On Earth, as It Is in Heaven: Making Plans That Please the Lord
If we are going to make progress in the world, we must make plans and keep them.
What does God have for me on earth, while I await heaven? Or better, how I do God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. If that is the prayer Jesus teaches us to pray (Matt. 6:9), how then should we live? As new creations in Christ, how do we order our steps? Do... Continue Reading
I’ve Heard It Said, “Once Saved, Always Saved”
The Bible repeatedly warns us that God will not finally save you if you don’t persevere in the faith and good works.
Warning passages are a God-ordained means to a God-ordained end. They’re one of the ways God ensures that all genuine believers will persevere. And that’s why I think the bumper sticker line “once saved, always saved” is misleading. A more accurate way to say it is “once saved, always a believer” or “once saved, always... Continue Reading
Doctrinal Basics: The Triune God of Scripture
Like David in Psalm 8, we should look in awe towards our Creator.
It is important to build your understanding of the Trinity from the Scriptures, which are perfect, and not an external source, which is imperfect. Extra-biblical sources can be very helpful in explaining and understanding what the Bible teaches, but the foundation must be Scripture. The belief in Triune God is a core foundational doctrine... Continue Reading
Are Moral Truths a Product of Culture?
Moral relativists believe cultures and people groups create their moral codes rather than discover them.
Cultures may recognize and employ moral principles, but this doesn’t mean they created these principles. In fact, many scientists and philosophers are suspicious about any causal relationship between evolution and moral virtue. The evolutionary process often results in disharmony and strife; morality seems to require us to overcome the “evolved beast” in each of us.... Continue Reading
Sharing Christ’s Sufferings
There is a cup of suffering every disciple must drink.
If somehow you started your Christian life without someone explaining that you were signing up for suffering, it’s time to break it to you: there is no such thing as a Christian life without suffering. There is a line in a well-known story of Jesus (Matt 20:20-28) that often gets overlooked. James and John... Continue Reading
All the Dark We Cannot See
If we were to taste upon our conversion all the sin we now do battle against, our souls would surely have wasted away.
The more holy we become through Christ’s life in us, the more sin we will see in ourselves. There is less sin than before, but we hate it more. We begin to see evil through the eyes of Jesus Himself; that is, we begin to despise it for the filth it truly is. For... Continue Reading
The “Rodney Dangerfield” of Creation
Mature Creation is a recognition of the omnipotence of God, of a power so great that it disquiets us and brings us to silence before the One whose ways are not like our own.
Had Adam fulfilled the Covenant of Works, he would have been granted an end to his probation and been brought into eternal life. Just as Adam’s fulfillment of the covenant would have presumably resulted in physical changes to creation, so perhaps his failure resulted in corresponding changes. This, of course, is speculative. But it is... Continue Reading
What God Meant is What God Means
God’s original meaning still applies today.
God’s word is applicable in each generation, and surely there are ways to apply God’s word today that the original hearers would not have considered thousands of years ago. But the encouragement, the commands, the original intentions are the same. It is a glorious task to search out God’s word. “It is the glory... Continue Reading
More Than Memories
Prayer in Nehemiah (17).
The travelogue of Nehemiah 9:8-31 chronicles God’s personal involvement in their lives as His people to deliver, sustain, rescue, and lead them. Though they were faithless, He remained faithful. Don’t believe it? Look at the pictures. Open the family album and behold the glory of your God. “And You divided the sea before them,... Continue Reading
God Still Speaks
Reading the Bible with astonishment.
Astonishment receives God’s word with humility. We have no claim to our Creator’s words, no right, yet he speaks to us freely, opening his heart to us, showing us his character, inviting us to fellowship with him. By such gracious speech, he shatters our pride and sheds light on our dark ways. A new... Continue Reading
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