Theological term
Hamartiology
4 sermons · All terms
Genesis 3:17-24
Genesis 3:17–24 confronts the reader with the full weight of the curse upon Adam and the ground, but the passage is finally a text of hope. The consequences imposed upon Adam — the ground cursed, toil unrelenting, and death certain — do not obliterate God's redemptive purpose announced in verse 15; they preserve the race through which the promised seed will come. Adam's faith-filled naming of Eve, God's provision of animal-skin tunics foreshadowing blood atonement, and the merciful expulsion from the tree of life are all acts of divine grace that anticipate the whole subsequent history of redemption, culminating in the Lord Jesus Christ's decisive conquest of the devil.
The Usefulness of Scripture
Paul's claim in 2 Timothy 3:16–17 that all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable is examined across four categories of usefulness — doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness — before turning to Scripture's specific function in completing and thoroughly equipping the man of God for every good work. The sermon challenges the anti-doctrinal sentiment prevalent in contemporary evangelicalism, arguing that indifference to biblical doctrine is indifference to God himself. Ministers in particular are shown to be completed not by leadership models or charismatic gifts but by deep saturation in the word of God. The hearer is called to approach Scripture not as a duty to discharge but as a daily feast — mining its treasures with diligence and gratitude.
The Pure in Heart
What does it mean to be pure in heart, and how can sinners whose hearts are described in Scripture as deceitful and desperately wicked ever attain it? Expounding the sixth Beatitude in Matthew 5:8, this sermon works through four observations: the description of heart purity as single-minded devotion and internal righteousness (in contrast to the Pharisees' meticulous external compliance); the source of that purity in the sovereign, monergistic grace of the triune God — the Father's electing work, the Son's atoning blood and imputed righteousness, and the Spirit's indwelling power; the cultivation of purity through meditation on the gospel, prayer, and Scripture as God's binding command; and the promise that the pure in heart shall see God, a beatific vision already begun in creation, providence, and redemption, and consummated in the new creation of Revelation 21–22. Hearers are called to rest not in civility or external compliance but to flee to Christ, whose blood alone cleanses the heart, and to pursue purity by dwelling deeply in the gospel.
Theology and the Martyrdom of Stephen
Acts 7:51–8:4, the martyrdom of Stephen, yields five distinct theological loci for examination: prophecy, the Trinity, covenant theology, hamartiology, and soteriology. The sermon traces how Jesus's words in Matthew 23, 24, 26, and 16 are precisely fulfilled in Stephen's trial, death, and the church's subsequent scattering, vindicating the veracity of Scripture. The doctrine of total depravity is pressed hard against the stiff-necked resistance of Stephen's murderers, while the conversion of Saul — the consenting bystander who becomes the church's greatest herald — is offered as the premier exhibit of irresistible, effectual grace. The hearer is called to love the Word that predicts and fulfils, to glory in the triune God who sustained Stephen, and — if unconverted — to bend the knee to the same Christ Stephen gazed upon at the moment of his death.