Sanctification: “I’m justified, so why sanctified?”
Those in Christ will over time grow to look more and more like Christ.
There is a species of wrong teaching out there that says if you believe Jesus is your Savior, you are so completely saved that even if you live your entire life without obeying any of Jesus’ commands, you are still truly saved. Sanctification is like a bonus. Doesn’t really matter but it can be a... Continue Reading
Crucified With Christ
Let’s move slowly and savor this multi-course feast.
Paul did not look back on his past with nostalgia. Paul did not have an amicable break-up with his prior legalistic beliefs, some kind of “agree to disagree” arrangement. Instead, Paul says, “I died to the law.” More specifically, “I have been crucified with Christ.” (vv. 19-20). Our salvation hinges on a death. Galatians... Continue Reading
God Is Impassible. Therefore, He Loves You Passionately.
Passibility means having a body and so being affected by various needs (hunger, pain, and so on).
The impassibility claim, therefore, primarily recognizes the creator and creature distinction. God has no body, neurons, hormones, hunger, and so on. Hence, he cannot be passible like us. But according to his being (immaterial, etc.), he loves, grieves, and so on. He does so without ever deviating from the course. Adolf Harnack advanced the... Continue Reading
The Sharp Disagreement of Paul and Barnabas: Who Was Right?
In giving careful attention to Acts 15:39–41, it seems that neither Paul nor Barnabas were wrong, as disappointing as it was to see them disagree.
Barnabas was not convinced by Paul. In fact, in Paul himself, Barnabas showed that he was a man to give someone an opportunity to serve in ministry when others would not (cf. Acts 9:26–29). Barnabas was apparently convinced that Mark had learned his lesson and was worthy to serve again. But, as it was, “a sharp... Continue Reading
Suffer in Hope
“In the world you have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
I watched my godly mother suffer in many ways, often emotionally as she reared three children who didn’t always walk in the ways of the Lord. I watched her suffer the death of my wonderful father, her husband of fifty-eight years. Finally, I watched her suffer the loss of her health and her mobility, and... Continue Reading
Why God Does Everything He Does
Walk with me from eternity past to eternity future, and let your spiritual lungs fill with the unnerving, and then stabilizing, God-centeredness of God.
God is no idolater; he will have no other gods before him. And one of the most bracing and clarifying and (counterintuitively) steadying things we can do is to rehearse what God himself has told us in Scripture about why he does everything that he does. He is the most God-centered person in the universe,... Continue Reading
When Your Child Looks at Porn
Your child already feels tremendous shame surrounding their sexual sin, so be sure your approach points them to Jesus.
Here’s the sad, hard truth: it will be nearly impossible to completely shield your child. Porn infiltrated my Christian elementary school in 1979, and now the ubiquity of digital devices (forty years later) means porn is always at our fingertips. It is more realistic to plan how you will respond when exposure to porn occurs... Continue Reading
27 Times Paul Proved He Knew About The Historical Jesus
Here I’m going to lay out that the Jesus of the gospels and the Jesus of Paul’s letters are, in fact, the same person.
Since Paul is the earliest Christian writer, he’s our most important source for the Christian faith. And since he speaks next to nothing about Jesus’ earthly life and teaching, maybe he’s not even real. Plus, Paul’s resurrection appearance was just a vision, not a physical appearance, making it sketchy. So does Paul really know “next... Continue Reading
Christianity Has Always Been the Third Way
The Christian movement was forming a new community of people who claimed to believe in a new kind of God and to follow a new way of life.
I have chosen to use “Third Way” for two reasons: first, because it strikes me as less charged than “race” or “clan” or “tribe”; and second, because early on, Christians were known as followers of “the way.” This translation fits well enough, but only if we understand it as conveying a larger meaning than merely... Continue Reading
The Fruit and Root of Slander
Names do hurt people and in fact, they can leave deep scars for people to struggle with for their entire life.
Slander occurs when someone shares something about someone else that is not factual, or perhaps partially true, but results in damaging the individual’s reputation. The subtlety of slander can occur over a casual coffee conversation among friends or it can happen as a means of asking prayer for someone who left your church or a... Continue Reading