Josh Benner

Category: Gospel

  • 10 great quotes from John Calvin

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    John Calvin is both one of the greatest theologians of all time and one of the most polarizing theologians of all time. He lived from 1509-1564 and was a brilliant writer and preacher. Calvin’s greatest work was his voluminous theological treatise “Institutes on the Christian Religion.” It’s a summary of Calvin’s theology for which he is best known and a theological system that was later simply called Calvinism. Within Calvin’s theological understanding of the Bible, people were viewed as being so sinful that even the act of coming to God in faith was a supernatural work of grace and sovereignty that came from God. This is summarized in technical theologies concepts such as “unconditional election,” “limited atonement,” and “irresistible grace.”

    Regardless of if someone is a Calvinist or not, John Calvin had one of the greatest theological minds of all time. And his ideas are worth studying and being familiar with.

    Faith and works

    It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone.

    Joy and suffering

    You must submit to supreme suffering in order to discover the completion of joy.

    Grace and judgment 

    God preordained, for his own glory and the display of His attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation.”

    Jesus

    Whoever is not satisfied with Christ alone, strives after something beyond absolute perfection.

    Truth

    Peace is not to be purchased by the sacrifice of truth.

    Preachers

    If a preacher is not first preaching to himself, better that he falls on the steps of the pulpit and breaks his neck than preaches that sermon.

    Contentment 

    The happiness promised us in Christ does not consist in outward advantages-such as leading a joyous and peaceful life, having rich possessions, being safe from all harm, and abounding with delights such as the flesh commonly longs after. No, our happiness belongs to the heavenly life!

    Creation

    There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.

    Prayer

    Our prayer must not be self-centered. It must arise not only because we feel our own need as a burden we must lay upon God, but also because we are so bound up in love for our fellow men that we feel their need as acutely as our own. To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them.

    Blessing

    However many blessings we expect from God, His infinite liberality will always exceed all our wishes and our thoughts.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • The fruit of the Spirit – something we can’t produce

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    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
    -Galatians 5:22-23
    In the Book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit.
    It’s a section that fascinates me. Because the fruit is produced by the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.
    There are certain areas in our lives we can control.
    Think about it.
    Honesty. You can force yourself to be honest. I’ll just choose to not lie. You can decide that for yourself. Honesty isn’t a fruit of the Spirit.

    (more…)

  • Marriage as a picture of the gospel

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    In the Bible, so much of the marriage language about weddings, brides, and grooms is discussing the relationship between God and his people. In the Bible, in spite of humanity’s sin, turning away from God, the Lord is depicted as a faithful groom.

    In the New Testament, the church is depicted as the bride and Christ is the groom. That’s part of the reason why our passage said “husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” (more…)

  • Purdue super fan Tyler Trent passes away

    We don’t control the cards we’re dealt. All we can do is play what we have.

    Tyler Trent passed away on Tuesday.

    The Purdue student had battled a rare form of bone cancer. He had become a sensation in college football and Big Ten circles as being someone the Purdue football team rallied around this season. The hashtag #TylerStrong went viral.

    He inspired and encouraged people. He raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for cancer research. He wrote a book that he’d never be able to see completed, but which will also continue to raise money for cancer research.

    Tyler was also outspoken about the importance of his faith.

    In 2017, Tyler’s cancer returned and he began to pray that God would use this journey for His glory.”

    As I think about the impact he had over the last few months, it’s clear that this prayers was answered.

    In an interview with Today, Tyler said: “Waking up day to day is like winning a lottery…I try to rely on my faith in Jesus Christ and figure out how to have a good day.”

    As his battle continued, Tyler took to Twitter numerous time to glorify God.
    (more…)

  • Virgin birth shows us the gospel

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    Originally published December 25, 2017

    The message of the gospel is that it is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). That we have sinned, that the relationship with God has been broken and that there is nothing we can do on our own to restore that relationship with a Holy God.

    We contribute nothing positive to our salvation. Our good deeds count for nothing. The only works that save men are the works of Christ. 

    And it’s fitting that even in his birth, in his incarnation, we see an event which could not have happened without divine intervention. The savior of the world coming into the world required a work of God. Humanity could not have made its own savior. (more…)