A Site for the Teaching Ministry of Nick Batzig
We dare not come into the presence of God––as Cain did––self-righteously, half-heartedly, and with the least we can offer to Him. Rather, we are to come in brokenness over our sins, acknowledging that the Lord has provided a better sacrifice for us––namely, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)....
Christ did not come to break a bruised reed. He did not come into this world to quench a smoldering wick (Is. 412:3; Matt. 12L20). Jesus came into this world to redeem a people who are weak, sinful, wayward, unrighteous, and lost. He came to bear us up in his own arms and bring us home to the Father (Luke 15). He is full of compassion and tender-kindness to those he came to redeem. ...
Whenever we are tempted to think that no one understands our sorrows, our fears, our needs, we should reflect on how the Son of God coming into the womb of the virgin Mary teaches us--that from the very beginning of the incarnation––God understands our frailties, weaknesses, and needs. Christmas means we can never say, "No one understands what I am going through." The eternal Son of God knows exactly what you are going through, and takes it upon himself in order to suffer on the cross to take it all upon himself. ...
For believers, meals together in this life (both in worship and in our homes) are preparing us for that day when we will spiritually feast together in the presence of God. The food we consume, the table around which we sit, and the companions with whom we gather have as their end the spiritual communion that we enjoy with one another and with the triune God. ...
Whether one takes the phrase, "the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified," in Hebrews 10:29 to be a reference to Christ himself or to those who, having once professed faith in him and departed from the covenant community makes little difference. The same truth is taught in accord with the analogy of faith. Both are doctrinally sound interpretations. The author of Hebrews, no doubt, had one of these two interpretations in mind. The analogy of faith protects the interpreter from having to know beyond a shadow of a doubt whether this is the intended meaning of a less clear passage of Scripture. ...
The flesh of Jesus torn apart under the judgment of God on the cross is the portal back to paradise....
As a means of grace, baptism becomes effectual in the lives of the elect by the sovereign regeneration of the Holy Spirit. This may occur in the life of an individual “whether of age or infants.” However, that regeneration is wrought in the lives of the elect by the free and unmerited work of the Spirit of God on the hearts of the elect. If an individual was baptized as an infant in the name of the triune God, but he or she did not come to saving faith and repentance until an adult, it would be right to say that their “baptism became effectual upon their repentance”––not because of repentance and faith, but because of the gracious work of the Spirit of God applying the work of Christ crucified and risen to their souls....
It should sadden us to learn that the church of our day has neglected one of the greatest treasures God has given her to worship Him--namely, the Psalter. The living God has breathed out an entire book of truth for us to sing back to Him whenever we gather together in corporate worship. Perhaps such a neglect has occurred on account of antiquated translations, difficult accompanying tunes or simply because of a lack of familiarity with the Old Testament people, places, events and symbols. Regardless, the church is certainly no better for having passed over the numerous inspired songs in the Psalter....
Certain practices have become so familiar among Christians that believers can be in danger of thoughtlessly performing them. We are all prone to simply going through the motions in our Christian lives. For instance, how often have we prayed the Lord’s Prayer without reflecting on the petitions that we are presenting to God? How often have we recited the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed without giving due consideration to the truths that we are confessing? We can easily go through the liturgical motions in a worship service without focusing on what we are doing before God. Similarly, it is altogether possible for believers to close their prayer with the words “in Jesus’ name” or “in Christ’s name” or “for Christ’s sake” as a sort of mindless mantra....
As we continue on in our journey to the celestial city, we are called to constantly hear the warnings of God's word so as to help us on our way. These warnings, as severe as they are in fact, are meant to be gracious tools in the hand of the Savior to help us persevere in the faith. ...
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 l...
Keep Reading
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 ...
Keep Reading
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 spi...
Keep Reading
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....
Keep Reading
The 20th Century will be likely be remembered as the Century of ecclesiastical ecumenism. The 21st Century is shaping up to follow suitnot simply because of a widespread desire for co-belligerency, but on account of a doctrinal reductionism that seeks to dilute Christianity down to the most basic creedal statements of the early church. One of the driving forces behind the ...
Keep Reading
With the overturning of Row v. Wade, I have noticed numerous professing Christians posting things like, "Now the church needs to start caring for all of life for those who get pregnant," or "The church needs to do more than simply denounce the practice of abortion." I would contend that this, albeit it a well-meaning statement, misses the mark of the God-ordained ministry ...
Keep Reading
This past year, I have been preaching a sermon series through the gospel of John. One of the things that I have been struck with is the way in which Jesus interacts with various disciples having differing spiritual temperaments and personalities. Not all the disciples are in the same place or have the same fervor. Some are more timid. Others are more outwardly zealous. Sti...
Keep Reading
It is altogether possible that John is, at one and the same time, defending the reality of the death of Jesus and His true humanity, as well as positing that the blood and water point to the two-fold benefit of justification and sanctification. It is also possible that John had the redemptive-historical fulfillment of the water from the stricken rock in view when he includ...
Keep Reading
Learning to embrace the seasons of life that God brings us into is vital if we are going to be useful in this world. We often find it to be difficult because we enjoying doing the things we love. We far too often find our comfort in productivity, accomplishment, creativity, and influence. However, we are meant to find contentment in what God has for us. ...
Keep Reading
About two years ago, the editorial team at Ligonier began writing a series of theological study pages on numerous subjects and themes. Some of those pages are now available online. More will be released in the near future. Each page provides a short systematic theological treatment, in keeping with a Reformed theological approach, of a particular subject–together with li...
Keep Reading