This is a work in progress. More will continue to be added.

Any position, strength, or skill we gain is a gift from his hand, so we should trust that if help will come in the hour of trial, it will come from his gracious hand, and for his own glory. We may also appeal to God’s glory.

These are just a few examples of righteous deception in the bible, but in every one of these cases, we see the person or people lying, being deceptive, strategic, shrewd, and wise as serpents, we also see them being as innocent as doves.

Our culture has drifted so far from God, and subsequently immeasurably far from sanity and coherent thought, that the inability to stop drinking, aka the inability to stop willfully taking money out of your bank account, willfully driving to a store, willfully walking into the store, willfully grabbing a bottle off the shelf, willfully paying the proper amount – tax and everything – willfully popping the top, willfully putting the opening to your mouth, willfully tilting your head back, and willfully swallowing the alcohol is now seen as a symptom of a disease rather than a moral failing.

The concept of “first fruits” appears in Leviticus 23:10, which states, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted.”

Psalm 82 is reminiscent of Isaiah 6 and Job 1, as the veil between heaven and earth temporarily rolls back, allowing the onlooker insight into the congregation who gathers before Yahweh.

In the church, many suggest Christians stay in their lane, a sacred lane that must be kept separate from the secular realm. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, elite evangelicals often assist in cementing the supremacy of secular elites. But what does God think of our rebellion? He laughs at our foolishness and calls us to wisdom. Wise kings honor Christ as King and serve him with joy.

The subject of mortifying sin ought to resonate with the push for biblical masculinity; the call to mortify sin brings about a spirit and a sense of adventure, battle, conflict, and conquest. We are teaching ourselves, our men, and our boys to be a warrior who is tender to his allies and tough on his enemies.

Happy New Year from Reformed & Confessional! Review 2024 with us as we highlight our Top 5 articles and say thank you to our readers! S.D.G.

Although this son saw all the evil of his father, he did not delight in it. Instead, he chose/desired a different path, a righteous path, and chose to be the opposite of his father. His desires – which are metaphysical – were different from his fathers’.

Watts initially published “Joy to the World” in 1719 as a paraphrase of Psalm 98, entitled “The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom.” The term paraphrase doesn’t do justice to this hymn. It would be more accurate to call it a Christological interpretation – a brief sermon explaining how the psalmist foretold the person and work of our Savior and King, Jesus Christ.

It is perfectly obvious that not everyone submits to everyone else, and it is foolish to imagine it so. Elders do not submit themselves to parishioners, police do not submit themselves to citizens, and husbands do not submit themselves to wives. What Paul is indicating here is that, although not all people submit to each other, all people do submit to someone.