A Site for the Teaching Ministry of Nick Batzig
Those who have been swept up with various forms of theonomy (or Christian Nationalism) should reflect deeply on the redemptive-historical role of the Old Covenant civil law as well as on how the Apostles spiritually applied it to the New Covenant church. To move beyond these things is to impose an artificial, underdeveloped, and over realized worldview on the Scriptures rather than to allow Scripture to determine our understanding of the precise relationship between the Old Covenant theocracy and the New Covenant church. ...
We must ever remember that this is not our home. Our ultimate hope can never be in a Christianized America. Our ultimate hope lies in the fact that we confess that "here we have no lasting city" (Heb. 13:14) but are "looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God" (Heb. 11:10). ...
As we reflect on the preaching ministry of Calvin, and the way in which the Lord used it to fuel Reformation across Europe, we should remember that the Reformation was primarily fueled by a return to the faithful expository preaching of God's word. We honor the Reformers best not by living in the annals of church history to simply marvel at all that the Lord accomplished through them; we honor them best by following their example in preaching and propagating God’s word in similar ways as they did....
Remembering what we once were when we were dead in sins and what God did to mercifully draw us to Himself through the saving work of Christ is vital if we are to make advancement in our spiritual growth in grace. The Christian life is often fueled most of all not by learning new things (although there are always more important truths for us to learn in God's word) but by remembering those truths that God has already revealed to us....
Secularism is a religion. Make no mistake about it. Though many seek to advance it as a neutralizing alternative to a religiously structured society, it is, in its own right, a religion. A secular worldview is not content until it has permeated every fabric of society–civics, ethics, media, and education. Just as the Christian worldview is meant to permeate all human activity, so secularism seeks to stand in the gap and block a truly consistent application of Christianity to every aspect of life. There is a bewitching element of secularism to which many–even many Christians–are blind. ...
When we begin to understand the important relationship between the law of God and the gospel, we will guard against allowing any perversions of it in our presentation of the biblical teaching about justification and sanctification. We will carefully note the contexts in which these two means of revelation are contrasted in Scripture; and, we will recognize that while the law does not, in anyway whatsoever, play in to our justification before God (except insomuch as Christ kept it for us), we will seek to promote the important place that law plays in the Christian life. Believers, at one and the same time, recognize that they are neither justified nor condemned by the moral law of God and they are zealous to run the course of God's commandments by faith working through love. ...
While God calls us to be zealous for the purity of His worship, we must be equally zealous to resist the temptation to think that the circumstantial ways in which we administer the elements of worship ought to be binding on every other local congregation. We should be exceedingly slow to call something evil that God has not called evil. We should, instead, seek to discern whether or not the particular way in which we carry out the adiaphora circumstances of worship merely falls into the realm of our subjective opinion about what may be good, better, or best. When we recognize this, we will not seek to put down other fellowships that may not carry out the circumstances of worship in the same way as we think that our congregation should do so....
If we were simply to thank God for each other and pray constantly for the spiritual blessings of God to be manifested in one another's lives what a difference it would make for the church's sustenance, vitality, and continuance. What a glorious thing it would be for believers to commit to turning from praise to prayer for one another and for a greater outpouring of the spiritual blessings with which God has already blessed us in Christ. As we do, we will again have reason to praise God for allowing us the privilege of praying down His divine blessings on His people. ...
The lawless soul is ever in danger of being led into path of unrighteousness on account of the multitude of lawless voices and sights online. The self-righteous soul is in danger of a far more subtle form of rebellion, namely, responding in sinful anger to sin in others that we do not personally commit out of a faux sense of moral superiority in the face of lawless....
Jesus came into this dark and fallen world as the new creation and to bring about a re-creation of all those for whom He died. He is "the Destroyer of the darkness." In His death on the cross, Jesus comes under the power of darkness as the substitute of those who once lived in darkness. He put Himself under the wrath of God for the sins of His people in order to give them ...
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How can I remain calm under pressure? This has to be one of the most significant questions we find ourselves asking throughout our lives. What is the secret to pressing through the challenges and trials of life without fretting or being overwhelmed by constant anxiety? The answer is found—at least in part—in what Luke tells us in Acts 27 about Paul’s experience when ...
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Remembering the cost of the redemption of believers is one of the greatest motivating factors to continue in faithful Christian service. This is God’s church, and these are God’s blood-bought people. The apostle also knew how easily false teachers and ravenous wolves crept into the church. He warned the elders to “be on guard” and to “be on the alert” (vv.28,31...
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It would do all of us good to put more of Ecclesiastes into our spiritual diet. When we do so, we begin to discover afresh that life is "not how we would have it." We are reminded that things are often not the way we think they should be. We come to terms with the fact that we do not know what we think we know. We have to face the reality that we live in a futile world tha...
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While our culture continues to slip into chaotic depravity, more and more people are voicing their fears and frustrations. What will become of this country? What will become of the world? What challenges will our children face? The darkness seems to be overtaking the light. The world now views orthodox Christianity, as Rod Dreher has rightly noted, as the Enemy. Yet, in th...
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What seems to be surprisingly absent in many recent discussions about complementarianism in the home is a treatment of what the roles between husbands and wives in the marital relationship should look like in a biblically principled fashion without personal applications of those principles. As many have been reminding us--words and definitions matter. I suspect that the la...
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A friend of mine has often reminded me that most friendships among professing believers cannot bear more than a single offense. People in the church are so easily offended that they are ready to write off another believer over the most insignificantly offensive word or actions. This betrays the fact that we have not learned to bear long with one another and to forgive one ...
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The Bible is structured by architectonic principles. Reformed theologians have, by and large, agreed that all of God's special revelation is structured by a Covenant of Works and a Covenant of Grace. This is not to say (as many have wrongly charged) that Covenant theologians do not believe in a difference between the Old and New Covenants. Neither does it mean that they do...
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We must resist the urge to subtweet. If something cannot be stated in as direct a manner as possible, we should abstain from saying it in a passive-aggressive manner. We should always ask ourselves the question, "Do I need to write what I am about to write, or should I simply sit this one out?" We should also try to discern the motives behind anything that we post on socia...
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Every true believer is being led by the Spirit of God. We are led away from our sin and into paths of righteousness. This is what it means to be led by the Spirit of God. There is, to be sure, no greater experience to be enjoyed by the children of God than that of being transformed by the Spirit of God into the image of God. When the Spirit leads the sons of God, He leads ...
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