Crumbs from the Table

The coming of Christ changes everything. The Old Testament is not to be discarded; it remains God's word for us. But we read the Old Testament, and obey the Old Testament laws, through the prism of Christ and the New Testament.  As Christians, we are not "under" the law , that is to say we are *not* bound to keep ("do") the Old Testament laws in the Old Testament way (Gal. 5:3). Rather, we "fulfil" the law in a New Testament way (Romans 8:4; 13:8,10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8). Not only are we "not under law" in respect of the detailed laws (e.g. Exodus 21-23); we are also "not under law" in relation to the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). The Ten Commandments do not constitute a timeless universal moral code, but rather represent specific commandments given to the people of Israel in the context of the Exodus from Egypt (20:2), and future life in the promised land of Canaan (20:12).   Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9, "To thos

Something which comes up again and again in Christian circles is the question of free will and predestination.  In this blog post, I would like to address one dimension of this.  First of all, I should clarify that I am writing from the perspective of the "Five Points of Calvinism". While the theology of John Calvin, and Reformed Christianity as a whole, is far broader than this one issue, a central belief is that God has sovereignly chosen individuals to be saved in Christ, and has appointed the means by which that will be realised. A very common objection raised against "Calvinism" is the false assumption that it must eliminate human free will. The whole situation can be, wrongly, understood in rather mechanical, deterministic terms, whereby God makes all the decisions and then implements them with humans cast in the role of "robots" who are coerced into believing in Christ and loving God.  While, at times, "Calvinism" has been expressed and/or

When I moved to Greater Manchester in 2021, I was surprised to discover that the major evangelical churches, in particular City Church Manchester and Grace Church Manchester, were only recently planted. I wanted to find out about the historic Manchester evangelical churches.   (1694) Cross Street Chapel (Presbyterian) was founded by Rev. Henry Newcome, who had been ejected from the Church of England in 1662. Like many English Presbyterian churches, it is now a Unitarian church.  (1747) First mention of a Methodist society in Manchester, meeting on Deansgate.  (1751) First Methodist Chapel in Manchester in Birchin Lane off Church Street (1775-1969) Mosley Street Independent Chapel. From 1848 Cavendish Street Congregational Chapel . Closed 1969.   (1781) Oldham Street Chapel (Methodist). Now Methodist Central Chapel. (1791) Gravel Lane, Salford (Methodist) Black Lane Chapel, later known as St George's Street Chapel, and then as Rochdale Road Particular Baptist Chapel (Baptist) reb