The Prophetic Presbyterian & His Narrow Way

  Shema And Jesus entered the temple  Historical Prologue  and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.  General Stipulations  13  He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” Specific Stipulations  14  And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.  Covenant Renewal    15  But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant,  16  and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?”  Document Clause & Witnesses  And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” 17  And leaving them, he went out of ...

The Bible teaches the 3 uses of the Law & Gospel (individual, ecclesiastical, & civil).   They appear in that order in Matthew in the temptation narrative. Where is Yeshua in Matthew 4:5?  The pinnacle of the temple.   What’s happening, Satan is challenging Yeshua’s authority & tempting Him with ecclesiastical authority as if that authority belongs to him (Satan) or will belong to him (Satan).  Sign acts like overturning the money changers tables in any of the temple courts qualifies a public act of Civil Disobedience designed to draw the ecclesiastical leadership out into the open.    Yeshua issued the challenge & the Sanhedrin responded.  Yeshua is there challenging the the Sanhedrin, especially those in the majority, as to their authority & its use &/or misuse of that authority.  Annas & Caiphas are in charge of the temple as the High Priest(s).   They held office by way of appointment to office— not by the Sanh...

The Internet is upset about the entrance of protesters in Minneapolis into a Baptist church tgis past weekend.  On one side of the ideological divide stands the Conservative Chorus proclaiming that Christ would never have done such a thing, & on the other side, those who support the protesters &/or their general message remind us that Yeshua turned over the moneylenders’ tables violently, etc.  Why don’t we all just sit down & look at what the Bible itself has to say about what was happening that day?  And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13  He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” 14  And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15  But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he d...

When we use the word “Person” when talking about the the Trinity, what exactly do we mean? The proper term is “hypostasis.” An individual, complete substance existing entirely in itself; an incommunicable substance. Illustrated, this is pretty straightforward.   In Doctor Who, Jodie Whittaker, David Tennant, & Ncuti Gatwa are 3 separate hypostases of a single personal being called “the Doctor.”   It amazes me how many people who think the concept of the Trinity is a difficult concept to grasp or that is terribly irrational watch Dr. Who & have no problem with this sort of ontology but when it comes to God, they totally check out.   As to God: A Person is an individual, complete substance existing entirely in itself; an incommunicable substance. God’s attributes are the same with respect to each Hypostasis.   As to essence: infinite, eternal, unchangeable; as to attributes: being, wisdom, power, justice, holiness, goodness, & truth.   As to identity, ...

SOTERIOLOGY  Acts 24 clearly states that there is a resurrection of the Just and the Unjust.   Acts 24:14–15 (ESV): …I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, 15 having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.  We call this the General Resurrection.   Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 are clear that we are in Adam as our federal representative in the Fall and in Christ as our federal representative in redemption.   Romans 5:15 (ESV): But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for man 1 Corinthians 15:22–23 (ESV): For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to ...