What Makes Food Different from Sexual Immorality? (1 Cor. 6:13)
What we eat is inconsequential, but that sexual immorality carries with it the most serious consequences possible.
Among the Seven Deadly Sins as formulated by medieval Christians, the deadly sin of Gluttony was always linked closely with the deadly sin of Lust and sexual immorality (Willimon, Sinning Like a Christian, 133). The fourth-century desert monk Evagrius of Pontus famously called gluttony the “mother of lust.” Even after the Reformation, the Westminster Larger Catechism includes gluttony... Continue Reading
Devotional Minimalism
What you need to realize is that your relationship with Jesus Christ is not just one more priority you need to work on—it is your very identity.
Soccer practice and work commitments are part of life, but they are not life. God is. Your goal is not to survive or thrive in society. Your goal is to glorify God. And yes, society is an arena for that, but when it edges Jesus out of your schedule, you are missing the point of... Continue Reading
The Offensively Ordinary Steps to Godliness
God teaches us how holiness happens all over his word, and yet we often overlook one prevalent lesson: very often, holiness hides in small things.
How does holiness happen? How do stumbling, distracted pray-ers begin to pray without ceasing? How do worriers learn to roll even their biggest cares onto God? How does pride turn to poverty of spirit, apathy to zeal for righteousness, stinginess to an open hand, restlessness to relentless calm? How do we come not only to... Continue Reading
The Law-Fulfilling Jesus
It will do much spiritual good to our souls to search the record of the Gospels in order to discover the ways in which Jesus kept the moral law of God in our place.
We have not always adequately explained the various ways in which Christ fulfilled each of the Ten Commandments for us. Many theologians have written helpful expositions of the Ten Commandments. Several of them will end by reminding us that we need Jesus’ death to atone for our violations of each commandment. Some of them will... Continue Reading
On a “Need to Know” Basis
Why do we ask why?
When events happen in our own lives, we want to understand. We want to make sense of things. From personal matters like the loss of a job or the death of a child to philosophical complaints like the existence of evil or the unfairness of life, we want to ask God, “Why?” If we knew... Continue Reading
Jesus: Salvation Is Through Faith Alone Because Jesus Is Enough
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith."
Paul there clearly makes faith the instrument of our salvation and contrasts it with works. These are two distinct principles, faith and works (Rom 11:6). Further, Paul knows nothing of two stages of salvation. Paul did not say, “For you are initially saved through faith alone but you will be finally saved through your works. That thought never entered... Continue Reading
The Devil Will Hang on His Own Gallows
There’s a bigger story playing out than just the one we’re watching.
You remember Haman. He’s the villain in the biblical account of Esther, the made-for-film historical drama that played out mainly in the Persian capital of Susa — today, the Iranian city of Shush — in the fifth century B.C. This story is an archetype of the biblical pattern, the grand story in miniature. “The... Continue Reading
The Fruit of the Wilderness
Learning to trust God in the wilderness bore lasting fruit.
I read the Bible more attentively than ever before and learned to love God for who he is and not for what he could do for me. I knew that the Lord would never leave me and would always provide for my needs. People sometimes wander from faith, wondering if God even exists, but those... Continue Reading
Little Greek Gems: Confidence in Prayer – Ephesians 1:18
The work of the Spirit is not a “one and done”, it has lasting, ongoing impact.
If a person professes faith in Christ and there is evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in their lives, you can pray for them with confidence, because you know that the Holy Spirit has already been at work, bringing them to faith, giving them a heart of flesh in place of stone, giving them... Continue Reading
What It Means to Pray ‘Your Kingdom Come’
The Gospels clearly identify two kingdoms, but the division is not between sacred and secular.
The miracles of Jesus are presented as evidence of a battle between two kingdoms: one of God and the other of Satan. Jesus continued, “If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own... Continue Reading