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27 results for “Union with Christ”

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Article · ChristologyBiblical theology · Christological analysis · Historical theology · Pastoral theology · Christian apologetics

One Person, Two Natures

Why the distinction matters when we speak about Jesus

…and they obeyed Him. He grew in wisdom, yet He knew what was in man. He was tempted, yet without sin. He said that He did not know the hour of His return, yet His disciples confessed that He knew all things. He suffered, bled and died, although God is immortal. Christians rightl…

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Article · ChristologyBiblical theology · Christological analysis · Historical theology · Primary-source study · Pastoral theology

Did Jesus Have a Human Soul?

Why the Son assumed a complete human nature, not merely a body

…hy the Son assumed a complete human nature, not merely a body Why this is useful to know: Christians rightly confess that Jesus is God manifest in the flesh. Yet if “flesh” is imagined as a human body animated directly by the divine Word, Jesus can become less than fully human in…

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Article · ChristologyBiblical theology · Christological analysis · Philosophical theology · Historical theology · Christian apologetics

The Word Did Not Fall into Flesh

The glory philosophy could not contain

…d Did Not Fall into Flesh The glory philosophy could not contain In the previous article, Christ in the Temple of the Philosophers, I argued that the Incarnation does not become absurd merely because it exceeds the limits of our created experience. The God who made the universe i…

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Article · Christian DoctrineBiblical exposition · Apologetics · Comparative theology

Not Three Gods

Why the Trinity is not polytheism—and why Christians confess one God

Not Three Gods Why the Trinity is not polytheism—and why Christians confess one God The Trinity is often rejected before it is accurately defined. “The Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God,” the objection runs. “That makes three…

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Article · ProphecyBiblical exposition · Biblical theology · Prophetic study · Christian ethics

The Earth's Great Sabbath

Creation, judgement, and the coming reign of Christ

The Earth's Great Sabbath Creation, judgement, and the coming reign of Christ The Christian hope for creation rests neither in human effort nor in escape from the material world. The creation groans for the return of its rightful King, the revelation of the son…

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Article · Christian HopeBiblical exposition · Theological reflection · Pastoral encouragement · Christian living

The Hope of the Resurrection

Not escape from the body, but its redemption

…of the Resurrection Not escape from the body, but its redemption Many people imagine the Christian hope as an endless disembodied existence: the soul released from the body, leaving the physical world behind and becoming something more like a ghost than a human being. Christians…

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Article · Comparative ReligionApologetics · Comparative theology · Biblical exposition · Theological reflection

The Sum of These Things

Christianity, Islam and the verdict of the evidence

The Sum of These Things Christianity, Islam and the verdict of the evidence “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Ma…

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Article · Christian DoctrineBiblical exposition · Apologetics · Comparative theology

Two Revelations of Divine Love

What mercy, holiness and the cross reveal about God

…revealed by what it does when the beloved is undeserving and the cost is real. Islam and Christianity both speak of divine mercy, forgiveness and love. A fair comparison cannot begin by pretending that the Qur'an presents Allah as merciless or that Muslims worship a deity who ne…

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Article · Christian DoctrineHistorical investigation · Theological analysis · Biblical theology · Primary-source study

Have Evangelicals Become Neo-Gnostics?

History, heresy, and the temptation of private Christianity

Have Evangelicals Become Neo-Gnostics? History, Heresy, and the Temptation of Private Christianity The accusation identifies real evangelical deformations—secret-key religion, escape rhetoric, elite conversion status, and churchless faith—but fails when it becomes a historica…

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Article · Comparative ReligionApologetics · Gospel foundations · Comparative theology

The Scales and the Cross

Two accounts of judgement, mercy, and the sinner's hope before God

…it against failure. The Bible also teaches a perfectly just judgement according to works. Christianity does not replace moral seriousness with divine indifference. Yet at the centre of the gospel stands an answer that no scale can supply: the Judge has provided a substitute, and…

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Article · Christian DoctrineBiblical exposition · Apologetics · Theological reflection · Comparative theology

Eternal Love Before Creation

What the Father's love for the Son reveals about God

…ion to love and freely express it when He creates. That answer should be taken seriously. Christianity does not need to prove the Trinity by defining love in a way which makes every alternative logically impossible. The biblical case is stronger than that. Jesus does not leave us…

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Article · Israel and the ChurchBiblical exposition · Apologetics

Do All God's Promises Transfer to the Church?

What 'yea and Amen' in Christ means for Israel and the covenants

Do All God's Promises Transfer to the Church? What "yea and Amen" in Christ means for Israel and the covenants Paul makes one of the most comprehensive statements about the promises of God: "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto th…

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Article · Israel and the ChurchBiblical exposition · Apologetics

Does the New Testament Reaffirm Israel's Promises?

Fulfilment in Christ, the inclusion of the Gentiles, and Israel's future mercy

Does the New Testament Reaffirm Israel's Promises? Fulfilment in Christ, the inclusion of the Gentiles, and Israel's future mercy The Old Testament repeatedly promises Israel preservation, regathering, cleansing, the kingdom of David's Son, and a restored…

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Article · Christian HopeBiblical exposition · Theological reflection · Historical study

Is the Beatific Vision the Whole Christian Hope?

Seeing God, bodily resurrection, and life in the renewed creation

Is the Beatific Vision the Whole Christian Hope? Seeing God, bodily resurrection, and life in the renewed creation The beatific vision is the Christian teaching that the redeemed will see God and find their perfect happines…

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Article · Israel and the ChurchBiblical exposition · Apologetics

Does Romans 2:28–29 Make Christians 'Spiritual Jews'?

Circumcision of the heart and the identity of Paul's inward Jew

Does Romans 2:28-29 Make Christians "Spiritual Jews"? Circumcision of the heart and the identity of Paul's inward Jew Paul's description of the inward Jew is often treated as a decisive redefinition of Israel: "For…

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Article · Biblical InterpretationBiblical exposition · Apologetics · Historical theology

He Who Has Believed Has Eaten

Does John 6 teach the literal eating of Christ's body?

He Who Has Believed Has Eaten Does John 6 Teach the Literal Eating of Christ’s Body? “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life.” —John 6:47–48 An evangelical watches a confident Roman Catholic prese…

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Article · Christian DoctrineBiblical exposition · Apologetics

Does Matthew 16:18 Establish Church Infallibility?

What Christ’s promise establishes—and what claims about infallible teaching still need to prove

Does Matthew 16:18 Establish Church Infallibility? Few promises offer Christians greater assurance than these words of Jesus: “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” — Matthew 16:18 The Church belongs to Christ. He builds…

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Article · Israel and the ChurchBiblical exposition · Apologetics

Are Abraham's Seed and the Israel of God the Church?

Christ the promised Seed, Gentile inheritance, and Paul's final blessing

Are Abraham's Seed and the Israel of God the Church? Christ the promised Seed, Gentile inheritance, and Paul's final blessing Galatians contains two of the strongest arguments for identifying the Church as Israel. First, Paul says that the pro…

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Article · Christian DoctrinePersonal reflection · Historical theology · Theological analysis · Primary-source study

Standing at the Door

An unrequited love for the historic Church

…historic Church because I despise her. I stand outside because I love much of what I find within her, yet cannot call every later development apostolic. There is a particular accusation made against evangelical Christianity that I feel more deeply than might be expected. We are t…

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Article · Christian DoctrineHistorical investigation · Apologetics · Primary-source study

What Really Happened at Nicaea?

Constantine, Arius, the Trinity, the biblical canon—and the myths that refuse to die

…The Council of Nicaea has become a screen upon which almost every conspiracy about early Christianity is projected. Constantine invented the Trinity. Jesus was voted into deity. Paganism defeated biblical Christianity. The emperor chose the books of the Bible. Reincarnation was…

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Article · RaptureApologetics · Historical study

Did Darby Invent the Pretribulation Rapture?

What the historical evidence proves—and what it does not

…roves—and what it does not The historical objection is often stated in absolute terms: no Christian taught the rapture before John Nelson Darby devised it in the nineteenth century. The conclusion then follows that pretribulationism cannot be apostolic. Two questions are being co…

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Article · Apologetics and WorldviewBiblical discernment · Biblical exposition · Cultural analysis · Church history

Test the Spirits

Spiritual ecstasy, altered states, and discerning what is from God

…and religions, people have reported visions, overwhelming sensations of unity, encounters with spiritual beings, the loss of their ordinary sense of self, and feelings of being absorbed into a greater reality. Such experiences may be beautiful, terrifying, or apparently life-chan…

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