R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 556

Experience Reformation Bible College for Free

Are you a high school student interested in attending college? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to experience college first hand before you even finish high school, receive college credit for FREE, and do it all at a Bible college right here in Central Florida?

Now you can at Reformation Bible College.

RBC’s exclusive FREE offer to you begins this January. Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr. our Associate Professor of Philosophy and Apologetics will be teaching the second of eight courses in our Great Works curriculum called the “Medieval Classics.” This course is an introduction to the classic works of the Medieval era, reading texts by authors such as Boethius, Anselm, Aquinas, Dante, and Chaucer.

You will not only become familiar with the common forms of Medieval literature, but the worldviews from which they arose. You’ll come to understand how these texts have shaped, for good or bad, western culture, and how the church has responded to them over the course of history, and in our present day. Ideas have consequences—many of the philosophical conflicts in our day find their origin in the works of these leading thinkers. You will not merely gain an awareness of these issues; you’ll become equipped to intelligently and winsomely engage today’s postmodern and post-Christian culture from a robust, coherent, and deeply rooted Christian worldview.

Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to take a rigorous, college level course for FREE—a value worth more than $1,000. Parents are welcome to audit the course for only $300. Don’t have time to take the course, do all the reading, and write the papers? Then come audit the class. Either way, it’s FREE. This offer is for new students only.

This class is not yet available online. Class will be held on the RBC campus Tuesday nights from 6:00 – 8:45pm from January 24th through May 15th. Space is limited, so please complete the Dual Enrollment Form and submit it to our office at admissions@ligonier.org right away.

Holy People Are Happy People

So much could be said of the consequences of sin and impurity for the Christian. And we should speak of them — the Bible certainly does. David, in Psalm 32, described the misery of unrepentant sin as his bones wasting away (v. 3). His energy was dried up as he felt God's displeasure. But the warnings of misery for the backsliding believer should also be coupled with the joys of holiness. There is real joy when we turn from evil and delight in the Lord and His ways.

The Bible describes this delight in experiential terms — an existential reality that is meant to be tasted, felt, and seen. Proverbs 3:7-8 describes the experience like this:

Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones (emphasis mine).

If you read this slowly, just slow enough to taste the truth as it goes by, don't you crave this sense of refreshment? Not surprisingly, God's designs for our sanctification are most satisfying. In contrast, a life in sin is tiring, placing joy just outside our reach.

Continue reading Holy People Are Happy People, John Starke's contribution to the December issue of Tabletalk.

Limited Time Offer: 30% off Ligonier Connect Courses

We are excited to offer a 30% discount off of all Ligonier Connect courses through December 31st!

To claim your discount, simply choose a course from the course catalog and click on the "Have a discount code?" link during the registration process. Enter the code EY2011 and press "Apply" to receive your discount.

Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter

Great Quotes from The Truth of the Cross

I recently had the opportunity to read through almost all of the books of R.C. Sproul. Along the way I built a collection of some of the best quotes from each one of them. Here are several of the best from The Truth of the Cross.

If anything has been lost from our culture, it is the idea that human beings are privately, personally, individually, ultimately, inexorably accountable to God for their lives.

The prevailing doctrine of justification today is not justification by faith alone. It’s not even justification by good works or by a combination of faith and works. The prevailing notion of justification in Western culture today is justification by death. It’s assumed that all one has to do to be received into the everlasting arms of God is to die.

There are three distinct ways in which human sin is described and communicated biblically—it is called a debt, it is called a state of enmity, and it is called a crime. With these descriptions, the Bible helps us see our sin for the terrible thing it is.

One of the things I’m going to have to give account for on judgment day is the way in which I have wasted my mind in the pursuit of the knowledge of God. How many times have I been too lazy or slothful to apply myself to the fullest possible measure to know God? I have not loved God with all of my mind. If I loved God with all of my mind, there’d never be an impure thought in my head. But that’s not the way my head works.

The point of the Gospel is that imputation is real—God really laid our sins on Christ and really transferred the righteousness of Christ to us. We really possess the righteousness of Jesus Christ by imputation. He is our Savior, not merely because He died, but because He lived a sinless life before He died, as only the Son of God could do.

I wonder whether Jesus was even aware of the nails and the thorns. He was overwhelmed by the outer darkness. On the cross, He was in hell, totally bereft of the grace and the presence of God, utterly separated from all blessedness of the Father. He became a curse for us so that we one day will be able to see the face of God. God turned His back on His Son so that the light of His countenance will fall on us. It’s no wonder Jesus screamed from the depths of His soul.

Some people react against the doctrine of limited atonement because it appears to take away from the greatness of the work of Christ. In reality, it’s the Arminian position that diminishes and devalues the full impact and power of the atonement. The point Calvinists stress is that Christ accomplished what He set out to accomplish, the job the Father had designed for Him to do. God’s sovereign will is not at the whim and mercy of our person and individual responses to it.

Hope for the Broken

This month's issue of Tabletalk examines the brokenness afflicting all households and seeks to offer hope amid the turmoil through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It aims to provide wise biblical direction for all readers as we seek to live out the gospel in caring daily for our own families and other families around us. Here is how Burk Parsons begins his editorial introduction:

Every home is dysfunctional because everyone is sinful. There is no perfect family this side of heaven, and if we were perfect parents, neither we nor our children would need a Savior. When we consider the state of the family at the beginning of the twenty-first century, our tendency is to reflect nostalgically on imagined idyllic days of generations past when families weren’t perfect but pretty close to it, or so we like to think.

As fallen people, born into fallen families, and living in a fallen world, the simple truth is that there has never been a time when families were not dysfunctional. To see this, we don’t need to look at the world around us or even at world history, all we need to do is look at the church and at every family in all of Scripture — from the murderous family of God’s son Adam, to God’s son Israel, to the overwhelming dysfunction of the families recorded in the genealogy of Jesus. We cannot, therefore, idolize families of the past or present, all of which are sinful, and we cannot make our own families or the families of others into earthly gods that can fulfill our every need and be the ultimate source of our joy, peace, and comfort.

Keep reading Hope for the Broken.

15 Gift Ideas Under $30

With less than three weeks left before Christmas, we've come up with a list of gift ideas under $30 to help your friends and family continue to grow in their knowledge of God and His holiness.

1. Tabletalk Magazine Gift Subscription
Annual New USA Subscription $23

Tabletalk is the perfect gift to enjoy daily Bible study and articles on a variety of issues related to theology and Christian living. Readers find Tabletalk approachable, with many saying it’s like having coffee each morning with their favorite teachers. Its compact size means it fits right in your Bible.

2. The Reformation Study Bible
Hardcover (Retail $39.99) $27

This foundational resource was created by more than fifty scholars and features thousands of in-depth study notes, 96 theological articles, 19 in-text maps, and 12 charts to help you understand the Bible better. This is the study Bible for the next generation of reformers.

3. Parenting by God's Promises: How to Raise Children in the Covenant of Grace by Joel Beeke
Hardcover (Retail $19) $15.20

Parents are unable to give their children what they need most—new hearts that trust in Christ for forgiveness of sins. Joel Beeke offers gems of practical wisdom for parents on topics such as instituting and leading family worship, modeling faithful Christian living, and exercising discipline. 

4. Gospel Worship by Jeremiah Burroughs
Hardcover (Retail $22) $17.60

Worship is for God, not for us. Sadly, that simple statement is foreign to our day. In this treasured work, Puritan pastor Jeremiah Burroughs masterfully gives guidelines to facilitate the reader to move closer to God in worship. "[This] is one of the most important books I have ever read." —R.C. Sproul

5. Chosen by God by R.C. Sproul
Paperback (Retail $13) $10.40 | 6-Message DVD (Retail $30) $24 | CD (Retail $24) $19.20

Many people cite Chosen By God not only as their introduction to Dr. Sproul’s teaching, but also as the resource that profoundly shifted their attention to an understanding of the predestining grace of God. One of Ligonier’s most significant and popular books. 

6. The Doctrines of Grace in John by Steven Lawson
12-Message CD (Retail $31) $24.80

How does God love the world? Looking at the debates surrounding John 3:16, Steven Lawson demonstrates that the gospel of John offers a clear presentation of the doctrines of grace. 

7. Romans by R.C. Sproul
Hardcover (Retail $35) $28 | eBook (Retail $10) $8

Convinced that “Paul’s fullest, grandest, most comprehensive statement of the gospel” is just as vital today, R.C. Sproul delivered sixty sermons on Romans at Saint Andrew’s which are now available in hardcover. Sproul’s passage-by-passage expositions will enrich any preaching or teaching ministry. 

8. The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion by Tim Challies
Hardcover (Retail $20) $14 

How does our constant connection to digital devices affect our families and our church communities? Providing the reader with a framework they can apply to any technology, Tim Challies explains how and why our society has become reliant on digital technology, what it means for our lives, and how it impacts the Christian faith. 

9. The Lightlings by R.C. Sproul
Hardcover (Retail $18) $14.40 | eBook (Retail $9) $7.20

R.C. Sproul weaves an allegorical tale that captures the essence of the biblical story of redemption in a manner that will fascinate and delight children. With discussion questions included in the back, The Lightlings is an excellent introduction to the key themes of Scripture. 

10. The Masculine Mandate by Richard Phillips
Hardcover (Retail $15) $12 | eBook (Retail $9) $7.20

There is a crying need in the church today for men to be men. But competing visions for what a man is to be are exacerbating the problem. Richard Phillips provides essential exegesis and issues a call to reformation in the evangelical church’s attitude toward the role of men in the family, the church, and society. 

11. Basic Training by R.C. Sproul
Six-Message DVD (Retail $30) $24 | CD (Retail $24) $19.20

R.C. Sproul gives a concise explanation of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity in the Apostles’ Creed. Those who are teaching church membership, confirmation or communicant classes will find this series to be helpful in teaching the fundamentals found in the Apostles Creed to their students. 

12. The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink
Paperback (Retail $15) $12

This book shocked the Christian world in 1919 when he first published it. In it, A.W. Pink fiercely defends the sovereignty of God, and all the cognate doctrines such as the Doctrines of Grace. This book may be overwhelming, but it is certain that its many printings have been used by God to convince people of His sovereignty. 

13. Welcome to the Story: Reading, Loving, and Living God’s Word by Stephen Nichols
Paperback (Retail $16) $12.80

We may be diligent readers of the Bible and sincere in our desire to relate to its stories, but somewhere between our resolve and reality, we find a disconnect. Could it be that we inadvertently try to make the narrative, the story, about us? Stephen Nichols helps us to experience the story and get more out of God’s Word. 

14. Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges
Hardcover (Retail $20) $16

Have Christians become so preoccupied with the major sins of our society that we have lost sight of our need to deal with our own more subtle sins? Writing from the trenches of his own battles with sin, Jerry Bridges offers a message of hope in the profound mercy of the gospel and the transforming grace of God as the means to overcoming our subtle sins. 

15. The Intimate Marriage by R.C. Sproul
Hardcover (Retail $15) $12 | Paperback (Retail $10) $8 | DVD (Retail $30) $24 | CD (Retail $24) $19.20

R.C. Sproul takes a practical, pastoral look at the most intimate of human relationships. He examines not only the theology of marriage but also its sociology and psychology, covering such topics as communication, gender roles, and sex. 

Does Writing 'Xmas' Take Christ out of Christmas?

The X in Christmas is used like the R in R.C. My given name at birth was Robert Charles, although before I was even taken home from the hospital my parents called me by my initials, R.C., and nobody seems to be too scandalized by that.

X can mean so many things. For example, when we want to denote an unknown quantity, we use the symbol X. It can refer to an obscene level of films, something that is X-rated. People seem to express chagrin about seeing Christ's name dropped and replaced by this symbol for an unknown quantity X. Every year you see the signs and the bumper stickers saying, "Put Christ back into Christmas" as a response to this substitution of the letter X for the name of Christ.

There's no X in Christmas

First of all, you have to understand that it is not the letter X that is put into Christmas. We see the English letter X there, but actually what it involves is the first letter of the Greek name for Christ. Christos is the New Testament Greek for Christ. The first letter of the Greek word Christos is transliterated into our alphabet as an X. That X has come through church history to be a shorthand symbol for the name of Christ.

We don't see people protesting the use of the Greek letter theta, which is an O with a line across the middle. We use that as a shorthand abbreviation for God because it is the first letter of the word Theos, the Greek word for God.

X has a long and sacred history

The idea of X as an abbreviation for the name of Christ came into use in our culture with no intent to show any disrespect for Jesus. The church has used the symbol of the fish historically because it is an acronym. Fish in Greek (ichthus) involved the use of the first letters for the Greek phrase "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior." So the early Christians would take the first letter of those words and put those letters together to spell the Greek word for fish. That's how the symbol of the fish became the universal symbol of Christendom. There's a long and sacred history of the use of X to symbolize the name of Christ, and from its origin, it has meant no disrespect.

Many more questions are answered in R.C. Sproul's Now, That's a Good Question!

Excerpt has been adapted.
©1996 by R.C. Sproul. Used by permission of Tyndale.

Twitter Highlights (12/04/11)

Here are some highlights from the various Ligonier Twitter feeds over the past week.

Reformation Trust The covenant of grace is like a wedding vow that God will never break. - Joel Beeke



Ligonier Though sin often brings immediate pleasure, it gives no lasting joy. - R.C. Sproul



Reformation Trust ...we fall in private before we ever fall in public. -R.C. Sproul



Ligonier The more I expose myself to the Word of God, the greater my faith will be. - R.C. Sproul



Tabletalk Magazine Only here upon earth is the name which fills heaven with reverence and hell with terror an idle word (J.H. Thornwell).



Tabletalk Magazine There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not cry out, "This is mine! This belongs to me!" (Kuyper).



Ligonier If we don’t live in order to please God, it can only be because we do not really believe He is worth our attention. - R.C. Sproul

You can also find our various ministries on Facebook:
Ligonier Ministries | Ligonier Academy | Reformation Bible College
Reformation Trust | Tabletalk Magazine

The Holiness of God, Free on Kindle for a Limited Time

The Holiness of God, Dr. Sproul's classic introduction to the majestic character of God, is now free on the Amazon Kindle store for a limited time.

"Every Christian who is serious about his or her growth needs to read The Holiness of God. I profited greatly from this book." —Jerry Bridges

Download it here.

The Terminal

The yellowing sky confirmed the wisdom of the forecasters, a tornado might well be just around the bend. With one eye scouring the landscape I dutifully herded my then seven children into our basement. One of them, worried, asked me- “Are we all going to die?” Tender hearted father that I am, I told the truth--“Of course…but probably not today.” We survived the weather that day, but we are all still terminal.

As my wife continues her valiant fight against leukemia she too occasionally asks me to look into my crystal ball. She wants to know if she is going to make it. The doctors don’t know, and they are considerably more knowledgeable than I am.  So I tell my wife what I do know- “I don’t know if you are going to get well or not. I do know that that day was appointed before all time. Nothing will make it a day later, nothing a day earlier.  Cancer cannot determine when you go home. Only your Father can.

God can and does give clues, from time to time. The Bible affirms that He opens and closes the womb.  That doesn’t mean that Abraham and Sarah didn’t have reason to be surprised. That Denise is ill, that it is this kind of cancer, that form of leukemia, this other test result suggests that we have more reason to worry about her than me. Seeking to decipher all these clues causes us to ride a roller coaster of hope and fear. I have come to learn, however, that my confidence on a given day is likely more tied to how poorly I slept the night before than it is deciphering the results of a CT scan.

My calling then is to rest in, to believe, to be comforted by what He has spoken clearly.  Providence is His, but there He speaks a strange language in muted tones. His Word, on the other hand is both loud and clear. We know, for starters, that God Himself is behind this. God will either defeat the cancer He has sent, or He will have sent the cancer that calls her home (Isaiah 45:7). We know that whether her time is sooner or later, it works out for the good not only for her, but for her husband and children (Romans 8:28). We know that whenever He calls her home He will at the same time heal her fully (Revelation 21:4).

Insofar as I am able, by His grace, to believe what He has revealed, I am able to be at peace about what He has not revealed. Insofar as I seek to learn the secret things, I will fail to believe what He has revealed.  One thing we know for certain- He is good. He loves us with an everlasting love. That doesn’t answer the question of the day or the hour. It just makes it not so important.

It is a good and proper thing that I should, and you as well if you are willing, pray that God would make Denise well, that He would allow us to grow old together. It is, however, a better thing to pray that I would be a faithful husband to my love, and a faithful father to the children He has blessed us with. It is less important that He believe me and my conviction, that the kingdom would be better with her here. It is more important that I believe Him and His promise that the gates of hell will not prevail (Matthew 16:18), and that He who has begun a good work in us will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus (Ephesians 6:10). This train is bound for glory.