How God's Word Confronts Us, Jesus' Heel, Repentance, and Dissenting Judicial Opinions

Weekend Newsletter: January 15, 2022

Jan 15, 2022

This week, I taught the first class of an eight-week course, “What Does it Mean to be Presbyterian?” I’m a Presbyterian out of deep biblical conviction, and my hope is to try to show how I see Presbyterian church government (polity), church membership, worship, evangelism, and church planting as flowing directly from the Bible.

I’ll post some of the highlights of this class in the coming weeks, Lord willing. This is a subject I’m passionate about, and I’d love to interact with you in the comments (below) if you have any thoughts or questions about it.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day tomorrow!

This Week’s Post

Two Pathways | Jacob Gerber

The Word of God Confronts You in Your Own Shoes

John Barton makes an interesting analogy from Eastern Orthodox iconography to explain the power of biblical narratives. Now, there are three very important caveats before sharing this: John Barton is a historical-critical scholar who rejects the inspiration and infallibility of the Bible, so I do not commend his work in general. I am reading his work fo…

2 years ago · Jacob Gerber

Two Pathways | Jacob Gerber

"And You Shall Bruise His Jacob"

In the first promise of the gospel in Genesis 3:15, God cryptically promised that the offspring of the woman would bruise/crush the head of the serpent. By contrast, the serpent’s offspring would merely bruise/crush the heel of the woman’s offspring. One would strike a mortal blow, while the other would merely wound…

2 years ago · 1 like · Jacob Gerber

This Week’s Sermon

“Repent, For The Kingdom Of Heaven Is At Hand” – Matthew 3:1–12

Download My Sermon Notes:

Matthew has concluded the infancy narratives of Jesus; however, he is only beginning to tell us about the kingship of Jesus. Jumping forward several years, Matthew brings us directly onto the scene where John the Baptist is preaching a message of repentance, in view of the coming kingdom of heaven. Here, we are seeing the first glimpses of the message that will dominate this Gospel. Especially, John the Baptist clarifies the impact and importance of Jesus’ coming. We must make all due preparations for his coming, especially by repenting from our sins. The consequences for disobeying and ignoring this summons are the “wrath to come” (v. 7) and the “unquenchable fire” (v. 12). John the Baptist’s message still rings true today. Between the first coming of the King, and his eventual second coming, King Jesus calls us to prepare for his coming kingdom.
(Read More)

Other Resources

A few weeks ago, I linked to an article I had published on the new PCA Polity website, “The Biblical Foundations of Parliamentary Procedure.” I recently published another article, “7 Reasons Presbyters Should Read Dissenting Opinions”:

In response to [a recommendation about reading dissenting judicial opinions], at least one fellow [Teaching Elder] posed a question (on social media) about why we [the PCA] allow for dissenting opinions, and the purpose they might serve since they do not affect the decision itself.
This is an important question both for the specific case at-hand and for our polity more generally. In this post, I will offer seven reasons why the polity of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) values dissenting opinions.
(Read More)

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I think that Presbyterian church government flows directly from what the Bible teaches about how we should handle various aspects of church life.

The articles on PCA Polity (especially this most recent one, to which I’m linking) are a bit technical, but the goal is to show the connection from the Bible to the intricate aspects of church life.

If you have thoughts or questions about this, leave a comment below!