Repentance and Learning to Hate Sin
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Satan, the enemy of God and all of God’s people, wants you to believe his lie: “Confessing your sin brings shame upon you and you must hide it at all costs.” We’re also reluctant to confess and to repent because we understand that sin is a reproach to us, since we bear the image of... Continue Reading
Can God Change?
God is unlike the Sun and Moon whose being causes shadows as they ‘turn’. (James 1.17)
But the God who does not change brings about changes. How can this be? Augustine, a greatly-gifted man, put his finger on the lines, if not of a solution, yet of a way of thinking of the one who is changeless brings about changes. ‘Willing a change is not changing a will’ occurs a number... Continue Reading
Two Big Reasons the Trinity Matters
To know God savingly is to know him as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Anything less is not Christian.
Judging by the church’s historic creeds, Christians used to think the Trinity is really important. Judging by the honest answers likely given to the questions above, many modern Christians have lost the sense of why it’s so important, even if they’ve retained it in their doctrinal statements. But judging by a growing number of voices,... Continue Reading
Canons Of Dort (30): God’s Gracious Assurance Of Perseverance
At the Synod of Dort the Reformed churches reaffirmed that Christians persevere and are preserved sola gratia, by grace alone, sola fide, through faith alone.
Even within the Reformed churches and within broader evangelicalism influenced by some aspects of Reformed theology (but not themselves Reformed nor members of Reformed churches) many have been tempted to modify Reformed theology in similar ways. E.g., it is popularly taught in some quarters that sinners are initially justified (declared righteous with God) sola gratia, sola fide but they are... Continue Reading
“It’s All About Jesus” or “Union with Christ” or “Identity in Jesus”: What Do These Mean?
The good news of the gospel—of Christianity as a whole—is that we can be linked with him. We’re in him.
This, in a nutshell, is an explanation of our union with Christ. The Christian’s identity is about Jesus. What happened to him identifies and defines us. What’s true of him becomes true of us. So Christians, let’s make it crystal clear: The reason you and I are forgiven is not just that God forgives. It’s because... Continue Reading
Humble Confidence, Not Self-Love
It is only when we are self-forgetful that we can possess the right kind of courageous confidence we need to face the challenges of life.
Paul warns about a forthcoming time of godlessness and argues that its chief characteristic will be that men will be “lovers of self” (2 Tim. 3:2). When one’s center of gravity shifts from God and others to self, it serves as fertilizer for the cultivation of a variety of other sins. One might well ask... Continue Reading
Our Identity Is Not in Their Performance
I just had to be faithful in loving Jesus through loving people and proclaiming truth. I am not in charge of how you respond.
My identity is firmly fixed in Christ and it is not wrapped up in my performance. As Bunyan said so many years before, “my righteousness is in heaven and it’s not dependent upon my good frames or my bad frames”. My standing with the Father is already settled. My record is established. I am in... Continue Reading
Your True Retirement Plan
Remember that you have an inheritance that is coming.
While it has been given to you by grace alone in Christ alone, remember that God is working in you both to will and to do those things that are in a response to His grace. You have a path to walk in this life, it is a path of trust and obedience. Your rest... Continue Reading
Tried with Fire: When Pain is Personal
Peter clearly states that Christians are called to suffer (1 Pet 2:20-21).
I am not much interested in responding to theoretical questions posed by philosophers and theologians (though I am one of them). My concern is with Christ’s lambs who find themselves staggering under the weight of affliction. If God has any purpose in allowing His people to suffer, then I want to find it. If Scripture... Continue Reading
The Mod: Don’t Be Deceived By Experiences
By the Holy Spirit opening our eyes in faith we can see past the temporal and into the spiritual.
Jesus is telling us that the only way to build our life in a way that the storms we experience around us won’t bring the house down is to build the house on the rock of ages himself. Jesus Christ is the truth (Jn. 14:6), and our lives need to be built within sanctifying design... Continue Reading