Fundamentally, the gospel itself makes sobriety an imperative (cf. Titus 2:12), which also explain why Christians are exhorted towards sobriety in light of the imminent return of the Lord Jesus (cf. 1 Peter 4:7). However, of what sort is this spirit of sobriety?   In my previous post, I discussed how patience (along with the closely-related virtues of... Continue Reading

We are glad to read a statement like this one but frankly we don’t get overly excited about it. After all, it doesn’t tell us much.  It says that God desires that we be devoted to him and so be separate from sexual immorality, which is really the focus of sanctification at this point in... Continue Reading

In basing their entire lives on sola scriptura, though, Luther and Calvin never devolved into nuda scriptura (“naked Scripture”). Rather, they believed that we read the Bible in community, learning from other sinners — alive and dead — how to understand the teachings of Scripture better and how to correct the blind spots in our biblical interpretation. Tradition... Continue Reading

A great army was advancing against the people of Judah. The people were as ants against an overwhelming adversary. Jehoshaphat’s reflex was to pray. His prayer of 2 Chronicles 20:12 acknowledges that they were powerless against the foe. They did not know what to do. But their eyes were on their God who was all... Continue Reading

In the Amos prophecy, God promises to one day “raise up the booth of David and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it.” Hearing the language of repair and rebuilding, we might think of a physical structure. “Booth” (sukkah) is a word used for tents at the Feast of Booths (Lev... Continue Reading

In the end, we must trust God because our ability to understand God’s justice and love are limited by our humanness. We don’t know all like God does. We cannot see the whole picture. We do not truly understand what sin is except that it privates what it is good.    “God is Love,” writes John (1... Continue Reading

The language of brokenness and shame is passive language. It is describing something that has happened to you. The language of “sin” is active language. It is something you do. If the language of our singing, counselling and preaching primarily uses passive language, or uses the passive language to explain active language – well we... Continue Reading

Our response when we are confronted with our transgressions reveals whether we have worldly grief or godly grief. John the Baptist exhorted the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:8). That is, turn from your sin and do the things which reflect a repentant heart.... Continue Reading

“But if God is so near,” we might ask, “why is darkness normal?” Sometimes, of course, the darkness is our own fault, as David’s was, at least in part (Psalm 40:12). God has always been near, but we have walked into the pit ourselves. Often, however, God’s people sit in darkness through no fault of... Continue Reading

One minute everyone is nodding in pride at Mary and Joseph’s boy, the One who is going to put Nazareth on the map and the One who has come to do, think, and say everything they expected Him to. But at the moment of their highest pride of assumption, Jesus flips over the tables in... Continue Reading