'Reformed Theology' Tagged Posts
What Is the Fivefold Ministry? A Baptist Look at Ephesians 4
Every once in a while, a Christian will hear someone talk about the “fivefold ministry.” Maybe it comes up in a sermon, a book, a podcast, or a conversation with someone from another church. Sometimes the claim is that the reason churches are struggling today is because we have abandoned the biblical fivefold model. The idea comes from Ephesians 4:11: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11). Those are the five ministries…
Why “Limited Atonement” Needs Rethinking
I want to discuss the term “limited atonement,” which is the “L” in TULIP. TULIP is an acronym used to describe the “five points of Calvinism”, though as we will see, TULIP and the phrase “limited atonement” were not written by Calvin and was not coined until the late 19th Century. Let’s start with a very brief history of TULIP. A Quick History John Calvin lived from 1509-1564 and was an instrumental French theologian, pastor, and reformer. Calvin is closely…