Theological term
Eternal Functional Subordination
5 sermons · All terms
The Example of the Savior, Part 3
Philippians 2:8 presents the humility of Christ not as incidental biography but as the doctrinal and ethical foundation for the church's conduct. This sermon examines first the declaration of Christ's humility — that he humbled himself voluntarily, according to his human nature as covenant mediator, in active obedience to every demand of God's law from his mother's womb — and then its demonstration in the extent of that humiliation: even the death of the cross, a death cursed by the law and laden with shame. The active and passive obedience of Christ, taken together, are the sole ground of justification by faith alone, which is why the Lord's Supper is received not as a reward for good conduct but as a proclamation of what the Savior accomplished on behalf of his people.
The High Priestly Prayer, Part 2
John 17:4–5 records Christ's proleptic and covenantal claim to have glorified the Father and finished the work given him — a claim that opens into the full theology of active obedience and its indispensable place in justification by faith alone. The sermon demonstrates that Jesus was not merely an ethical example but the obedient substitute whose 33 years of perfect law-keeping is imputed to the elect alongside the forgiveness secured by his blood. Verse 5 is examined against the kenosis error: Christ does not pray to recover a lost glory but to be manifested as the glorified God-man and mediator who has accomplished the covenant of redemption. Believers are exhorted to pursue the knowledge of God and Christ as the essence of eternal life; unbelievers are called to look to the only Savior in whom alone there is both forgiveness and a righteousness that avails before God.
CTF 2025: What Are the Modern Day Issues With the Trinity?
Two ministers survey the modern doctrinal errors threatening a right understanding of the Trinity, contrasting them with the robust trinitarianism of the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689 LBCF) Chapter 2. The discussion identifies the eternal subordination of the Son controversy, Arianism, Sabellianism, and social trinitarianism as recurring and contemporary departures from orthodox Trinitarian confession. Particular attention is given to the Confession's insistence on the one will and one operation of God, against models that fracture the divine unity by assigning separate wills or discrete percentages of action to each person.
The Attempted Murder of the Good Shepherd
John 10:31–42 presents the religious leadership of Jerusalem responding to Christ's declaration 'I and my Father are one' not with worship but with stones. This exposition traces three movements: the revelation of Christ's divine glory in verse 30, the attempted murder by the Jewish leaders in verses 31–39, and the fruitful reception of Christ in the Transjordan in verses 40–42. Central to the passage is Christ's appeal to Psalm 82 and the argument from lesser to greater — if God calls earthly magistrates 'Elohim,' on what grounds do they stone the One whom the Father sanctified and sent? The sermon closes with an encouragement to the people of God: where Jerusalem rejects, the Transjordan receives, and the Good Shepherd will gather His sheep from every tribe and nation.
The Danger of Rejecting the Son
John 8:21–29 records Jesus warning a hostile religious leadership that they will die in their sins if they do not believe that He is the great I Am — the divine Son eternally generated from the Father, sent into the world in the economy of redemption. The sermon works through the passage in three movements: the announcement of Christ's departure and the condemnation it implies, the question of His identity and the slander levelled against Him, and the reference to His crucifixion as the moment of disclosure. The central doctrinal burden is that a deficient Christology — whether ancient Arianism, Sabellianism, or modern proposals of eternal functional subordination — amounts to the very unbelief Christ condemns, and that the church's primary calling is to preach the triune God with particular weight on who the Son is and what He has done for sinners.