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Articles by Nick Batzig
How Does Church Planting Relate to Discipleship?
When I was young, my father told me, “Nick, throughout your life you will hear unbelievers in North America saying disparaging things like, ‘There are too many churches everywhere,’ or ‘There’s a church on every corner’—when, in fact, they do not attend any church on any corner.” To this, he added, “There will always be a need for God’s people to plant more biblically solid churches.” He elaborated, “There are many so-called ‘churches,’ but there are never many biblically faithful churches.
Christ in the Wilderness
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Why Should I Read the Westminster Confession of Faith?
One cannot read the divines’ chapters on adoption, sanctification, saving faith, repentance unto life, good works, perseverance, and assurance of grace and salvation (chs. 12–18) without noting the deeply practical and pastoral ways in which the doctrinal truths of Scripture have a bearing on the lives of God’s people.
Miracles Today | Tabletalk
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5 Helpful Things to Do to Kill Envy in Our Hearts
Photo Credit: Jefte Sanchez Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you. There are certain sins that we tend to tolerate in our own hearts and lives, as well as in the church. They are what Jerry Bridges has called “respectable sins”—gossip, slander, envy, covetousness, pride, etc.
The Organic Church
If you are a member of a congregation that is faithful to the sound preaching of the Gospel, the right administration of the sacraments, prayer, and the faithful practice of church discipline, you have every reason to be thankful and to give yourself diligently to developing your Christian life. God has appointed the means of grace for the growth of His people.
Should We Only Pray to the Father in the Name of Jesus?
In the economy of redemption, the ordinary way in which God is to be addressed in prayer is as “our Father,” even “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” in the name of Jesus (i.e., through his mediation) by the power of the Holy Spirit. As the apostle puts it, “For through him [Christ] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18). As a young Christian, I would often go to a weekly prayer meeting at the local church I attended.
The Temptation of Christ
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Mealtime Theology: From the Garden to Glory
Before entering gospel ministry, I served as a chef in restaurants on St. Simons Island, Georgia, and in Asheville, North Carolina. I have long found the creativity involved in food preparation to be one of the most enjoyable human experiences. Of all the gifts that God has given us in this world, food is at the top of the list.
Praying in Jesus’ Name
Mere intellectual knowledge that Jesus is the only Mediator and the One who fulfills the covenant promises is insufficient for us to receive the promised blessings—we need to exercise personal faith in Christ as the object of the blessings. God has chosen to make faith the instrument of union with Christ. This affects our invocation of the name of Jesus in our prayers to God. Certain practices have become so familiar among Christians that believers can be in danger of thoughtlessly performing them.
4 Important Things to Remember If You Are a Doubting Believer
Though he had doubts, John wasted no time in seeking to quench them. He sent some of his disciples to Jesus to ask him about his ministry. The example of John teaches us to distinguish between doubt and unbelieving skepticism. John had made the largest and most confident confessions about the identity of Jesus.
4 Important Aspects of the Noahic Covenant in Redemptive History
Every time we see the rainbow we should remember God’s covenant faithfulness in sending the Redeemer to save a people for himself. Just as God had placed a rainbow in the sky to show his steadfast covenant fidelity, so there is a rainbow around the throne of Jesus Christ in glory (Rev. 4:3). We, like Noah, are beneficiaries of the mercy established in the Noahic Covenant in Jesus Christ.
Why Is Baptism a Means of Grace?
Many refer to baptism as “an outward sign of an inward profession of faith.” While professing believers and their children certainly receive baptism as a mark of discipleship (Matt. 28:18–20; 1 Cor. 7:14) in obedience to Jesus, the covenant sign is not first and foremost pointing to something we have done. Rather, it is the sign that points to what God has promised to do in Christ by the Spirit.
Praying in Jesus’ Name
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Repeated Sinning and the Hope of Forgiveness
The more we are convinced of the truth that the Father has already provided legal forgiveness through the shedding of the blood of the Son, the more readily we will go to him for the paternal forgiveness of our particular sins. The apostle Peter explained that when growth in grace and holiness is lacking in someone’s life it is because he has “forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins” (2 Pet. 1:9).
The Perfections of Christian Prayer
All too often, we find prayer to be an excruciatingly difficult discipline of the Christian life. Even the most experienced and sincere saints find it hard to contest Thomas Watson’s pithy observation, “Jesus Christ went more willingly to the cross, than we do to the throne of grace.”1 When we do bow our heads and urge our hearts heavenward, words frequently fail us. A feeling of inadequacy and a sense of uncertainty can dampen zeal and stifle the spirit.
Objections and Questions concerning Church Discipline
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How Jesus Brings Peace
Cosmic, consummative worldwide peace is entirely dependent on Jesus’ death on the cross. The effects of creaturely reconciliation are felt for all of eternity on account of His saving works. The vertical reconciliation of fallen men to God is foundational to the horizontal reconciliation of man to man. The former necessarily accomplishes and secures the latter.
How Is Christ Exalted in His Session, Intercession, and Judgment?
Every good story has an end. This world has an end as well. The effects of sin in every area of life lead many people to ask whether there is meaning in any area of life. Yet, everything that God made has a purpose. He created all things and He governs all things, directing them to the right goal. This means that our salvation has an end or purpose as well. The purpose of all things is to glorify God.
How Jesus Brings Peace
A number of years ago, our church decided to include a section for “prayer requests” on a visitor card that we handed to first-time visitors. Needless to say, after numerous visitors took a cue from the world of celebrity award shows and wrote “pray for world peace,” we decided to discontinue that section of the card. It was obviously not because we do not desire world peace.
One Greater than the Temple
By Nick Batzig We have all had experiences that we will likely never forget. For me, one of those moments happened when I was twenty-four years old, standing at the top of the French Alps, overlooking the seemingly endless miles of mountains. I’d never seen such a glorious sight in my life. This is as close as I’ve come to imagining the disciples’ experience of certain events that occurred during their time with Christ—events that likely left an indelible mark on their minds and hearts.
Hell to Pay: What Truly Happened to Jesus on the Cross?
If Jesus wasn’t truly condemned on the cross, then we are not truly justified before God. If Jesus did not objectively suffer the equivalent of hell in his body and soul, then there will be hell for us to pay.
Hell to Pay: What Truly Happened to Jesus on the Cross? — Beautiful Christian Life
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.
Check Your Spirit before Doing These 4 Things
The Bible is replete with warnings about jealousy, envy, and hatred that are manifested in gossip, slander, and division. A heart that is silently harboring any of these sinful motives will necessarily overflow with sinful words and responses, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45) The Gospel is the cure for this.
Who Is Our Enemy?
God has not left us ignorant of the sphere of warfare or of the enemy himself. Much biblical revelation from the first promise of Christ’s victory over the evil one (Genesis 3:15) is taken up with a revelation about the nature of spiritual warfare. What impact would it have had on the church in our late-modern, scientific day and age if the author(s) of the Apostles’ Creed had included a statement about the reality of angelic activity and spiritual warfare in the Christian life?
The Fruit of the Holy Spirit
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The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
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Reformed Bible Study: Its History & How to Do It
Share FacebookRedditPinterestEmailLinkedInWhatsApp Christians who adhere to the doctrines of the Reformation commonly belong to congregations and denominations worldwide that are representative of the Reformed tradition.
How Was Circumcision a Sign of the Covenant?
Circumcision carried the promise of judgment for those who broke covenant with God. If someone rejected the covenant sign, he was rejecting the covenant Lord of the sign. If someone rejected the covenant Lord, he or she would incur the judgment of God. The act of “cutting” formed the signatory element of circumcision. The cutting away of the foreskin of the flesh denoted God’s promise to cut off covenant breakers from His presence, His people, and His blessing.
10 Reasons Christians Can Be Thankful in Trying Circumstances
We can be thankful in trying circumstances because we are being pruned to bear more fruit. The Lord is removing the dross and refining the gold. We can be thankful in trying circumstances because they serve as a stage on which the deliverance and provision of God’s grace in Christ may be displayed in our lives. Often, the most basic of God’s commands are the hardest for us to obey.
Loving the Truth and Speaking in Love
Christians today, no less than in Machen’s day, desperately need to come to terms with the fact that we are all theologians–whether good ones or bad ones.
We Are Not Home Yet
The eternally glorious Son of God was treated as a stranger among His own people (John 1:10–11). But He came to make us heirs of the world to come. He came to fulfill the hope of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. He entered that state of sojourning to secure redemption for His people. He identifies with the true sons of Abraham who also pass through this world as sojourners.
Do Jesus and Paul contradict one another?
Some have sought to pit Jesus’ ethical teaching over against the writings of the Apostle Paul. Such false dichotomizing is often driven by a desire to distance oneself from the Apostle’s clear condemnation of homosexuality (Rom. 1:26–27; 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Tim. 1:10) and restrictions regarding roles in the church (1 Tim. 2:12; 1 Cor. 14:35).
How Is the Rainbow a Sign of the Covenant?
The rainbow is the sign that the Lord will preserve the present creation until the consummation of the covenant of grace when He will fully redeem His people from every tongue, tribe, and nation and bring them into the full enjoyment of a new creation. The sign of the Noahic covenant is therefore a gospel sign of the redeeming mercy of God in Christ (Isaiah 54:9–10). Several years ago, my wife and I were driving back home from a trip out of town.
Do Jesus and Paul Contradict One Another?
Attempts to pit the teachings of Jesus and the Apostle Paul against one another will result in a division of the canon. This can lead people to undermine both the Apostolic teaching on redemption as well as the Apostolic ethic for the lives of the members of the New Testament church. Some have sought to pit Jesus’ ethical teaching over against the writings of the Apostle Paul.
Who Is the True Israel of God?
When we read of God’s promises of restoration that He gave Israel through the Old Testament prophets, we must do so through the lens of the person and work of Christ. All of the judgment prophesied about the nation prepares us for the judgment that fell on Christ—the true Israel—for our sin. In His resurrection, Jesus secures the restoration that was promised so long before. When the Apostles appeal to Joel 2:28–32 in Acts 2:16–21 and Amos 9:11–12 in Acts 15:16–17, this is what they have in view.
The Patriotic Church
I’ll never forget the first time I stepped into the magnificent Tenth Presbyterian Church as a new intern. Hanging all around the top balcony of the worship room were flags from so many different nations in the world.
What does salvation mean?
By Nick Batzig, Op-ed contributor | Monday, May 08, 2023 Almost no word so well captures the heart of the message of Scripture as does the word salvation. It appears more than 170 times in our English translations of the Old and New Testament. The related word, saved, appears approximately one hundred times throughout the pages of Scripture. But what is salvation? What does it mean for someone to be saved? The Scriptures provide us with several distinct answers to this question.
4 Important Things to Remember If You Are a Doubting Believer — Beautiful Christian Life
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.
Honor Your Need for Both Work and Rest This Labor Day
As we come to celebrate another Labor Day, it may be beneficial for us to step back for a moment and consider what Scripture has to say about the rhythm of work and rest—i.e. the cyclical configuration by which all the events of our lives occur. Learning the theology of work and rest is one of the greatest challenges of our own day. Many of us have adopted faulty views of work, and therefore have faulty views of rest.
Loving Christ by Loving His People
Love is the heartbeat of Christianity: “For God so loved the world . . .” (John 3:16). “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us” (1 John 4:10). From eternity God set His love on His people. In time and space, the Father sent His Son as the great display of that love. On the cross Christ secured our salvation out of love for us. Not one of Christ’s blood-bought people will be lost, because He loves every one of them. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a further outpouring of divine love.
Marks of Manhood
If Christian men are to become what God intends for them to become, they will begin to manifest the gentleness and humility, righteous anger, truthfulness, patience, courage, sacrificial love, and affection of Christ in their lives. No truncated picture of manhood can serve as an adequate replacement for what we find exemplified in Jesus in Scripture.
Are Christians Totally Depraved?
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Does Jesus Still Heal?
Just over one hundred years ago, B.B. Warfield delivered the Thomas Symth Lectures at Columbia Theological Seminary in Columbia, S.C. The transcription of those lectures forms the content of Warfield’s book Counterfeit Miracles, which opens with these words: “When our Lord came down to earth He drew heaven with Him.
Who Is Our Enemy?
What impact would it have had on the church in our late-modern, scientific day and age if the author(s) of the Apostles’ Creed had included a statement about the reality of angelic activity and spiritual warfare in the Christian life?
Confessions and Worship
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Confessional Discipleship (Part 1)
Though we may not have all the answers for every question of situational ethics, of this much we can be sure: The Westminster Standards address many of the significant theological and practical matters for Christian discipleship better than we could on our own.
More Than a Shibboleth
The heart of Pharisaism was to trust in rituals—even God-ordained, biblical rituals—rather than in the God of the ritual. In one sense, the Pharisees were committed to the ordinary means of the Word of God; however, they perverted the teaching of the Word by denying the Christ of the Word. They were committed to fasting, praying, and giving; however, they did those things with self-righteous hearts and motives.
Slaves and Masters
An indentured servant, together with his family, was to be set free in the seventh year (Exodus 21:2–4). This was meant to remind Israel of what God had done in setting them free from their bondage in Egypt. That, in turn, serves as an Old Testament picture of the redemption that sinners experience through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Of all the teaching of Scripture, those passages about the institution of slavery are among the most difficult to navigate.
Honor Your Need for Both Work and Rest This Labor Day
As we come to celebrate another Labor Day, it may be beneficial for us to step back for a moment and consider what Scripture has to say about the rhythm of work and rest—i.e. the cyclical configuration by which all the events of our lives occur. Learning the theology of work and rest is one of the greatest challenges of our own day. Many of us have adopted faulty views of work, and therefore have faulty views of rest.
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