The Ninth Margin

ESSAYS

John MacArthur and R. C. Sproul on Living the Doctrines of Grace 2

Before addressing the doctrine of soteriology, it is necessary to consider that the driving purpose for which God saves his people is in accordance with his ultimate purpose for all things—namely, to bring glory and honor to himself.

Because of the sufficiency of Christ’s atoning work, if a believer is asked when God saved him, there is a sense in which he ought to reply, “Two thousand years ago.” And yet no one comes into this world saved. We are all brought forth in iniquity (Ps. 51:5), dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1), by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3), and enemies of God (Rom. 5:10; 8:7–8). Though all the blessings of salvation were purchased once for all at the cross, the people of God do not enjoy the benefits of Christ’s work until the Holy Spirit applies those blessings to individual believers—until they are born of the Spirit unto repentance and faith, are united to Christ, and are thereby justified, adopted, and set apart for a life of holiness and service to God. It is for this reason that we must distinguish between the accomplishment of redemption and the application of redemption.

doctrines of grace

John MacArthur and R. C. Sproul on Living the Doctrines of Grace

The doctrine of God’s incomprehensibility calls attention to the distance between the transcendent Creator and his mortal creatures. One of the chief axioms taught by John Calvin was expressed by the Reformer in the Latin phrase Finitum non capax infinitum, “The finite cannot grasp (or contain) the infinite.” Because God is infinite in his being and eternal, and we are finite and bound by both space and time, our knowledge of him is never comprehensive. We enjoy an apprehensive knowledge of God, but not a comprehensive knowledge.

A Reason to Study Biblical Theology and Then Some

I moved to Lagos at the completion of my housemanship program in Ogun State. And yes, I had big hopes and expectations.

Suppose anyone had asked me what my biggest lesson was six months after that move. In that case, they might have expected me to talk about my job, or about my struggles adjusting to the lifestyles of the people of the city that is no man’s land, or even about my search for career clarity… Instead, what marked my stay was my foray into reformed, or to be named more accurately, biblical theology. And it all began when a close friend recommended a church in Lagos. He had anticipated my soul’s hunger and thirst for practical biblical truths necessary for living and delicately suggested, without any ounce of coerciveness, that I visit the church. Call that providence.

truth

When One Truth Births The Next

When we are asked what we love most about someone close to us, we often mention emotional support, loyalty, shared goal, or how that person makes us feel seen and valued.
Truth-telling, especially of the uncomfortable kind, rarely makes the top of the list if it makes the list at all. And that is because truth, stripped of the identities of who speaks or hears it, is, by nature, uncomfortable. It reveals. It exposes.
And when it is spoken, it can feel like hypocrisy to the self-aware teller and, like a personal attack to the wisest of hearers — even in the most loving of relationships.

twelve timeless stories retold

Twelve Timeless Stories Retold

The shortest distance between a writer and a reader is a story. But since these stories are not originally mine but only retold, I shall, in the interest of honesty, say that the shortest distance between a re-writer and a reader is a story.

Stories have the power to illuminate the human experience, weaving lessons of compassion, antifragility, and reflection into the fabric of our lives. The tales gathered here — ranging from the poignant to the humorous, the allegorical to the deeply personal — offer glimpses into the choices that shape us.

It is easier to retell stories than to live by their lessons, but we must continue to remind ourselves of these universal truths, just as we ought to continue to try to live by them, because it is in tirelessly striving to do so, and with unending grace, that we define who we are and who we aspire to be .

Adult and child holding hands

Modern Friendships and Good Company: Foundations and Principles

It is easier to read and write about the truths of friendship than to practice them. This is because of two reasons: first, humans are imperfect, and second, friendship is an imperfect good. Since a perfect good is self-sufficient, complete, fulfilling in every way, and leading to no further desire or deficiency, friendship does not satisfy the soul’s deepest longing, which is for God alone. The beautiful thing, however, is that it can lead to it. My interest in the subject of friendship has grown gradually as I have gotten older. I have decided to explore, or to put it more correctly, re-explore (on the back of scholars who have done the heavy lifting on the fundamentals), modern friendships Thomistically because of their primary and continuing existential importance.

Running images

What I Have Learned in Almost Two Years of Running

I began running consistently sometime around the start of the 2023 rainy season, approximately two months after my twenty-sixth birthday, which answers the question of when. However, I am inclined to devote the bulk of this essay which I am half-seriously writing and even less seriously promoting whilst on a train to my next adventure, to answering the question of why. Is it not true that the crying child always knows why it is crying, even if it cannot articulate it…? One who runs wildly through a thorn bush also does so for a reason; if they are not after something, something must be after them. When the why of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable.

I did not start running because someone asked me to; I started running because I wanted to. And sometimes, the reason one starts a thing differs from why one continues it. But this is not supposed to be a philosophical exposition. Instead, I write to consolidate my lessons from several months of running for my reference, and I hope you find it helpful.

Joe Ajibade in his first and third decades

Autobiographical Notes

I was born in Ogbomọṣọ three years before the new millennium, at a time that makes me what you might call, and for lack of a better description, an African zillennial. The story of my childhood is neither more poignant nor exciting than the adulthood I live now. But let me begin with the town where my story takes root: Ogbomoṣọ. They say if a youth’s eyes do not witness a story, they should at least be good for hearsay. A city in southwestern Nigeria, rich in the savannah and flanked by farmlands, it was founded in the mid-17th century by my ancestors, worshippers of Olodumare and the orishas , or, as some would describe it, worshippers of God and the gods. Around the same time, the English Civil War raged in Europe, the Sun King rose to dominance, and the transatlantic slave trade reshaped West Africa. Local empires like the Asantes and Oyos were consolidating their power. The inhabitants of Ogbomoṣọ, like the surrounding towns, were Yoruba. By the 20th century, this place of quiet beginnings would become the home of Samuel Ladoke Akintola, a university named after him, and the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary. The residents,  Christians, Muslims, and traditionalists ,  live together with the ease of familiarity as if peace were their natural condition. This is an autobiographical essay.

Some say we are in the era of the post-truth biography, and that might be ostensibly true. But all these are facts I have sometimes strenuously recollected at the mild risk of straining my mind against my present soulical zeitgeist.