WM 381: The Bibliology of Bishop J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

 

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WM 380: Book Review: Peter Barnes, Pain of a Particular Kind: The Loss of a Child

You can read the review on my academia.edu page here.

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The Vison (4.24.26): Stand fast in the Lord

 

Image: Spring evening sunset. North Garden, Virginia. April 2026.

Note: Devotion based on last Sunday's sermon on Philippians 4:1-6.

Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved (Phil 4:1).

In the midst of whatever conflict the church might face, whether false teachers without (Phil 3:2) or disagreements within (4:2: Euodias and Syntyche), the apostle Paul exhorted the saints to stand fast in the Lord.

This command is still relevant for the church. There are many forces asking believers to change, to adapt, even to compromise, but God’s Word tells us we must stand fast.

As Paul said to the church at Ephesus, we must be “no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Eph 4:14).

The apostle and spiritual father of the church at Philippi addresses the saints first as “my brethren dearly beloved and longed for.” One of the great blessings of being a Christian is that we become part of a great family. We are spiritual “brothers.”

Paul says the saints were not only his brethren but also “dearly beloved.” This means they were loved by God (John 3:16; 1 John 4:19). It also means they were dearly loved by the apostle.

He adds that they were “longed for.” Paul expected to be released from prison and to have a face-to-face reunion with them (cf. Phil 1:23-26; 2:24).

The apostle then calls the saints “my joy and crown.”

First, they were his joy. Their love for Christ and their obedience to Christ’s commands had brought Paul great joy.

Think of the joy a father experiences when he sees the birth of a child, when he sees that child take his first steps, when he sees that child walking in a graduation ceremony, or when the son become a father himself. Paul had joy as a spiritual father. He had exhorted them: “Fulfill ye my joy” (Phil 2:2).

Second, they were his crown. This relates back to Paul’s image of being in a spiritual race and pressing toward the mark (3:13-14). The winner received a laurel crown. By coming to obedient faith these saints were to the apostle his crown, a reward, an honor, a sign of victory.

All these expressive titles of affection lead to his exhortation: “stand fast in the Lord.” This is a call to stability and rootedness in the faith (cf. 1:27).

The call to stand appears over and again in Paul’s writings to the churches (cf. 1 Cor 16:13: “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith”; Eph 6:13: “and having done all to stand”). He also warns that a man who thinks he stands should “take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12).

Paul also at times used the organic image of the Christian being like a tree that was deeply rooted and not easily moved (cf. Eph 3:17; Col 2:7: “rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith).

We also see this in the Psalms where the godly man is described as “like a tree planted by rivers of water” (Ps 1:3; cf. Ps 52:8: “I am like a green olive tree in the house of God”; Ps 92:13: “Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God”).

Just as a plant does not grow and flourish and bear fruit unless it is deeply rooted in the ground, so a believer does not grow and flourish and bear fruit unless he stands fast and is deeply rooted in the faith.

To cinch his affection, Paul concludes by calling them “my dearly beloved” (Phil 4:1).

As the saints at Philippi were exhorted, so are we today. Let us, then, dearly beloved brethren, stand fast in the Lord.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Theology in Particular Podcast (4.13.26): The Canon of Scripture with Jeffrey Riddle

 

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Note: I enjoyed being a guest on this episode of TIP to discuss canon. Two corrections:

(1) At c. 3:56 I said the Greek word kanōn appears 4 times in the NT (2 Cor 10:10, 13, 16; Gal 6:16). I should also have noted its appearance in the TR at Phil 3:16: "let us walk by the same rule [kanōn]."

(2) At c. 19:08 I somehow gave the wrong citation for 2 Tim 3:16 as 2 Cor 3:16.

Errare est humanum. SDG!

The Vision (4.17.26): Walk by the Same Rule

 

Image: Dogwood tree, North Garden, Virginia. April 2026.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Philippians 3:15-21.

Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing (Philippians 3:16).

When Paul writes to the Philippians, his spiritual children in the faith (see Acts 16), he positively encourages them to follow his apostolic example: “Brethren, be followers together of me…” (Phil 3:17).

He also negatively warns them against false teachers, whom he calls, “the enemies of the cross of Christ” (3:18).

Overall, Paul exhorts, “Let us walk [conduct ourselves in the Christian life] by the same rule, let us mind the same thing” (3:16).

There is an orderly way to live one’s life and a disorderly way.

In general, we need clear rules, standards, and guidelines in life. Take away the rules of driving (driving on the right side, lane markers, signs, speed limits, etc.) and getting anywhere will be chaotic and even life threatening. So too would our spiritual lives be without the rule of God’s Word.

This is why Paul urges the saints to walk “by the same rule.” The word for “rule” translates the Greek word kanon, from which the English word “canon” comes. As a theological term is related to the proper books received into our Scriptures.

Here, however, the term “rule” refers simply to right belief and right praxis (practice) in the Christian life.

This means, first, that we live according to orthodox (right-believing) Christian doctrine. Jude wrote that we should “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).

This means, among other things, that we believe in the Trinity, the deity of the Lord Jesus, his atoning death, his glorious resurrection, and the second coming.

It also means living according to orthodox Christian praxis.

This includes obedience to these commands, among others: Love God. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Love the brethren. Keep the moral law of God. Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together. Pray without ceasing.

If we have no authoritative and common rule, we will have chaos and danger.

Therefore, brethren, let us walk by the same rule.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

WM 379: Reaction: ESV®-CE (Catholic Edition)

 

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Zanchi on Christian "Perfection" (Philippians 3:15)

 

From X post:

Zanchi on Paul’s statement in Philippians 3:15, “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect” and the idea of Christian “perfection”:

Paul “does not affirm that either the Philippians or himself are actually perfect… Rather and conversely, they said that Christian perfection consists in devoting ourselves to one thing: recognizing that we have not yet laid hold of or become perfect, having abandoned all confidence in the flesh and in our own works, content with Christ alone, Christian progress consists in advancing in this knowledge of Christ… struggling continually toward what is ahead until we arrive at the finish line.”

“…Christian perfection that can be had in this life consists in the knowledge of our imperfection and the pursuit of progressing.”

-Commentary on Philippians, 567-568.

CRBC Sermon (4.5.26): Why the Ending of Mark Matters

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WM 378: Gerhard: DOXOLOGY of the Lord's Prayer (Matt 6:13b) NOT SUPERFLUOUS!

 

Blog post on the doxology of the Lord's Prayer.

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The Vision (4.10.26): To Know Christ

Image: Some CRBC young men after church last Sunday (4.5.26).

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Philippians 3:7-12.

“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Phil 3:10).

In Philippians 3:10 Paul declares his desire to know three things: first, Christ Himself; second, the power of his resurrection; and third, the fellowship of his sufferings.

First, he says, “That I may know him.”

This refers to personal knowledge, belief, and trust in Christ. It is not merely to know facts about Christ, but experientially to encounter the person of Christ.

There is an old gospel hymn titled “He lives.” In the chorus it says, “You ask me how I know He lives. He lives within my heart.” Head knowledge is important, but it is not enough for salvation. One must have heart knowledge of Christ.

One of the old Protestant commentators wrote: “There is an example of knowing about honey on the basis of it having been described by others as opposed to knowing it on the basis of tasting it ourselves” (Zanchi, Commentary on Philippians, 537). We must taste Christ for ourselves (Psalm 34:8).

Second, “and the power of his resurrection.”

Paul’s reference to knowing the power of the resurrection necessarily includes both the cross and the resurrection. If Christ had not suffered, and bled, and died upon the cross there would have been no resurrection.

This is an acknowledgement of the fact that the life changing power of salvation comes through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is how Zanchi put it: “For by his death, he carried off all evil, sin, and the wages of sin, death. But by the resurrection, He brought in all good, true righteousness, and eternal life” (Commentary on Philippians, 539).

This means we identify with Christ in his death and acknowledge the benefits that come to us through his cross, and we identify with Christ in his resurrection and acknowledge the benefits that come to us through his resurrection (see Rom 6:4).

Third, “and the fellowship [koinonia] of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death.”

This recalls Galatians 2:20 where Paul wrote, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”

Remember, Paul wrote this letter from a prison cell. He would eventually die a violent death as a martyr. This is not talking into the air for Paul. He desires to know even the sufferings of Christ that began when the Lord Jesus Christ first called upon him to deny himself, to take up his cross daily, and to follow him (cf. Luke 9:23).

Paul’s steps led down a cruciform path that entailed much suffering, but the apostle could refer to this as only a “light affliction” compared to the “weight of glory” that would one day be revealed in him at Christ’s coming (2 Cor 4:17).

In this life, Paul wanted to know Christ, to know the power of his saving death and resurrection, and to have the privilege of following and serving him no matter what the cost.

May we too desire to know these things.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Zanchi on Philippians 3:10: "That I may know him...."

 

From X post:

"There are two way of knowing something. The first is by faith.... The second is by means of life experience.... There is an example in knowing about honey on the basis of it having been described by others as opposed to knowing it on the basis of tasting it ourselves. Thus physicians have knowledge of medicine and their effects on the basis of hearsay and also on the basis of the actual experience of the medicine in ourselves.... In our passage, the apostle is speaking about knowledge of the latter kind, which is nothing other than a certain spiritual sense and taste whereby, based on His power in us, we sense Him to be truly such as we previously heard and believed Him to be based on Scripture."

-Commentary on Philippians, 537.

WM 377: Gerhard's DEFENSE of the PERICOPE ADULTERAE (John 7:53--8:11)

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WM 376: Johann Gerhard on the PURITY of the GREEK TEXT of the NT

 

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The Vision (4.3.26): The Righteousness of God by Faith

 

Image: Misty Spring morning. North Garden, Virginia. April, 2026.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Philippians 3:4-12.

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith (Philippians 3:9).

In warning the Philippians against false teachers (whom he calls dogs, evil workers, and the concision in Phil 3:2) Paul reviews his own spiritual history as a “Hebrew of the Hebrews” (vv. 5-6). The false teachers were declaring that one needed circumcision to be saved. If they believed they had “confidence in the flesh,” Paul declared he had even more (v. 3).

After reviewing his spiritual achievements as a pious Jew, Paul concludes “and [I] do count them but dung.” The Greek word for “dung” here is skybala. Some render the term as “rubbish,” but “dung” is closer to the fact. Think of a slang word that means excrement or refuse. Everything I once thought most valuable of all my achievements, I now consider them a big pile of “dung” in comparison to “the excellency of the knowledge of Christ” (v. 8). This recalls the prophet Isaiah’s statement that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” before a holy God (Isaiah 64:6).

Eta Linnemann (1926-2009) was a German woman who became an accomplished university professor of Biblical studies, even though she was not a believer and only looked upon the Bible with skepticism. A group of Christian students witnessed to her and prayed for her, however, and she was soundly converted.  After describing her conversion in a book, she addressed the readers:

“I regard everything that I taught and wrote before I entrusted my life to Jesus as refuse. [...] Whatever of these writings I had in my possession I threw into the trash with my own hands in 1978. I ask you sincerely to do the same with any of them you may have on your bookshelf” (Historical Criticism of the Bible, p. 118).

Of course, she was using language that echoed Paul.

At the end of v. 8 Paul says he considers his past life dung, “that I might win (or gain) Christ.” A man’s arms cannot be wrapped around both Christ and the things of this world at the same time. In order fully to embrace Christ, one must let go of the world.

Paul then expands upon this in v. 9, saying, “not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

This is where Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith appears. Luther called it the doctrine by which the church either stands or falls. Calvin called justification “the main hinge on which [true] religion turns.”

Paul says that in coming to know Christ he discovered that he did not have any righteousness of his own, any grounds for being justified or considered to be righteous in God’s sight.

He discovered the only righteousness which he had was that “which is through the faith of Christ.” This may well refer to the perfect faithfulness of Christ. It may also refer simultaneously to Paul’s faith in Christ which he describes in Ephesians 2:8 as being “the gift of God.”

Paul further describes this, at the end of v. 9, as “the righteousness which is of God by faith.” This was the great truth which Paul discovered. Men are not justified before an all-holy and all-righteous God by the works of the law (including circumcision) but only by faith alone in Christ.

We cannot look to ourselves, to our own pious works. We can only look to Christ and his righteousness.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

WM 375: Update: John Wenham Changed His Mind on the Text of Scripture!

 

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WM 374: Defending Mark 15.28: Why This 'Missing Verse' Belongs in Scripture

 

Read an online version of the article here.

Find a pdf version on academia site.

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The Vision (3.27.26): For we are the circumcision

 

Image: Richard Lithgow, Apostle Paul in prison (2022), Pencil.

Note: Devotion based on last Sunday's sermon on Philippians 3:1-7.

"For we are the circumcision...."(Philippians 3:3a).

In Philippians 2:19-30 the apostle Paul commended to the saints at Philippi two men, Timothy (vv.19-23) and Epaphroditus (vv. 25-30), as faithful ministers. This was a positive commendation. In Philippians 3:1-3, however, Paul offers a sober warning against false teachers.

In 3:2 he offers a staccato threefold warning: Beware… Beware… Beware….

First, “Beware of dogs!” Did Paul have something against dogs? No. The dog is indeed a wonderful animal. This is a figure for false teachers, because in Paul’s day there were many feral dogs that roamed the streets, mangy and diseased. Some had rabies. If you saw dogs of this kind, you had better beware.

Second, “Beware of evil workers.” They should have been doing good, but instead they were working evil.

Third, “Beware of the concision” (or “mutilation”). A look ahead to the next verse makes clear that these dogs/evil workers were those who were teaching that circumcision was necessary for the living of the Christian life.

There was a massive controversy over circumcision in the early church. In Acts 15 we read how false teachers had stirred up controversy in the church at Antioch, teaching, “Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved” (Acts15:1). Paul and Barabas opposed this false doctrine and appealed to the apostles and elders of the church at Jerusalem, who supported their stand against the false teachers (see Act 15).

We also see this controversy at the heart of Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia. Paul warned against false teachers who had troubled the believers and perverted the gospel of Christ (Gal 1:7). He made clear that “a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ” (Gal 2:15), finally stating, “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love” (Gal 5:16). Believers are not justified by circumcision but only by faith in Christ alone.

Paul was warning the Philippians about this same false teaching. In Philippians 3:3 he declares, “For we are the circumcision….”

What does this mean? Notice that Paul does NOT say, “For we all HAVE BEEN CIRCUMCIZED.”

Notice also that Paul does NOT say, “For we CONTINUE to practice circumcision that we might be justified before God, according to the covenant that was given to Abraham in Genesis 17.”

No, the apostle says, “For we ARE the circumcision.”

Who are the “we”? This includes Paul himself and his co-workers, alongside all the saints at Philippi. Timothy had a Christian mother and a pagan father, but he was not circumcised till he reached adulthood (see Acts 16). Paul was raised in a pious Jewish home and was circumcised on the eighth day (see Phil 3:5). Epaphroditus was likely a full pagan (his name meaning “from the goddess Aphrodite”) and was never circumcised (like Titus, cf. Gal 2:3).

No matter Jew or Greek, or of mixed ethnic heritage, no matter physically circumcised or not, Paul declares that Christians ARE the circumcision.

The Old Covenant circumcision instituted by Abraham set apart the Jewish males physically as Jews. Paul said that New Covenant believers, however, are not those set apart by their outward appearance but by an inward transformation. Not by an outward bodily surgery, but by an inward spiritual surgery.

The prophets had anticipated this. Moses wrote, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked” (Deut 10:16). Jeremiah wrote, “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart” (Jer 4:4a).

The true circumcision, the circumcision of the heart, takes place through regeneration. It is a transformation from the inside out, not the outside in. It is being born again. Paul takes up this same metaphor in Colossians when he said, “ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands” (Col 2:12).

Every genuine believer has experienced this circumcision, and we should beware anyone who suggests we need add anything to this for salvation.

Need circumcision? No. We ARE the circumcision.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

WM 373: Interview: Graham Chewter, Deputation Speaker, Trinitarian Bible Society

 

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The Vision (3.20.26): Band of Brothers

Image: Marble frieze, Roman soldiers, AD first century, Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany.

Note: Devotion based on last Sunday's sermon on Philippians 2:19-30.

Shakespeare’s Henry V includes a speech given by the king on St. Crispens Day just before his outnumbered English troops are about to go into a climactice battle against the French, in which he addresses them as, “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”

The historian Stephan Ambrose would borrow words from this speech to title his 1992 book Band of Brothers about “Easy Company” from the 101^st Army Airborne and its service in WW2.

Long before Henry V, William Shakespeare, Easy Company and Stephen Ambrose, however, there was the apostle Paul and his letter to the saints at Philippi.

In that letter, as Paul often did in his writings, he makes reference to the men who were his fellow laborers in the gospel. These were men who did not hold the value of their lives so highly that they were unwilling to lay them down for the cause of Christ and the gospel.

Paul is recommending such men in Philippians 2:19-30. It is not the best-known passage in Philippians. It does not hold forth great Christological truths like the Christ Hymn in Philippians 2:5-11. It does not hold pithy and memorable verses like Philippians 1:21, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” or Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” I suppose that few have taken a “life verse” from this passage!

Paul makes reference here to two of his fellow workers, Timothy (vv. 19-23) and Epaphroditus (vv. 25-30), alongside a reference to himself (v. 24).

The name Timothy means “one who honors God.” Timothy had a Jewish Christian mother (and even a Christian grandmother), but a pagan father (cf. Acts 16:1; 2 Tim 1:5). He had a good reputation among the disciples and joined Paul in his second missionary journey (Acts 16:2).

In Philippians 2:20-22 Paul points to four admirable qualities held by Timothy. First, the apostle said he had no man who was so “like-minded” (v. 20a). The Greek term literally means “same spirited” or “same-souled.” Second, Paul says he knows no one who demonstrated a more natural or sincere care for the saints (v. 20b). Timothy was not a phony or a hypocrite, but a sincere minister. Third, Timothy did not seek his own things but the things of Christ (v. 21). Fourth, Timothy had a proven track record of service alongside the apostle “as a son with a father” (v. 22).

The name Epaphroditus come from the Greek literally meaning “From Aphrodite” or “From Venus.” This indicates he was likely a Gentile. Perhaps his parents had prayed to the goddess Venus for a child, and when he came, they named him Epaphroditus. But at some point, he heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and became a servant of the one true God.

In Philippians 2:25 Paul notes several commendable qualities in this man. We’ll note just the first three. First, he calls him “my brother.” This means he was a genuine believer, a true brother in Christ. Second, Paul describes him as a “companion in labour.” This translates just one word in Greek: synergos.  He was a “synergist” with the apostle in ministry. Third, he calls him a “fellowsoldier.” They were brothers in arms in spiritual warfare (cf. Eph 6:11-12).

Think of these three men: Timothy, Paul and Epaphroditus.

One Timothy (“one who honors God”) had a pagan father and a Christian mother and grandmother. But he came to a point when he was called to follow Christ.

One was Paul, a Hebrew of the Hebrews who had once persecuted Christians, but whose path dramatically changed after he encountered the risen Christ on the Damascus Road (Acts 9).

One was Epaphroditus (“from Venus”) who came from a completely pagan household, but who became a brother, synergist, and fellowsoldier for Christ.

All three of these men had at one time been enemies of Christ, with nothing in common to draw them into league with one another. Then Christ, the Word made flesh, by his death, burial, and resurrection made each of them his loyal subjects and then united them in faith to one another. As Paul wrote in Romans 5:10, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

He delights in taking men who were strangers and turning them into a band of brothers who live to serve Him.

For what do you live? To what cause have you joined yourself? Anything less than Christ and his kingdom will not satisfy. And with whom have you joined yourself? Do you stand alone or with a band of brothers in Christ’s church?

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Petrus Van Mastricht (1630-1706) on the Purity, Preservation, and Authenticity of Holy Scripture

 

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