
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18 Dec 2023

Analysis and Critique of the Federal Vision Teaching of Justification (Part 3)

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Read Part 1 in this series here. Read Part 2 here. Teaching Directly Related to Justification While FV is not centered around soteriology, its proponents still address issues directly related to justification in their writings. Four specific issues directly related to justification occur within their teaching: the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, the role of works,...
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14 Dec 2023

The Descent of Christ (Part 2)

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Read Part 1 of this series here. Christ descended in the incarnation on the first Christmas. He came to earth as a man forever binding himself to humanity. This much is certain. But did Christ descend into Sheol (ᾅδης/hades/inferos/inferna) after his death? I argue here that church tradition affirms the descent of Christ into Sheol....
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11 Dec 2023

“With a View to the Administration of the Fullness of Times”: The Relationship of the Church to the Kingdom

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While the dispensational community has rightly pointed out that NT never posits identity between the Christian Church and the Messianic Kingdom, the relationship of the Church to the Kingdom is sometimes murky in dispensational thought. Paul in Ephesians 1:10 tells us that the outworking of the “mystery” of the Church is always to be carried...
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4 Dec 2023

Visiting the Mission Field (Part 3)

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There are more reasons for pastors to visit the mission field than I’ve listed so far, but I’ll stop my list with the three I’ve given: understanding missions better, improving your leadership of the church’s missions efforts, and being a blessing to God’s servants on the mission field. I’d like to address an intensely practical...
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