During the present, God uses sufferings to conform us to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29). In anticipation of the future, God uses sufferings to prepare us for glory; indeed, He uses present sufferings to increase future glory. This exchange of suffering for glory is near the heart of Paul’s perspective on afflictions during... Continue Reading

While we do not see Jesus right now, we will see him in that day of his revelation. Right now, we do not see him, but we believe in him. Perhaps, Peter has in mind here the words of Jesus in John 20:29 “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  ... Continue Reading

Remember, the ultimate points of application are found in Christ. Run to Christ at the end of the text and as the solution to crisis and need. As you run to Christ, you can point out the many signs of fallenness and the need for the gospel. After all, so many of our pressing cultural... Continue Reading

The child who would sit on David’s throne would eliminate gloom, anguish, and darkness and give light, joy, and peace instead (Isa 9:1–7). The shoot from the stump of Jesse would judge the poor with perfect righteousness, treat the meek with equity, and rid His enemies with a word (Isa 11:1–4). The chosen Servant would... Continue Reading

When it comes to sanctification, it is not possible to just pull yourself up by your bootstraps. While your effort is surely necessary, and is commanded in dozens of places in the New Testament, those efforts must necessarily fail if conducted apart from a total dependence upon the work of the Lord within us. The necessary... Continue Reading

When I feel the weariness of life and my failures, my eyes are on myself – apart from my union with Jesus. Instead, Paul would have me fix my eyes on Jesus and remember that I’m united with him until I believe it deep in my soul again. You see, we are not merely finite people... Continue Reading

We have a God who not simply is stronger than everything else, but delights to use weakness so that we can see his strength, so that His awesomeness is on display, not ours. Yet we get discouraged when we feel weak, or feel the weakness of our congregation, or the church. It should sadden us... Continue Reading

The tendency is to view the church as means of therapy, merely as a place of fellowship and encouragement, but not as the divinely instituted embassy in which the keys of the Kingdom of God are administered. Viewed thus, the very idea of church discipline seems high-handed, arbitrary, unjust, and even cruel. After all, the... Continue Reading

If we recognize that everything is from God—may we remember that the Bible literally says “all things are from him” (Romans 11:36), that he is stunningly sovereign—then we can begin to see that no good thing is merited, random, or insignificant. We know all is from God. “What do you have that you did not... Continue Reading

Rather than simply being oriented toward the same sex, which at least had your orientation in part focused on yourself in relation to other people, in the transgender movement identity has taken another step inward. For now identity is focused more solely on yourself in relation to your self.   In this bravest and newest of... Continue Reading