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Man’s Freedom within the Sovereign Plan of God Apr 21, 2017

Show notes

Today we welcome Daniel Ragusa, to speak about the Westminster Standards and their teaching of the self-sufficient and self-contained triune God of Scripture. Ragusa begins with Westminster Confession of Faith 3.1:

God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.

In developing this doctrine, Ragusa draws upon Cornelius Van Til’s Trinitarian theology, covenant theology, and representational principle. Ragusa writes,

According to Van Til’s representational principle, for man’s will to operate and for an act of his will to be significant and meaningful it must take place within an exhaustively personal environment, that is, it must take place within the sovereign and eternal plan of the self-sufficient triune God. The absolute freedom of God does not take away or limit man’s freedom, but rather establishes it in an analogical fashion.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Dan Ragusa, Jim Cassidy

Pentecost Apr 14, 2017

Show notes

Can you imagine having been one of the people who took off their coat to lay it in front of the colt just so the King’s horse would not have to touch the ground. To have shouted Hosanna, a word that means Save now! To watch as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords came into Jerusalem to consummate the Kingdom. If we were one of these people a week later we would have been standing in front of Pilot in the dark of night yelling; “Crucify Him Crucify Him.” What tales we would have had to tell when we returned home. Several weeks later when we returned to Jerusalem for another Feast it would have only been natural to have those memories fresh in our mind and to have spoken about it with others who had been there as well. Would we have felt guilt or wonder? Would we have pondered the meaning of these events? Would we have thought back to who we had once believed Jesus had been? Would we have thought the disciples were drunk?

Theology Simply Profound is a podcast of Westminster Presbyterian Church, an Orthodox Presbyterian Church, serving the western suburbs of Chicago, where God powerfully speaks through his means of grace. Also, check out the work of the OPC in Chicagoland at Chicago Reformed.

Music credit: pamelayork.com. Thank you, Pamela York, for the use of your beautiful jazzy rendition of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” We encourage our listeners to check out her website and consider purchasing some of her music.

Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

The Gospel: A Matter of First Importance Apr 14, 2017

Show notes

While many in the Christian tradition prepare to celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday this week and next, we turn to consider the meaning of the gospel. Paul describes the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1–8 as a message of Jesus’ historical life, death, and resurrection for sinners. This is a matter of first importance.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Glen Clary, Jim Cassidy

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TX

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

The Spirit & Guidance Apr 08, 2017

Show notes

How does a person determine the will of God? This question was the subject in one form or another in many of the sermons that I had growing up, especially when I was a teen. We all knew that God had a special plan for our lives and that He wanted us to have a specific job, marry a certain spouse and go to a certain college, although perhaps not in that order. So we prayed for guidance from the Holy Spirit to determine the answer to these questions. Unfortunately sometimes we ended up treating the Holy Spirit as a magic eight ball. But isn’t that what the disciples did in the opening chapters of Acts. They cast lots to determine who would replace Judas. Shouldn’t we be doing that today? Why did Judas have to be replaced and do we have a different relationship with the Holy Spirit than Moses and David did?

Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

TGC Followup, Evangelical Worship, and Oecolampadius Apr 07, 2017

Show notes

Earlier this week, we exhibited at The Gospel Coalition 2017 Conference, “No Other Gospel: Reformation 500 and Beyond” in Indianapolis. We were able to share 900 copies of our new book No Uncertain Sound with interested conference attendees. We had numerous conversations with people about confessional Reformed theology, worship, apologetics, and ecclesiology. In the few quiet moments, we picked up the microphones and spoke about our experience.

In his plenary address at TGC, “The Reformed Tradition Beyond Calvin,” Ligon Duncan spoke of Johannes Oecolampadius and Dr. Diane Poythress’ work on the Reformer. In Christ the Center episode 269, we spoke with Dr Poythress about her dissertation, “Johannes Oecolampadius’ Exposition of Isaiah, Chapters 36–37,” which is one of the only lengthy treatments of Oecolampadius in English. She has also written an excellent book about him titled, Reformer of Basel: The Life, Thought, and Influence of Johannes Oecolampadius, published by Reformation Heritage Books.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Diane Poythress, Glen Clary, Jason Pickard, Jim Cassidy

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TX

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

Christ the Center 1000

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

The Ascension Mar 31, 2017

Show notes

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Calvin said regarding this passage that it was good for the disciples to ask about Christ’s Kingdom because we should always seek to know more about Christ, although when He is silent we should be content. After three years of training after an emotional roller-coaster of having Christ die only to rise from the dead, these students were ready for what they thought was the end. But their ministry was only beginning. But why did Christ leave? Couldn’t the Holy Spirit have come with Christ still there and how can we consider the Kingdom here now if it was still future at the time of the ascension?

Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

T. F. Torrance and Apostolic Succession Mar 31, 2017

Show notes

Rev. Chiarot is the pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Rock Tavern, New York. He joins us today to speak about “T. F. Torrance and Apostolic Succession,” an article he wrote for Participatio. He has also written, The Unassumed Is the Unhealed: The Humanity of Christ in the Christology of T. F. Torrance (Pickwick, 2013).

Links

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Rock Tavern, NY
Christ the Center episode 403, “The Unassumed Is the Unhealed“

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jim Cassidy, Kevin Chiarot

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TX

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

The Book of Revelation – Part 21 Mar 24, 2017

Show notes

Most of us often ask the question; “Why?” It’s only natural to wonder about life. Why did I get a flat tire? Why did my friend get sick, why did I get sick? Our church friends are correct when they tell us to trust in God even though our personal understanding of the situation can’t see past the hurt, pain or just the inconvenience. Usually it is through hindsight that we can get the kind of perspective that leaves us with some sort of understanding. This is what we find in Revelation 22. After a book filled with dragons, beasts and martyrdom we come to the end where we find that for those in Christ it was all worth it. With a gentle reminder our Lord tells us that all of these prophecies will come true. Persecution will come, it must come but in the end we are brought to a place where we find peace, and rest for all eternity.

Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

The Majesty of Mystery Mar 24, 2017

Show notes

K. Scott Oliphint speaks about the incomprehensibility of God as detailed in his book, The Majesty of Mystery: Celebrating the Glory of an Incomprehensible God (Lexham Press). As creatures, we will never and can never comprehend fully God’s mysteries. Indeed, this must even be an epistemological and methodological starting point. Standing upon this biblically-based notion of mystery, Dr. Oliphint drives us to doxology—to worship our glorious God.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington, K. Scott Oliphint

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TX

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

The Book of Revelation – Part 20 Mar 17, 2017

Show notes

The more we understand who we are and who Christ is the more we understand our sin. We realize that even in our best moments we are not without our own sinful desires. However; this should not lead us to believe that all that we ever do is sin. God has saved us to do good works. He even ordained our good works. Of course we look to Christ and give Him the honor and glory but to look to the good things that we do and only see sin is just as fallible as looking at our lives as if we are free from sin. The Christian life must be given over to balancing what we are becoming in Christ to what we are being changed from. Paul uses language of the Old and the New man. What Paul is talking about is our old sin nature and the state of sanctification that our nature is being transformed into. But how does God see us? Do we see God on the edge ready to pounce when we fail, as if He is hoping for an opportunity to ‘get us’? How much do we acknowledge that God is active in our lives transforming us into what He wants us to be? Do we see God as a creator now or is He done with that activity?

Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

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