Have we missed the point of church? From a Reformed, confessional perspective, it seems we have. In short, the point of church is the forgiveness of sins, the declaration of righteousness on account of Christ, and the fellowship of the saints. If these things are rightly understood, the question, "Why do you need the church?", answers itself. Jon and Justin consider all of this and how the church is the way God sustains his people in this life.

Semper Reformanda: Jon and Justin talk about plans for something called the Grace Reformed Network. The guys also consider more implications of a confessional perspective on church.

Resources:
Episode: Pop Church Circus
Episode: Struggling with the Church

There seem to be a number of people "deconstructing" these days--and by that we mean deconstructing the Christian faith and leaving it. At Theocast, we are not unfamiliar with deconstruction. We do some deconstructing of unhelpful theology in an effort to pull people toward the sufficiency of Christ for sinners. On this episode, Jon and Justin make observations about the "Christianity" people are leaving, as well as offer thoughts on how to do deconstructing well.

Semper Reformanda: The guys continue the conversation on deconstructing by speaking more to those in a confessional environment about the dangers of always having to be against something. Ultimately, we need to remember that the goal of everything we do is for the saints to rest in Jesus Christ.

Resources:
Episode on struggling with the church
Episode on leaving pietism
Episode on assurance

In our third of three episodes on the implications of covenant theology, Jon and Justin discuss the significance of the covenant of works as it relates to the work of Christ. When we begin to see the relationship between the covenant of works and the work of Christ in our place, it becomes clear how are more than just forgiven through our union with Jesus by faith. We are declared righteous. We have peace with God now and forever. It really is finished. All really is well.

Semper Reformanda: Jon and Justin talk about the fallout produced by a denial of the covenant of works. The guys discuss final/future justification as a part of that and then conclude with some thoughts on the sufficiency of Christ to save sinners.

Resources:
Our series on covenant theology
Our episode on Final Justification by Mark Jones
Jon's covenant theology series: Part One Part Two

In our second of two episodes on the implications of covenant theology, Jon and Justin consider the purpose and point of the whole Bible. It's not an instruction manual. It's not a step-by-step guide to godliness. It's not a medicine cabinet to cure everything that ails us. Rather, the Bible is about redemption. It's about Jesus. The guys unpack the implications of that and consider how to go to the Bible, how to use it, and how to understand it.

Semper Reformanda: Jon and Justin talk about the relationship between covenant theology and redemptive-historical theology (hint: they're the same). After that, we take a deeper dive into covenant theology. In particular, we discuss the tri-covenantal framework of redemption, works, and grace.

Resources:
FREE Ebook: theocast.org/primer
Our series on covenant theology
Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology Explored Second Edition
"The Mystery of Christ, His Covenant, & His Kingdom" by Samuel Renihan

For many people, when they go to Old Testament, they leave confused. The Old Testament seems to be a disjointed collection of stories and full of different kinds of literature that don't seem to hang together. When seen through the lens of covenant theology, the Old Testament, is a cohesive presentation of God and his plan to save sinners through his promised Christ. Who is this God? What is he like? Can he be trusted? How will he save us? Jon and Justin discuss these questions and more in today's episode.

Semper Reformanda: Jon and Justin consider how important types and shadows are in the Old Testament--and how an over-emphasis of a literal interpretation of the Old Testament is unhelpful.

Resources:
Our series on covenant theology

People make various diagnoses of what ails the church today. To some, it's a loss of a commitment to moral and social values. To others, it's a general lack of acceptance. To others, it's that we don't preach obedience and holiness enough. If we were to fix these things, would it cure what ails us? Jon and Justin consider these questions and suggest that the issue in so much of the church today is that we're preaching an anemic gospel.

Semper Reformanda: Jon and Justin talk more about the sufficiency of Christ and the primacy of the gospel in the life of the church. And Jon talks about his experience at a conference he attended recently (and, of course, Justin has thoughts on that).

Many people, if they were honest, would admit to being confused by the Bible--but not only confused, discouraged. It shouldn't be this way. The Bible is the testimony about Jesus Christ, who came to save sinners like us. In it, we should see our only true and lasting hope. How should we approach the Bible in order to better understand it in light of Christ? What are things we need to know so that the Bible becomes a balm for our souls, rather than a billy club?

Semper Reformanda: Jon and Justin talk about the priesthood of the believer and how it has been misunderstood and misapplied. We also consider how we got to this place in the evangelical church where hope in Christ is often not what we are given from the pages of Scripture.

Resources:
FREE Ebook theocast.org/primer
Redemptive Historical Bible Reading Plan  
Books:
"Sacred Bond"
"The Mystery of Christ, His Covenant & His Kingdom"
Our Covenant Theology teaching series

Many people are listening to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. Many people have been impacted by Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church--in positive and negative ways. It seemed appropriate to us to have a conversation about the podcast. Our aim is not to cast shade on Mark Driscoll or Mars Hill, but rather, to consider things that we all can learn. We bring on our newest regular contributor, Patrick Crandall, for this conversation.

Semper Reformanda: The guys talk about an appropriate posture regarding the failures of other Christians and Christian leaders. And then, we consider how pastors and members can work to build healthy cultures of leadership in our churches.

FREE ebook theocast.org/primer

SUPPORT Theocast: https://theocast.org/give/

FACEBOOK: Theocast: https://www.facebook.com/Theocast.org

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INSTAGRAM: Theocast: https://www.instagram.com/theocast_org/

Is your faith genuine? We all struggle. We all wrestle. We all doubt. That's part of what it means to be fallen, but this produces real questions: Is the message regarding faith in Christ legitimate? If so, what is saving faith? How should we define it? And what about that bit about the demons believing? Jon and Justin seek to answer these questions from the Scripture and from the confessions.

Semper Reformanda: The guys give pastoral counsel to the person who is wrestling with the legitimacy of his/her faith. (Hint: Our counsel involves the local church.) We also talk a little more about the state of the church in our day.

Resources:
Our episode on law/gospel
Our episode on assurance

SUPPORT Theocast: https://theocast.org/give/

FACEBOOK: Theocast: https://www.facebook.com/Theocast.org

TWITTER: Theocast: https://twitter.com/theocast_org

INSTAGRAM: Theocast: https://www.instagram.com/theocast_org/

On today's episode, we have a special guest, David VanDrunen. We talk about the doctrine of Two Kingdoms and its implications. In short, we talk about Christianity and culture. What are Christians to be doing? What is the mission of the church? Are we to be ushering in the kingdom of God? We answer these questions and more.

Semper Reformanda: The guys talk with David VanDrunen about common objections to Two Kingdoms doctrine. We cover objections from advocates of Neo Calvinism and theonomy. Does Two Kingdoms doctrine promote apathy toward cultural involvement?

Giveaway: Living in God's Two Kingdoms by David VanDrunen