Preaching on Peter’s explanation of why “we must obey God rather than human beings,” the Swiss reformer Rudolf Gwalther (1519–1586) recognizes the gospel tersely stated. Here Peter teaches that Christ pays for us a debt that we cannot pay and bestows on us a righteousness that we cannot achieve. The Benefits of Christ Are Repentance…

Was it appropriate to speak of the confederate flag as a symbol/sign that could be reclaimed and become a reminder of both the dehumanizing capacities of human beings toward other human beings and the need for God’s transformative grace to guard against such occurrences? Was it appropriate to compare this possibility with how the Church…

In my last attempt at some needed soul searching, I reflected on Dr. King’s challenge for oppressed people to learn to forgive. I shared how uneasy this thought made me feel because of my problematic tendency to never forget a slight, much less a clear demonstrations of disrespect. It is hard to let go of…

In 2014’s final Scripture and Ministry lecture, Cornelius Plantinga examined the virtue and craft of forgiving others who have wronged us. Beginning by theologically situating the forgiveness of sins, Plantinga explored how the doctrines of justification and union with Christ in his death and resurrection form the basis for our understanding of the forgiveness of…