Some Wounds Never Heal
Death not only claims its victims but torments their loved ones. Where, if anywhere, shall we find rest?
We must go to him moment by moment, groan by groan, tear by tear. That old wound may never heal in this life, but Jesus will comfort us day by day and glorify our scars in the next. I didn’t realize how disorienting grief can be. In the aftermath of a dearly loved one’s... Continue Reading
Simply Profound yet Profoundly Simple: The Paradox of the Gospel and the Mandate for a Robust Witness
When it comes to explaining the gospel less may be more, except when less is not enough.
God’s people must not settle for only a rudimentary knowledge of God’s saving message. Rather, we must have a robust and confident grasp of God’s Word and be ready to field the questions of modern man. In every sense of the expression, we must be New Testament believers, ready to give an answer for the... Continue Reading
Sanctified Minds and Bodies
The pressure is on Christians to bow the knee to the culture on sexual matters and to embrace and approve of what God has forbidden.
Western culture has increasingly accepted a sexual ethic in which nearly everything goes. Sex between unmarried people, premarital cohabitation, homosexuality, and a host of other practices today enjoy widespread societal approval. However, I am convinced that if a professing Christian holds that approval then it is a marker that shows their disingenuousness. 3 For... Continue Reading
Public Comment On Public Sin Matters. Silence Does Not Commend The Gospel.
Silence is not always golden.
When people have been hurt by an injustice of some sort within the church—especially when somebody has abused their power and used an appearance of godliness to cover it up—we help precisely nobody by insisting on silence. Silence is precisely how these things were allowed to happen in the first place! Worse, we communicate to... Continue Reading
But That’s Just Your Interpretation!
The subject is much too large and multi-faceted for a brief editorial, but it may not be inappropriate to lay down a handful of markers.
How can I know with certainty what the Bible is saying? How can I be certain what books really belong in the Bible? How can I be sure that my interpretation of any text is correct, and, still more, what its proper application is when I draw lines from texts that are two or three... Continue Reading
The Wrath of God Was Satisfied
Wondrous Love in the Awful Cross
Who would have ever dreamed a Roman cross, one of the worst, most fearsome devices of torture ever devised, would become a symbol of the greatest love ever expressed? For “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” and saved us “from the wrath of God”... Continue Reading
Surrender Your Right to be Angry with Your Spouse
This is one way that we can show the world who Christ really is.
I feel sure that this is the kind of grace that peaceful marriages are built on. When husbands and wives resist the urge to be right, to drive their point home, to prove their own righteousness and their spouse’s wretchedness, when they give up their freedom to be offended, when they choose forgiveness over anger—this... Continue Reading
Humiliation & Exaltation: The Procession of the Holy Spirit
The Spirit who searches the deep things of God sheds light in our hearts.
The outpouring of the Spirit means empowerment. Sinners are weak and enslaved. The Spirit sets them free. He is like a grand conductor of life from God the Father though the humanity of Christ and into us. It is Jesus’ Resurrection life that the Spirit infuses into us both as it is an indestructible quality... Continue Reading
Jesus Fulfills Some Old Testament Passages about Conquering Gentiles by Saving Gentiles
Christ serves Jewish people, fulfills the promises, and moves the Gentiles to glory in God’s mercy.
Old Testament passages that describe Israel or her king conquering the nations in the future occur because Jesus conquers the nations as the king of Israel by the cross and resurrection. So he conquers by faith. Yet this does not preclude his conquering by force those who do not believe when he returns. One... Continue Reading
But We Have the Mind of Christ
However, you are responsible for how sharp and clear that is through how mature and obedient you are in your walk of repentance on the narrow path.
Genuine Christians have the Spirit of Christ in them or they do not belong to Him. Because of this, they are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Because of this, genuine Christians have νοῦν Χριστοῦ, the mind of Christ. What this tells us is that by the Word and the Spirit, genuine believers... Continue Reading