Honoring Dishonorable Parents
Your parents' shortcomings are their own, but your obedience belongs to the Lord.
Some of you have become the very thing you hate. You’ve treated your parents with the same harshness you suffered. Some have dishonored through gossip, neglect, sarcasm, or apathy. Some have refused to forgive. Some have simply given up. But you are not responsible for your parents’ sins. You are responsible for your response. There’s... Continue Reading
In Sanctification, Where You’re Going Is More Important than Where You Are
God wants you to be holy. Through faith he already counts you holy in Christ. Now he intends to make you holy with Christ.
God saved you to sanctify you. God is in the beautification business, washing away spots and smoothing out wrinkles. He will have a blameless bride. He promises to work in you; he also calls you to work out. “The beauty of holiness” is first of all the Lord’s (Psalm 29:2, KJV). But by his grace... Continue Reading
Words are Like a Two-Edged Sword
Words often bring heartache that’s hard to heal.
Because of our propensity to sin with our tongue, the words of David in Psalm 39:1 ought to be the daily prayer of the redeemed of the Lord. “I said, ‘I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the... Continue Reading
Three Reasons Why Conflict is Harmful to the Church
In the first major section of 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul addresses the unfortunate, but inevitable, problem of conflict within the church.
Jesus is Lord of the members of His church, meaning that what believers say and do and how we treat one another in the body of Christ reflects upon His name. When we have divisions, factions, quarrels, and strife among us, we dishonor the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. At the outset, we... Continue Reading
Who Is “The One Who Endures to the End”?—Matthew 24:13
Once the Holy Spirit has regenerated you, making you a new creation in Christ, he keeps your life and preserves you forever.
Salvation is God’s gift entirely. Someone who has new life by the Holy Spirit cannot lose their salvation. Believers did nothing to earn regeneration and there is nothing they can do to become un-regenerated. The Spirit indwells all true believers, and he convicts God’s children of their sin in his sanctifying work. What did... Continue Reading
Four Lures the Devil Uses Against Us
If we are secretly undermining Christ’s kingdom, even if we are not public opponents, we are nevertheless enemies to Him.
Those who do not make conscience of finding out and counteracting the devices of Satan will be reckoned co-workers with him for overturning the kingdom of Christ, even if in most secret ways. The devil is adept at dangling all sorts of lures in front of us and as Christians we need to be... Continue Reading
Augustine’s 3 Rules When Speaking of God
Augustine's Grammar of Theology from Book 5 of De Trinitate
Augustine’s rules for theological discourse in Book 5 of De Trinitate give us a grammar to speak of the mystery of God. They protect us from heresy, draw our minds to the meaning of Scripture, and allow us to know God with clear concepts. Augustine’s 3 Rules for Fitting Language of God In the fifth book... Continue Reading
The Big Problem of Student Behavior
Disciplining with a Christian worldview makes all the difference.
Like every other aspect of human society, broken relationships are the root cause of most behavior problems in the classroom. Christian educators have a better framework to address the underlying broken relationships, one which offers the reconciliation and restoration needed for lasting change. Conservatives are quick to blame the systemic failings of U.S. public... Continue Reading
The Themes of Exile and Return Are Seen Throughout the Psalms
The five psalms that conclude the Psalter celebrate a renewed earth singing praise to God in the language of return from exile and a new exodus.
The Psalter tells the story from Adam to Solomon and the temple, down into exile, and finally looking forward to a new creation (just like the prophets) and, therefore, the restoration of all humanity. The door back into to our true Edenic home is opened through the great end-times sacrifice of the coming Davidic priest-king.... Continue Reading
A Misadventure in Theological Polemics: Thoughts on Jared Moore’s “No, Temptation Never Has an Element of Good”
Christian theology maintains that evil is privative, that is, that it involves a privation, a lack or corruption of good, such that evil cannot exist on its own apart from good.
Consider the devil’s second temptation, for Christ to throw himself off the temple and hope upon angelic intervention to suspend the normal law of gravity and prevent his demise. On Moore’s view, Christ was “offered” the good of “angel protection” in this episode; he does not view Christ as being tempted to the sins of... Continue Reading
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