Bible

Via Emmaus On the Road: A Brief Introduction

/ davidsschrock
Via Emmaus 01

** Yes, this first episode only comes out one speaker. The next one will be better. And the one after that even more so. Or at least, that’s the plan. 

Introduction

In 2025, I am putting together a Bible reading plan for my family and a few others in my church. I am hosting that reading plan here and will start posting next Monday (January 6). Along the way, I hope to offer a short reflection (less than ten minutes) on each chapter of the New Testament (Monday-Friday). So, follow along, as we journey through the New Testament this year. And don’t stray too far from this website as I will point to other resources that might help reading the New Testament this year.

For now, here’s a quick list of navigation tools to acquire.

Navigation Tools to Acquire

Think Oregon Trail, the video game. Before starting reading through the New Testament, you will need to pick up a few resources. And below is a list of essential and premium supplies and/or strategies for reading the New Testament.

Essential

  • A Bible — You can’t read the Bible without a Bible, so find a Bible that you can read in 2025. And better than a Bible App, find a Bible you can hold in your hands.
  • A Notebook — In addition to prayer, Bible Study goes best with deliberate reflection. And reflection goes best with a place to write your thoughts down. So grab a notebook or a journaling Bible (see below).
  • A Weekly Questionnaire (see Week 1 ) — Each week, I will put up a set of questions to help you engage with the Bible. Print these out and use them as a guide, not a homework assignment. They are intended to help you see what is in the Bible, not to just get the right answer to the test.
  • Community — While we can read the Bible on our own, it is better to read the Bible and discuss it with others. That’s a point I made in this sermon, and it is something this Bible reading plan is intended to foster. Just as walking down the road goes better with others, so does reading Scripture.
  • A Place and Time — Finally, you will succeed in your Bible reading most if you commit to a place and time to read Scripture. For me, this is first thing in the morning. But for you, it could be at lunch, in your car, on a break, or before bed. Most importantly, find a fixed time and place and make it happen. And don’t be ashamed to ask God to help you or for friends / family to hold you accountable.

Premium

  • The ESV Bible Journal — This was a Christmas present to each of our kids, and it is a great way to read and reflect all in the same place. Right now, Amazon still has the whole New Testament half off.
  • A Study Bible — There are countless study Bibles to choose from, but you might find help by having one or two to answer questions as you go. The ESV Study Bible is still my favorite.
  • A Commentary — Going one step further, a commentary can help answer questions of history, culture, or language as you read. The New Bible Commentary is a good one-volume commentary.

The Basic Description of Via Emmaus On the Road

  • A 10 Minute Reflection on 1 Chapter of the Bible
  • 5 Days out of the Week, 52 Weeks out of the Year
  • Equals the Whole New Testament in a Year

May the Lord help us read his Word with understanding this year, and may his Word produce in us faith, hope, and love.

Soli Deo Gloria, ds

5 x 52: A New Testament Bible Reading Plan for 2025

/ davidsschrock / 2 Comments

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
— Psalm 119:103 —

But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
— Matthew 4:4 —

Did you know that there are 260 chapters in the New Testament? I am sure I had learned this number before, but I forgot about until the other day. Yet, with this numerological epiphany in view, my mind began to race and to consider what a fifty-two week Bible reading plan would look like for those just getting started.

Indeed, if you read five chapters of the New Testament, every week for 52 weeks, you would finish the whole New Testament in a year. Certainly, this feat can be accomplished in a much shorter period of time, and for those who have already adopted a pattern of reading the Bible, there is no reason to skip the Old Testament, or to take a whole year to read twenty-five percent of Scripture. For those with larger appetites for Scripture, this Bible reading plan may be too scant. Or, for reasons I’ll explain below, it might be a portion of your Bible reading to be joined with others.

Indeed, for those who have never read the Bible in a systematic way, I have rarely encourage reading through the whole thing to start. Just as newborn babes have small stomachs and need assistance in their eating, so do newborn babes in Christ. Certainly, there might be counter examples to this counsel, but as Scripture so regularly compares itself to bread (Matt. 4:4) and honey (Ps. 19:10), milk (1 Pet. 2:2) and meat (Heb. 6:12), I do believe it is wise to start out slow and build an appetite over time.

To that end, I’ve encouraged new Christians and newborn Bible readers to make use of the E-100 Scripture Reading Plan. In twenty weeks, this plan leads readers through the whole Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, it picks up some of the most important parts and helps show how the whole Bible fits together. Equally, Christianity Explored is a tremendous resource that introduces Christ through the Gospel of Mark.

To have a full-formed faith, one does need to read the whole Bible. But reading the whole Bible (by oneself) is—if we are honest—a mark of maturity, not a necessary prerequisite to faith or salvation. Even more, giving someone a Bible and the imperative, “Read!” might do more harm than good. Just consider how many people have burned out trying to read the whole Bible. And others, while reading the whole Bible might take up very idiosyncratic views of God and his Word, when they read Scripture without conversation or communion with others. Truly, God has given his church pastors and teachers for a reason (Eph. 4:11–16)—and that reason includes rightly interpreting God’s Word and protecting young Christians from error (Titus 1:9).

So, back to reading the New Testament.

In 2025, I am leading my family (with two teens and two pre-teens) to read five chapters a week for the whole year, with the goal of reading the whole New Testament. And to help them have a greater comprehension of what we are reading, I am putting together a few reading tools—tools that I will catalog here, if anyone else wants to jump in. Additionally, if all goes as planned (=if the Lord allows), I will record a short reflection on each chapter as we read, so that interested readers (my family and others) might have a growing interest and skill in reading God’s Word.

Continue reading →

What is an Election Sermon? An Example and An Argument

/ davidsschrock

On Sunday I preached an election sermon in two parts. Expounding Psalm 2, I considered four vital truths about God’s sovereignty from God’s promise to give his son the nations, and in response I outlined five practical steps to exercising our political stewardship.

In this sermon, I did not endorse a candidate or commend a singular church approved voting guide, but I did name names and identify a vote for Democrats as a sin. But more than just stressing the importance of Tuesday’s election, I attempted to show how a steadfast hope in Christ’s Lordship leads to a life of good works, even political good works such as voting.

And so, I offer that sermon here as one fallible example of an election sermon, followed by an email (now updated) I sent to our church explaining the background of election sermons and why they matter today. Indeed, as I noted in my Saturday blogpost, I have learned a lot about preaching and politics since 2016, and I offer this example and argument for an election sermon as help to any others who are taking the same path.

Sovereignty & Stewardship: An Election Sermon in Two Parts

God’s Sovereignty in Psalm 2

  1. Enrages the Nations (vv. 1–3)
  2. Rules over the Nations (vv. 4–6)
  3. Rewards the Son with the Kingdom (vv. 7–9)
  4. Requires Rulers to Kiss the Son (vv. 10–12)

Our Political Stewardship Today

  1. Think Clearly
  2. Speak Truthfully
  3. Vote Righteously
  4. Pray Earnestly
  5. Gather Faithfully

All told, in these nine marks of an election sermon, I sought to exhort our congregation to trust God and to act accordingly. Here is the sermon.

The Case for Preaching An Election Sermon

Continue reading →

To Whom Will You Give the Sword? Seven Moral Arguments for Donald Trump

/ davidsschrock / 1 Comment

How should I vote for the glory of God?

That is a question that Christ Over All answered in a variety of ways in September of this year. And it serves as the background to this article, where I want to offer a more personal word regarding something that has changed in my own thinking over the last few years, and may help others thinking about their vote this week.

In 2016, when I was still under the sway of Russell Moore, I believed the Leftist media about how bad Donald Trump was, is, and will be. Though he promised to appoint conservative judges, I didn’t believe he had the track record to merit a vote. Likewise, as a 10 year student of Russell Moore at SBTS, and a ERLC research fellow, I largely accepted the line that Donald Trump was immoral, racist, misogynistic, you name it.

Fast forward to 2020, Donald Trump had kept his promise to appoint conservative judges.  Economically, until Covid, he had rebuilt the economy with benefits for working class families. And despite his unseemly (and often unwise) use of Twitter, he withstood endless assaults while seeking to put America first. For these reasons, and more, I voted for Donald Trump.

Following the same line of thinking that made Albert Mohler change his mind about Trump, I put my previous Never Trump interests aside, and voted for the business man from New York.

As Mohler framed it in his 2020 article, “In terms of presidential action, Donald Trump has been the most effective and consequential pro-life president of the modern age.” And this was before Roe v Wade was struck down!

Long story short, I shifted from Anti-Trump in 2016 to pro-Trump (with ongoing reservations) in 2020. Though Trump’s character (e.g., his marital record, his vulgar speech, and his Twitter discourse) continued to be a stumbling block, I voted for Trump in 2020 not based on his personal accolades but his political decisions and the promise of policies that would.

In 2024, I would vote for Trump for the same reasons. Yet, in 2024 I would also say that it has become apparent that the character of the man is not everything that it was made out to be by legacy media or evangelical pundits like David French and Russell Moore. And it is this moral dimension of Trump that impels me to write this reflection.

But first a word on voting itself. Continue reading →

Rejoicing in Christ’s Royal Priesthood: The 2024 Bauman Lectures (Toronto Baptist Seminary)

/ davidsschrock

In 2022, I wrote a book entitled The Royal Priesthood and the Glory of God. This book clarified, synthesized, and streamlined my doctoral dissertation. In 2013, I finished a biblical theology of the priesthood which sought to answer the question: For whom did Christ die? Looking at the priesthood from Genesis to Revelation I argued for a definite atonement. In that large volume I came to love the theme of priesthood in the Bible and what that means for knowing Christ and for imitating Christ.

Since 2013, I have written a handful of articles on the priesthood, and in the last few weeks I have spoken twice on the subject. The first series of lectures took place at Eden Baptist Church in Burnsville, Minnesota, and the second lecture series is taking place this weekend at Toronto Baptist Seminary and Jarvis Street Baptist Church in Toronto, Canada.

To assist students, faculty, church members, and guests of the Bauman Lectures, I am posting notes here. I will add to them as the weekend goes on, and in the end, I hope this post will link to all the priestly things I have written to date.

The Bauman Lectures (2024)

  • Lecture 1: Building a Kingdom of Priests — In this lecture, I survey the way in which the institution of the Levitical Priesthood came into being. This lecture simplifies my larger SBJT article and puts into lecture form the second chapter of my book, The Royal Priesthood and the Glory of God.
  • Lecture 2: In Search of a Priest-King Like Melchizedek (Genesis 14, Psalm 110, Hebrews 5–7) –In this lecture, I examine the context, content, and concepts found in three places where Melchizedek is named. Together, this helps us understand who Jesus is, as a royal priest.
  • Lecture 3: Seeing Melchizedek in the Book of 1–2 Samuel: An Exploration in Typology — In this lecture, I have written a working manuscript (with limited annotation) to show how Melchizedek is a figure found in the book of 1–2 Samuel. This reading depends upon a careful comparison between Bera, king of Sodom, and Melchizedek, king of Salem. It also explains how David saw his own son as a priest after the order of Melchizedek.
  • Sunday Morning Sermon: Getting to Know Our Great High Priest (Exodus 28–30; Hebrews)
  • Sunday Evening Sermon: A Kingdom of Priests: Washed, Worshiping, Working, Witnessing (Exodus 19:5–6; 1 Peter 1:22–2:10)

More to come . . .

Soli Deo Gloria, ds

Guard the Flock and Contend for the Faith: An Introduction to 2 Peter and Jude

/ davidsschrock

This summer, when the Southern Baptist Convention met in Indianapolis, Daily Wire reporter, Megan Basham, spoke to a packed room of 1000 people. In her speech, which you can now find online, she revealed various ways that pastors, churches, and other ministries have been targeted by well-funded political activists.

More recently, Megan’s book, Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda, became a New York Times Bestseller, as it uncovers multiple instances of evangelicals compromising their Christian commitment to the truth to have a place at the world’s table.

In eight chapters, she highlights how false teaching has been brought into the church. These issues include making climate change a Christian mission, opening borders to permit illegal immigration, diluting the pro-life movement, hijacking Christian media, employing the church to promote COVID protocols, preaching Critical Race Theory, refusing to call homosexuality a sin, and weaponizing the claims of sexual abuse.

Sadly, these eight subjects are not just matters that we find outside the church. All too often, they have been brought into the church, and they have been brought into the church by otherwise faithful pastors. Megan’s book highlights these compromises, documents their sources, and calls on faithful Christians to stand against these progressive trends.

Not surprisingly, her book has book has received a great deal of pushback. Yet, what is surprising is how evangelical leaders, including popular authors and one former SBC president, instead of admitting errors have doubled-down and repudiated Megan’s claims. It appears repentance is hard to come by these days, even among those who preach the gospel.

For my part, I have appreciated Megan’s book because it resonates with what I have seen up close and personal. I can count close to ten individuals named in this book who I know personally. And her reporting puts one place what I have seen over the last decade—once faithful friends compromising with the world in small or great ways. To give one example, my former Sunday School teacher, the Dean of the Theology School at Southern Seminary, and the man who signed both of my seminary diplomas is now partnering with an organization (Evangelicals for a Diverse Democracy) that is sponsored by an Interfaith organization led by an American Muslim. If that does not evidence Christianity astray, I don’t know what does.

Long story short, the weakness of the church in America today has not happened by accident alone. It is has also been planned by outside agitators who are looking for Christians willing to sell their birthright for a bowl of stew (Gen. 25:29–34). And sadly, many evangelical leaders have done just that. Megan’s book chronicles the last decade to show how this has happened, and Christ Over All recently sat down with her to discuss her book and why it matters for local churches.

I would encourage you to listen to our podcast and then, if time and interest allows, read (or listen) to her book and pray for the church in America. Every month, we gather on the third Wednesday to pray and one of repeated prayers is for revival to come to America. Yet, such revival will not come until repentance is led by church leaders. Judgment, Peter says, begins with the household of God (1 Peter 4:17). And to be sure, the Spirit, in order to build an unshakeable kingdom (Heb. 12:25–29), is shaking the church in America today.

So, let us pray that he grants us grace and pleas for mercy (Zech. 12:10), even as God exposes many faults in his churches. Today, as in every generation, churches need pruning. And so, let us not despise the discipline of the Lord, but let us trust him and see his lovingkindness in it. Continue reading →

Wide are God’s Mercies: Giving Public Praise to Our Lord for His Ongoing Work at Our Church

/ davidsschrock

nathan-dumlao-KYiGu8qqEcM-unsplashMy companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant. 21 His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. 22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

– Psalm 55:20–22 –

Recently, I received an email that brought to mind a dozen or so events from the last ten years. The email was intended to lay charges against our church, myself, and my fellow elders. And, in a world that offers multiple perspectives, those accusations are certainly one interpretation. However, as we learn from Proverbs 18:17, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”

Today, I have no interest in examining the charges made. They have been examined often over the last six months and before, but I do have an interest in giving thanks to God for the charges that have been made and for the events they recall. For in fact, all of things that were brought to light are, from another angle, testimonies of God’s grace. And thus, I want to give public praise to God for all the ways that his mercies have been made new over the last decade.

When Paul defended himself in 2 Corinthians against the charges of the super-apostles, he boasted in his weaknesses. In what follows, I will do much of the same. But more, I will boast in the kind and loving work of God in a local church that was once featured negatively in a book by Nancy Pearcey.

As with all local churches, ours is made up of members who have feet of clay. And yet, with clay feet we are learning to walk with our Lord, and looking back on the last three decades, God has demonstrated his mercy and grace again and again. And for that reality, I am profoundly grateful. And I share these ten reflections as a testimony to the wideness of God’s of God’s past mercies, which funds the promise of future grace.

Continue reading →

The Sons of God: Three Interpretations of Genesis 6:1–4

/ davidsschrock / 1 Comment

luigi-boccardo-OGSbrFW_dos-unsplashFigment. Absurd. Gross.

These are but three of the names John Calvin calls the position I hold on Genesis 6. And while, he doesn’t employ his most common insult (stupid!), I am sure he would have little trouble applying that label to the view that angels had sexual relations with women, such that the Nephilim (or giants) were the resultant offspring.

For indeed, when considering who the sons of God were in Genesis 6, he excoriates the ancient view that believed the sons of God (=angels) came from heaven to consort with the daughters of man. He writes in his commentary on Genesis 6, “That ancient figment, concerning the intercourse of angels with women, is abundantly refuted by its own absurdity; and it is surprising that learned men should formerly have been fascinated by ravings so gross and prodigious [strange or unusual].” [1]

Following this view, he adds another, namely, the idea that the sons of God were royal sons and the daughters of men were commoners. The problem in this case was the way that the nobility chased the commoners, resulting in offspring of mixed hereditary stock.[2] On this second view, whom he assigns to the “Chaldean paraphrast” (i.e., the Babylonian Talmud), we can agree that this interpretation fails to follow the terms of Scripture. (Yet, it is not far from another view that will be referenced below.)

In contrast to both views, Calvin then offers his—the idea that has become popular among so many evangelicals today. He sees the sons of God as the male heirs of Seth and the daughters of man as the female offspring of Cain. While Calvin frames this division in theological terms (i.e., the sons being chosen by grace and the daughters being left in their common condition), his reading is purely human, and wreaks nothing of gross absurdity.[3] Or, so he believes.

Historically, his view, which goes back to Augustine and before that to Julius Africanus (c. 160–240), can be summarized under the title of the Sethite position, while my position, which goes back to the Jewish interpreters of the Second Temple period might be titled the Fallen Angel position. Additionally, there is the view that understands the sons of God in royal terms, but not like that described by Calvin, what I’ll label the Kings of the Earth position.

In what follows, I want to lay out these three positions and begin to explain why I believe Calvin’s mockery of this position is wrong. As always, it is not a light thing to disagree with such an eminent theologian, but as a Baptist, Calvin’s insults don’t bother me. I’ve disagreed with him before, and here I will do so again. I will argue that his Sethite view is reasonable, but not ultimately persuasive. Better, we should read Genesis 6 in the context of the whole Bible, and when we do we will discover the fact that the angels of heaven left their proper abode, consorted with human women, and thus invited the judgment of God which led to the cosmic flood. Continue reading →

What Should We Do With 1 Enoch? A Biblical Approach to Extra-Biblical Literature

/ davidsschrock / 5 Comments

konrad-hofmann-XFEqU_bf5nA-unsplashIn Genesis 6 we find the curious introduction to a group of people (?) called the Nephilim. In verse 4, the ESV reads, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.”

Thus concludes one of the strangest passages in all the Bible. For centuries, the four verses that begin Genesis 6 have occasioned debate on whom the Nephilim are, who the sons of God are, who the daughters of man are, who the mighty men of old were, the men of renown, and how these characters all fit together. Are these all descriptions of human beings, sons and daughters of Adam? Or, is something more nefarious afoot? Are the sons of God fallen angels? And if so, who are their offspring?

To these questions and more, I will attempt to give an answer in this post and three more to come. Below, I will consider what it means for Christians to use extra-biblical sources, and how we can properly benefit from reading 1 Enoch. In the next post, I will lay out the options for reading Genesis 6, and explain the strengths and weaknesses of various positions. Then third, I will make a canonical argument for understanding the sons of God as fallen angels and the Nephilim/mighty men as giants. Fourth, I will draw some theological conclusions related to Genesis 6 but also to Christ and his rule over the cosmos. Continue reading →

With Genuine Repentance Comes Pardon: John Calvin on How to Seek and Grant Forgiveness

/ davidsschrock

alex-shute-b7QwXDDEwv8-unsplashThen Peter came up and said to him,
“Lord, how often will my brother sin against me,
and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times,
but seventy-seven times.
– Matthew 18:21–22 –

What happens when someone asks for forgiveness, but all outward signs indicate anything but a willing spirit? Is the offended party obligated to grant forgiveness the moment the offender says, “Will you forgive me,” or does it depend? If forgiveness depends on repentance, as Jesus says in Luke 17:3, just how much fruit is requisite for such repentance to be deemed genuine?

To put it into actual situations: Does the offended child whose sibling is forced to say “I’m sorry” have to mechanically say, “I forgive you”? Or to take it one step further, does the parent need to discipline the hesitating child for not offering forgiveness immediately?

What about the Christian family of a victim of violent crime, do they need to automatically grant forgiveness when the judge forces the criminal to issue an apology? Or are they permitted to consider the sincerity of the apology? Equally, should Christians forgive terrorists, who go to their deaths spewing hatred against their victims?

Or more basically, when pastors mediate conflict in the church, what is the proper response to a church member whose longstanding self-justification is suddenly reversed? Does the offended party need to issue an immediate grant of forgiveness? Or does the newfound repentance need time to settle? Equally, if the member will not forgive when repentance is genuine, what must be done then?

Fortunately, we are not the first generation to wrestle through such questions. And most recently, I came across an incredibly illuminating passage from John Calvin on Jesus’s teachings on forgiveness and repentance. Ever pastoral, Calvin provides some important qualifications for offering forgiveness, granting forgiveness, and even withholding forgiveness until repentance is deemed genuine.

Strikingly, Calvin does not suffer from our modern captivity to making others feel affirmed. Instead, he affirms the need to offer forgiveness to any and all who ask. But wisely, he also cautions Christians from mistakenly granting forgiveness prematurely. In his comments on Jesus’s teaching on forgiveness, he rightly urges Christians to extend grace in the same way they received grace. But also, he holds the line on repentance, stressing the importance of making sure repentance is genuine.

Having recently thought quite a bit about this very point, I offer six reflections on Calvin’s views on forgiveness, repentance, and reconciliation. I have added his full comment at the bottom. Continue reading →