God is Holy and His Purpose For Us is that We Walk in Holiness
It is vital that believers become spirit-filled by saturating their lives with the Word of God and being obedient to it.
All genuine Christians have believed on Christ because they realized He was the holy Lamb who was the sacrifice for them as born sinners and the sins they commit. However, they also must continue their Christian walk according to that knowledge of His holiness. As they have received Christ Jesus the Lord, they do walk... Continue Reading
Boldness and Clarity as a Light to the World
In order to live with boldness and clarity as a light to the world, we have to love our neighbor sacrificially and live our lives with gospel transparency.
Many criticize faithful confessional churches and their pastors and elders, embarrassed that they do not prostrate themselves to the twin idols of today’s culture: sexual orientation (the belief that your sexual desire encompasses who you really, ontologically, are) and intersectionality (the belief that who you really are is measured by how many victim statuses you... Continue Reading
On Not Getting (Over) Getting Saved
James Baldwin and Go Tell It on the Mountain
I couldn’t be more grateful for the heritage of faith into which I have been born–I say with the psalmist in all passionate earnestness, “Truly I am your servant, Lord; I serve you just as my mother did; you have freed me from my chains.” And my earthly father has a lot in common with... Continue Reading
The Threshing Floor and the Pestilence
The Cross of Christ is the best antidote to Coronavirus.
Epidemics and pandemics have come and gone in this fallen world and will continue to do so until Christ gives us a new home, free from all pestilence. As terrible as pandemics may be, they only typify the greatest plague imaginable—to be without God in this world and the next. As the world rushes after... Continue Reading
Jesus Prayed for Your Sanctification
Bear in mind that the very centerpiece of Jesus’s prayer as our great high priest is an earnest, urgent plea for our sanctification.
He prays for their preservation and for unity among them: “Keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:11). He expresses a desire to see his joy fulfilled in them (John 17:13). And he asks the Father to keep them from the... Continue Reading
Marks of a Spiritually Abusive Leader from an Obscure New Testament Bible Character, Diotrephes
Christian leaders needs to back up the message of God’s Holy Word with their holy lives.
Many examples exist of leaders who may have sound doctrine on paper, but fail to live it out—to the peril of their church and their church’s gospel witness. In the oft-neglected letter of 3 John, we hear about Diotrephes, a leader causing great harm for the church he serves. I’m grateful for God’s emphasis... Continue Reading
What Was God’s Purpose in the Cross?
Everyone whom the Father chose for salvation will be saved through the atonement.
Your salvation, from start to finish, rests on the sovereign decree of God, who decided, in His grace, to have mercy on you, not because of anything He saw in you that demanded it, but for the love of the Son. The only reason I can give under heaven why I’m a Christian is because... Continue Reading
Suffering for Righteousness’ Sake
Let’s prepare by learning how to respond when we are reviled for righteousness as Jesus would.
Peter is not commanding Christians to unite with pseudo-Christians who hold doctrinal positions that amount to heresy. Instead, he is telling us to not be disruptive or cause disharmony within the Body of Christ which is united by holding to the truth. How do we behave toward one another when we do this? 12... Continue Reading
Have God’s Promises about Pestilence Failed? No: Learning from a 17th Century Brother in Christ
The sting of the pestilence is lost.
We are in a condition that is “very grievous and miserable to others.” We can see this in the panic, in the instability this is bringing to the world. Pestilence—and the fear it brings—is perilous. But for the Christian, we know that, even as this “heavy hand of God” befalls us, “it is for some... Continue Reading
The Ordo Salutis: Sanctification
Because God is holy, people God brings into relationship with himself must be made holy.
The concept of definitive sanctification is distinct from the false notion of sinless perfection this side of heaven, because the other complementary way in which we should speak of sanctification is in terms of “progressive sanctification”. The very word “progressive” implies that there is progress to make in our holiness. “For this is the... Continue Reading