Jennifer Bales

Gospel Gal: Purity Culture And a Real-life Redemption Story : Last week Joy and I had a great conversation with Jennifer Moodie. We discussed the Purity Culture, how it has impacted us, and the way the ...

Gospel Gal: Gospel Gal Hot-Take #2: "Stop Complaining": Lament... : My friend Vanessa recently sent me a short YouTube posted by Todd Friel of Wretched. The clip was part of a sermon from John MacArthur's...

Gospel Gal: MamaBear Monday with Gospel Gal: Gender Role or Id... : MamaBear Monday with Gospel Gal:  Gender Role or Identity in Christ Marissa Namirr, Joy Dudley, & Guest Contributor, Kat Andrich Earlier...

Gospel Gal: Disabilities, Ableism, and the Hope of the Gospel:... : Joy and I had the privilege of talking with a friend and returning guest to the Gospel Gal Podcast, Cassaundra Wolf. Cassaundra has a uniqu...

Gospel Gal: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will e... : Many of us have been scared spitless at some point in our spiriutal histories by the warning passage when Jesus is disavowing the false prof...

Gospel Gal: Only One :   There is only one Gospel that is the power of God unto salvation. It is Christ's work. Full stop. That is a hill to die on. See Galat...

Sanctification is a beautiful grace from God in which, He transforms us more and more into the image of Christ. It should never be used as the sole measure of our justification and assurance. When a believer is united to Christ by faith alone, Christ is to them “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” 1st Corinthians 1:30. “Moreover, although we do good works we do not base our salvation on them; for we cannot do any work that is not defiled by our flesh and also worthy of punishment. And even if we could point to one, memory of a single sin is enough for God to reject that work. So we would always be in doubt, tossed back and forth without any certainty, and our poor consciences would be tormented constantly if they did not rest on the merit of the suffering and death of our Savior” Belgic confession - Article 24

Ignorance of the difference between the law and the gospel promotes also, in a great degree, the strength and influence of a self-righteous temper. When a man is driven to acts of obedience by the dread of God’s wrath revealed in the law, and not drawn to them by the belief of His love revealed in the gospel; when he fears God because of His power and justice, and not because of His goodness; when he regards God more as an avenging Judge than as a compassionate Friend and Father; and when he contemplates God rather as terrible in majesty than as infinite in grace and mercy, he shows that he is under the dominion, or at least under the prevalence, of a legal spirit. If he builds his faith of the pardon of sin, of the favor of God, and of eternal life upon any graces which he supposes are implanted in him, or upon any duties which are performed by him, he is evidently under the power of the self-righteous temper. He shows that he is under the influence of his hateful temper by grounding ...

Gospel Gal: Jesus is the Fulfillment : Jesus is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant (Covenant of Grace) These are some helpful and comforting truths gleaned from John Fonvil...

So just a quick reminder here: The "dominion mandate" - be fruitful and multiply and have dominion - was given to our first parents, Adam and Eve. It was related to the kingdom of God. Adam and Eve were to fill the earth with image-bearers of God as vice-regents of the King. They failed and the whole world fell into the bondage of sin. Satan usurped the kingdom, holding the world in bondage through the fear of death. But Jesus, the second Adam, broke that power through death by his resurrection. He ascended into heaven, having been given power over all things. He is even now spreading his kingdom through the proclamation of the gospel and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It is not of this earth and is not spread with the weapons and strategies of this earth. He established the kingdom of God, binding the "Strong man" and plundering his kingdom through the proclamation of the Gospel. The "dominion mandate" is not fulfilled by "kingdom fecundity...

Gospel Gal: A Curriculum for Covenant Theology/Infant Baptism : A Curriculum for Covenant Theology/Infant Baptism This teaching from John Fonville (Paramount Church) and R. Scott Clark (Heidelblog) ...

Do you read your Bible like an instructional manual for the Christian life? A handbook for godly living? Does your time in the word each day consist of you trying to apply the passage you read to your daily life? Is this how God intended Christians to read His word? Click the link to hear our response to this question in this weeks episode of ask Theocast!

The bible is not a marriage or parenting manual . The Bible is not about us . Christ is the subject of Scripture and all of scripture reveals Christ .

Gospel Gal: The Whole Package : So many Christians live with anxiety about what they are doing, and how God is relating to them. Listen. Everything that is needed for salva...

Ignorance of the difference between the law and the gospel promotes also, in a great degree, the strength and influence of a self-righteous temper. When a man is driven to acts of obedience by the dread of God’s wrath revealed in the law, and not drawn to them by the belief of His love revealed in the gospel; when he fears God because of His power and justice, and not because of His goodness; when he regards God more as an avenging Judge than as a compassionate Friend and Father; and when he contemplates God rather as terrible in majesty than as infinite in grace and mercy, he shows that he is under the dominion, or at least under the prevalence, of a legal spirit. If he builds his faith of the pardon of sin, of the favor of God, and of eternal life upon any graces which he supposes are implanted in him, or upon any duties which are performed by him, he is evidently under the power of the self-righteous temper. He shows that he is under the influence of his hateful temper by grounding ...

Struggling believer do not fear Christ's return and the final judgment: ". . . the very person of the Judge removes all our fear. For the Father handed over all judgment to the Son as the Son of Man so that He might calm our consciences and remove all terror of condemnation (John 5:22, 27). This is because we believe now that He will be the Judge, and also because with our eyes we will gaze on Him in whose body our sins have been atoned for and the entire curse removed (Heb. 9:28; Titus 2:12–14)." Olevianus, Caspar, An Exposition of the Apostles’ Creed

Gospel Gal: No Other Gospel :   It is very alarming that certain men are so revered that they actually and ironically end up elevated to a Pope-like status. There is no m...

The gospel is what we need to hear preached from the pulpit every Sunday. Not funny stories, not being told what will make us more moral or better people . We need the Gospel

His righteousness is imputed to us through faith alone, so that we’re not only forgiven, but God views us in Christ as though we had perfectly fulfilled all righteousness already. That’s why there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ~Michael S. Horton

The gospel says, “you are forgiven,” not “try again.”

We are often told that maturity in the faith means we are more self-sufficient, stronger, etc. But in reality, maturity means we are more aware of how needy we are.

Gospel Gal: How Does the Law of God Apply to the Believer? :   Matthew 22:  36  “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” [ a ]  37  He said to him,  “ Love the Lord your God with all your h...

Q. Why is he called Christ, that is, Anointed? A. Because he has been ordained by God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, 1 to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, 2 who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption; 3 our only High Priest, 4 who by the one sacrifice of his body has redeemed us, 5 and who continually intercedes for us before the Father; 6 and our eternal King, 7 who governs us by his Word and Spirit, and who defends and preserves us in the redemption obtained for us. 8 ~Scripture Proof~ 1.Ps 45:7 (Heb 1:9); Is 61:1 (Lk 4:18); Lk 3:21, 22. 2.Deut 18:15 (Acts 3:22). 3.Jn 1:18; 15:15. 4.Ps 110:4 (Heb 7:17). 5.Heb 9:12; 10:11-14. 6.Rom 8:34; Heb 9:24; 1 Jn 2:1. 7.Zech 9:9 (Mt 21:5); Lk 1:33. 8.Mt 28:18-20; Jn 10:28; Rev 12:10, 11.

Bible Reading Pro-Tip: The virtuous wife of Proverbs 31 is *not* a superwoman whose example Christian women are supposed to try and live up to. She is the personification of Lady Wisdom who has been speaking to women *and* men throughout the book (cf. Prov. 8:1 - 9:11). The point of Proverbs 31 is *not*: "Men, get you a woman like this; and women, go be like this." The point is for men *and* women of God to seek and find wisdom. And Lady Wisdom has already told you the wellspring at which you will find her: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight" (Prov. 9:10). Sisters, don't lay that burden on yourselves of trying to be a "Proverbs 31 woman." She's not a model for you to emulate, but a treasure for all God's daughters and sons to seek and find.

On our own before God, we are as guilty as guilty gets. But because of something someone else has done, we are absolved of all guilt. We are forgiven. We haven't done anything. Christ has done everything.

At the heart of every holiness movement throughout the history of the church is a suspicion that if you emphasize doctrine, if you emphasize and tell people that Jesus has done everything, that Christ is sufficient, and that there’s nothing left to do in order to be reconciled to God, then you’re going to produce apathetic and lawless people. As we’ve said so many times, that would be true if salvation was a natural process that man achieved—but it isn’t. It’s a supernatural work of God from beginning to end, and the Holy Spirit, taking up residence within us and doing the sanctifying work that He does, makes it certain that those who have trusted Christ will be conformed into his image."

"The gospel is not opposed to effort but to earning..." 2 Pet. 1:5–10 Peter urges believers to “make every effort” (v. 5) to corroborate their faith with behavior consistent with the “qualities” (vv. 8–9) of those who are being sanctified by the Spirit. The gospel is not opposed to effort but to earning. Paul, too, could put grace and hard work side by side (1 Cor. 15:10). In contrast to the passions akin to animal instinct that Peter will condemn in the next chapter (2 Pet. 2:12), he urges believers to live in accordance with their transformed hearts. What we do should flow from who we are. Jesus himself talked about defilement coming from the inside to the outside, instead of the other way around (Mark 7:14–15), and he narrowed down the source of murder and adultery to heart passions (Matt. 5:21–30). That is, he highlighted the roles of desire and objects of idolatrous worship in causing sin. He knew that unless a person’s heart is changed, his or her behavior cannot really...

I am grateful for the active obedience of Christ. He has justified us, not only by suffering and dying, receiving the wrath we deserved for our sin, but, in his life, living a completely obedient and righteous life in our place. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It is finished and the Father is satisfied. Thanks be to the Triune God for this unspeakable gift. ~ quote by Marissa

wrote a letter to his congregation dated January 7, 367 AD in which he included the first recorded complete list of the 27 books of the New Testament. In the next several decades the church canonized this list at the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397). The primary purpose of the bishop’s letter was not to establish the Canon of Scripture, but rather he wrote specifically to announce the date for Easter that year. The church didn't confer on the Bible its special authority, it "recognized" in these particular books God's uniquely inspired word. The term “sola scriptura” for the 16th century reformers meant that the Bible is the norm of faith and living by which every other norm is judged (including papal pronouncements, church councils, creeds & confessions, human reason, and experience). The Bible is not the product of the church, or one small part of church teaching (“If the church wrote it, it can rewrite it”). No! It is not like the “puddles of men’s t...