Author Archives: St. John Studies

“I am a child of God.” The perfect answer to the query of the Christian, “Who are you?” I am commenting on the third section of Packer’s book*, the section where he discusses “the most important matters” of knowing God … Continue reading →

July 18, 1988.  Today I left my family for it seems the millionth time.  I remember my three and a half year old little boy Scott standing on the steps of our home waving good bye and yelling “I love … Continue reading →

Sometimes as we go through life we come to a turning point, a decisive change occurs and from that point on, life goes in a new direction. For me a major turning point occurred the weekend of October 8 through … Continue reading →

I am writing on Tuesday April 7th, 2020, three days before Good Friday and five days before Easter Sunday.  I have been writing on what J.I. Packer calls the heart of the Gospel.  For him, the heart of the Gospel … Continue reading →

I don’t dwell on this all the time, but sometimes I find myself doing the mundane things of life and I stop and I thank God for being able to do those things.  Here is a sampling: standing in the … Continue reading →

As we explore “The Heart of the Gospel,”* Packer writes about the driving force in Jesus’ life.  To understand the key motivators for Jesus, he urges us to read the Gospel of Mark.  If we do this, he feels we … Continue reading →

“The Significance of the Second Goat”, “Why John 3:16 is So Important”, The Heart of the Gospel: We Need them All” “Two Very Important Words”                            The four previous posts have all been about propitiation.  Why? “Do you understand this [propitiation]?  … Continue reading →

When a reader encounters the Bible, it is imposing at best.  It is long.  It was written in a culture that is not our own and it often uses language that can be difficult to understand.  Language is the medium … Continue reading →

“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of … Continue reading →

J.I. Packer entitles Chapter 18 “The Heart of the Gospel.”  Then he spends many pages on two terms that we don’t use very often, propitiation and expiation.  We don’t use those words as part of our day-to-day vocabulary, so most … Continue reading →