Posts by David Garner

Posts by

The Sweetness of Biblical Authority

David Garner
Mar 21, 2017
The first Psalm sets the stage for the entire Psalter. Its attention on the covenant God and covenant blessing and cursing, as well as its preoccupation with God’s Word as the source for our understanding, focus the entire Psalter. In fact, as scholars like O. Palmer Robertson have contended,...

The 'Cause and Root' of Adoption

David Garner
Feb 10, 2017
On January 31, 2017, P...

Adoption as New Life

David Garner
Feb 8, 2017
On January 31, 2017, P...

A God Thing

David Garner
Nov 15, 2016
Exuberant over an experience, an oh-so-sweet manifestation of divine providence, you delightedly seek to give God praise in telling your story. “It was such a ‘God thing’,” you proclaim. As you see it, God wove together an otherwise inexplicable combination of events to deliver a wonderful—even...

Uncreating Adam: Part One

David Garner
Aug 3, 2015
Living Theology As creatures made in God’s image ( imago Dei ), we finitely reflect the Triune God. We are not God, but his image bearers. We are not part of him, but made by him and for him. Absolutely distinct from him, we are in essential ways, like him. Different from yet derivative of him, we...

A Sanctified Syllogism

David Garner
Jul 10, 2015
God has a Grand Plan Larger than life itself, Paul’s God is a big God. The God of the prophets and apostles, in fact, created life. Creator and Redeemer, he becomes the awesome Benefactor of new life. Words fall short of the splendor. To say God is great is to call Niagara Falls a quaint and serene...

Theological Fidelity: An Interview

David Garner
Jun 4, 2015
The following interview is from Tabletalk Magazine and was published online at Ligonier.org. It is reproduced here with permission. Tabletalk: How did God call you to become a seminary professor, and how does that calling serve the local church? David Garner : Some have enjoyed a deep sense of call...

Truth and Idolatry: Call Discontent What It Is

David Garner
Mar 9, 2015
This article is the fourth and final piece in a four-part series entitled "Truth and Idolatry." Read part 1, " I Am Not an Idol Worshiper ," part 2, " Call the Gospel What It Is ," and part 3, " Call Theological Error What It Is ." Integrity At the memorial service of a dear friend of mine nearly...

Truth and Idolatry: Call the Gospel What It Is

David Garner
Feb 10, 2015
This is the second article in a series entitled, "Truth and Idolatry." Read part 1, " I Am Not an Idol Worshiper ." Idolatry by Degree? Idolatry lacks nuance. It knows no degrees, and before a jealous God, delivers no passable excuses, no matter how sophisticated they may sound. No one is sort-of...

Truth and Idolatry: I Am Not an Idol Worshiper

David Garner
Jan 30, 2015
Idolatry Reconsidered As believers in the one true God, we know that idolatry is wrong. We know God hates it. We know first two of the Ten Commandments explicitly demand exclusive worship of the one true God. We even know that idolatry is not merely worshiping a false god, but even worshiping the...

Rejoicing in the Holy Spirit

David Garner
Dec 1, 2014
The Mandate of Thanksgiving The Apostle Paul exhorts the church: “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). Ripped out of its theological context, such an appeal would clang like a hammer upon a steely heart. But Paul’s...

The Holy Spirit and the Word of God

David Garner
Oct 14, 2014
How Can I Know for Sure? [1] remains our ongoing focus in this series of articles. Both confidence and contentment have eluded many of us. Feet firmly planted in mid-air, we drift from one thought to another and one opinion to another, persuaded by the rhetoric of the speaker’s voice that has most...

Church, Stay Out of Missions!

David Garner
Aug 29, 2014
In the previous articles on the Insider Movements (IM), we have surfaced four IM commitments which counter the teaching of Scripture. 1. IM calls believers to stay in. God’s Word calls believers to come out. [1] 2. IM makes the old trump the new . God’s Word makes the new trump the old. [2] 3. IM...

God Works Grace

David Garner
Apr 22, 2014
This article is the second part of an on-going series. The first part is called " Salvation is by Works Alone ," the third is titled " God's Work in Jesus ," the fourth is " Sympathy Made Perfect ," and the fifth is " Only Jesus' Grace Works ." Grace is no arbitrary decision or arbitrary act. Grace...

Sine Qua Non

David Garner
Feb 27, 2014
You may think this quasi strange, but I have an affinity for certain Latin words. The fact is, you actually know and use many of them too. Have you ever felt like a persona non grata ? Do you cheer for your alma mater or depend on a per diem for business travels? How great is it when lawyers agree...