Paul addresses the issue of sanctification in Romans 6:1–14 by reminding believers of the freedom they have from sin’s dominion by virtue of their union with Christ: “We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer... Continue Reading

Sentimental art appeals to human vanity, self-centredness, and egotism. Kitsch is where humans go to indulge the love of self, and to escape into worlds of their own making. Kitsch trades in the familiar, the easy, the shallow, and the childish, because these appeal to what is most selfish in all. Sentimentalism is then worse... Continue Reading

Paul called the forgiven to be marked by gracious speech. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:5–6) He called us to gentle speech, salted speech, the kind of speech... Continue Reading

By being united to Christ in faith, we are filled in Him, this Jesus who is God, the God of greatest, unmatched delight and fullness, who now takes of that fullness and fills us. And because Jesus fills with the fullness of infinite God, we can never soak up enough of Him to saturate our... Continue Reading

Two young Tyrian brothers, Frumentius and Edesius, were traveling on the Red Sea with their uncle Metropius when some raiders attacked their ship. The boys were sold as slaves to the King of Aksum (in today’s Ethiopia), who liked them and employed them as tutors for his son Ezana. According to most sources, this occurred... Continue Reading

There is nothing wrong with having a job that pays a salary. There is nothing wrong with owning a business. Money is not evil. It is the love of money and things that is the root of all sorts of evil. Why? If our motive is to accumulate or get for self-gratification then we will... Continue Reading

Regardless of how much we mirror the world’s patterns, unless we embrace their sin and reject the core teaching of Jesus, they will continue to condemn. Scripture calls us a peculiar people. We are not to conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). One... Continue Reading

Nothing that happens in the world changes who God is. This is important, because if God were subject to regular change, he could not be an anchor that holds fast in the storms of life. If God were subject to regular change, we could not be confident in our eternal salvation because, God could just... Continue Reading

Can you imagine reading only the second half of an amazing book and then telling the author how much the story meant to you? We dishonor Jesus when we believe the law doesn’t apply to us anymore. Rather, when you read the Old Testament, recognize that everything you read is something He fulfilled at the... Continue Reading

Paul believed love — love for Gentile and Jewish believers, love for Peter and Barnabas, love for the local Galatian church as well as the universal Christian church, and love for Christ and his gospel — required that he insist that Peter, who “though a Jew, live[d] like a Gentile and not like a Jew,... Continue Reading