Theological term
Impeccability
5 sermons · All terms
The Active Obedience of the Righteous One
Psalm 15 poses the question of who may dwell in the presence of God, and this exposition argues that the answer is not a moral prescription for the believer but a description of the active obedience of Jesus Christ alone. The psalm's portrait of the righteous man — pure in works, words, company, and commitments — indicts every reader who imagines it describes them, and points instead to the one man in human history who satisfied every demand of God's law with perpetual, exact, entire obedience. Justification is God's act of pardoning all sin and imputing that accomplished righteousness to the believer through faith alone, so that sinners described in Psalm 14 enter the holy hill of God solely on the merits of the Savior described in Psalm 15.
Ask FGBC #13: Is there a difference between our temptations and what Jesus faced?
The question at hand is whether the temptations Jesus faced were different in kind from those faced by fallen human beings. The discussion distinguishes between the sinless nature Christ assumed — not fallen, yet genuinely human — and the far harsher conditions under which he was tempted compared to Adam in paradise. Drawing on the Adam-Christ typology found in Luke 3–4 and Matthew, the speakers explore why the Son of God's obedience in a fallen, hostile world makes his conquest of temptation more weighty than Adam's failure in paradise.
Ask FGBC - Podcast with Jim Butler, Dr James Renihan, Dr Richard Barcellos
This roundtable conversation between three pastors and theologians addresses a wide range of questions submitted by church members, covering biblical theology, covenant theology, baptism, eschatology, and Christian living. The discussion moves from how Christ fulfills Old Testament Israel, through the covenantal basis for believers' baptism, to the nature of the eternal state, the hermeneutics of applying Old Testament promises, the place of ethnic Israel in relation to the church, and the means of grace for raising covenant children. Throughout, the speakers return to a consistent Reformed hermeneutic: Christ is the true and greater fulfillment of all Old Testament promise, the church is the eschatological Israel of prophetic expectation, and the ordinary means of grace — Word, prayer, and faithful worship — remain God's appointed instruments for the conversion and nurture of his people.
The Rich Young Ruler
What must a man do to inherit eternal life? This exposition of Matthew 19:16–22 examines the encounter between Christ and the rich young ruler, showing that the young man's question is at once legitimate — every soul must reckon with eternity — and illegitimate, because it proceeds from the assumption that salvation is earned by human merit. Christ answers him on the terms of the covenant of works, pressing the second table of the Decalogue and then the tenth commandment in particular, not to prescribe a new way of salvation by poverty, but to expose the man's covetousness and unmask the bankruptcy of his self-righteousness. The sermon calls hearers to abandon proud self-righteousness, reckon honestly with the spirituality of God's law, and flee by faith to the one who alone kept it perfectly.
The Priestly Office of Christ
Hebrews 2:16–18 introduces the high priestly office of Christ, which the author of Hebrews will develop through chapters 5 to 10. This exposition works through three interlocking truths: Christ's role as covenant mediator — taking on the seed of Abraham rather than the nature of angels — establishes the ground of His representation; His incarnational identification with His brethren qualifies Him to serve as a merciful and faithful High Priest; and His function of propitiation reveals that He exhausted the wrath of God on behalf of a particular people given to Him by the Father, making definite atonement the only coherent conclusion. Believers are called to cry out to their interceding High Priest in every temptation, since He who withstood the full weight of temptation without sin is able to aid those who are tempted.