Fighting Sin with a New Identity
“Maybe they’re right; this is just who I am.”
Does the gospel have an answer to this crisis, the crisis of continually fighting sin? Yes. And a vital part of that gospel answer is what theologians call indwelling sin. Why would I bring up sin to someone in a faith crisis, especially one involving same-sex attraction? Because the Bible’s teaching on indwelling sin connects... Continue Reading
Where and When Should I Pray?
Prayer is, as John Calvin often referred to it, “conversation with God.”
Like conversation within a healthy marriage, prayer is ideally frequent and organic. If I only spoke to my wife during scheduled periods of time either at the beginning or end of the day—or worse still, only on Sundays—there could be a problem. At the same time, scheduling purposeful moments to have deeper, uninterrupted conversation, perhaps... Continue Reading
Help! I Keep Losing My Temper
Losing your temper means you’ve placed anger in the saddle and you are now galloping along at its command.
Despite the thousand coats anger may wear, anger is simple at its core. Anger always passes moral judgment. It is the moral emotion. Anger says “what just happened was wrong.” Now our anger may be accurate in its judgment of right and wrong or it may be out to lunch. For example, my children may get mad because... Continue Reading
For This I Have Been Born, and for This I Have Come into the World, to Testify to the Truth
Jesus Christ came to this world and was completely victorious over our enemy and the power of death.
God’s people, genuine Christians, are Christ’s sheep. They hear His voice. He knows them and they follow Him. He gives them eternal life and they will never perish nor can the enemy snatch them out of His hand. God the Father gave them to Christ and He is greater than all. In other words, all... Continue Reading
Calvin’s Four Rules of Prayer
If prayer is to do us any good, we must place our entire trust in God's self-revealed character, promises, and faithfulness.
Friend, the more we are overwhelmed by our own unworthiness before God and the myriad, sometimes agonizing, circumstances of life, the more we ought “to grasp with both hands” (3.20.12) the assurance that God will hear and answer our cries for help. Biblical faith, after all, does not teach us to approach God as slaves,... Continue Reading
Leave Behind the Weariness of Bitterness
The remedy God provides us against the brutish ignorance of unbelief is simple, but it is profound.
If the eucatastrophe of the cross of Jesus teaches us anything, it teaches us that God does not take injustice lightly — that he is, in fact, willing to go to extremes we would never imagine in order to fully settle accounts. At the cross, God’s righteous unwillingness to clear the unjust kisses his righteous desire to... Continue Reading
Philippians Resolutions: Philippians 2:14
Do all things without grumbling or disputing.
There is space for lament and pain in the human experience. Lamenting comes from a heart of pain, struck by a fallen world. Grumbling and complaining comes from a heart of thanklessness, struck by discontent. It’s the difference between the single mother who anguishes over the fact that she cannot give her children more food, and... Continue Reading
The Blessing of the Gift of Prayer
There are many aspects to prayer which are a blessing.
We must recognize that while prayer does not always change your circumstances, prayer often changes you. The Lord meets with you when you pray. He sanctifies you. He changes your character and provides what you need to get through your situation, even if he does not give you exactly what you want. Lately, I’ve been... Continue Reading
A Roadmap for the Song
The Song of Songs has been subjected to more interpretative attempts than almost any other book in the Old Testament.
Whether or not Solomon wrote the Song (and I am personally convinced that he is the author), we can be sure that the Song of Songs is set in the context of God’s covenant with David. In fact, the very name of the chief character of the Song is “the Beloved,” which, in Hebrew, is... Continue Reading
Sticking Your Tongue Out at Suffering
Paul's attitude towards death was a powerful form of proclamation.
When Paul sticks his tongue out at death, “most of the brothers” suddenly realize that death isn’t so big and bad after all. The worst (as it were) that death can actually do is usher them into the bliss of life forever with God. Suddenly Paul’s Christian peers feel able to stick their own tongues... Continue Reading