Month: May 2015

Are the eternal purposes of God unchangeable?

Related to the doctrine of the immutability of God —that God, his character, his promises, his covenant are unchangeable— it is God’s eternal purposes. Both Christianity and Judaism affirm God’s character as unchangeable. However, when we look for God’s purposes, we find different understandings of them. In this respect, I will briefly present in this blog post the positions of well-known modern theologians —who belong to four different traditions— on how they approach God’s eternal purposes. First Approach: Evangelical Open Theism God at War: The Bible and Spiritual Conflict, written by Gregory Boyd, defends the position known as open theism. …

What I believe series – marks of the true church

All Christians who have believed in God and His message constitute the Body of Christ, the Church (from the Greek ekklesia, which means assembly), which is universal and invisible. However, although believers are united in Christ with one faith, the members of this Body also share different sociocultural backgrounds and have diverse thought about how the Christian life should be, among other aspects. This is the visible church. Thus, while one can find a particular congregation that emphasizes the role of worship in the community of faith, one also finds another congregation that believes that a social gospel is what …

What does Gregory Boyd think of the Powers?

One of the current evangelical theologians who has explored the figure of the Devil/the Powers is Gregory Boyd with his 2014 book titled, God at War: The Bible and Spiritual Conflict. From Boyd’s understanding of the Powers, the personalization and the reality of these entities in the world is noteworthy. Although I disagree with Boyd’s interpretation of God’s providence and other topics, he makes a good point by calling the church not to ignore the reality of the evil forces in the world. Dr. Boogaart, about Boyd’s God at War book and his understanding of the Devil, states: [For Boyd, the …

Theological question – What’s the difference between being justified and sanctified?

Justification and sanctification are two concepts that are related and inseparable; however, they represent two different or distinct notions. Justification and sanctification are indeed two benefits given by God through Jesus Christ. In virtue of the assertion above, one may say that justification and sanctification are God’s gifts because “Christ was given to us by God’s generosity.” (Calvin, Institutes, III.11.1.) The problem arises when one merges both terms into one and uses them as they were interchangeable. This error should be avoided in order to understand better and coherently the doctrine of salvation and union with Christ in light of the Scriptures. …