This life, and these blessings, are given to Christ’s people upon regeneration in this life, albeit here only in part. This is part of the “incorruptible seed” spoken of by Peter (1 Pet. 1:23), that will come to its full and perfect bloom in the next life. It is the life of Christ, lived with... Continue Reading

How then is the kingdom of God in the midst of these unbelieving, soon-to-be homicidal Pharisees? The kingdom of God was in their midst because the King of that kingdom was among them. He had fulfilled prophecies and done miracles before them, proving that He was the Messiah and rightful ruler. Now when He was... Continue Reading

Many in our world say, “hate your enemies and destroy their lives.” Jesus taught us to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). He models this in His dying moments as He petitions God to forgive the very people putting Him to death. Learning from biblical prayers is a great... Continue Reading

For Jesus, Scripture wasn’t simply a collection of laws, stories, proverbs, and psalms. He read the Bible as a coherent narrative about who God is, who we are as human beings, and what God’s purposes are for the world. And he made the staggering claim that all of it, in some way, points to himself.... Continue Reading

We must also realize that a virtue, such as agape love, is not something you simply constantly do 24/7 to the point of exhausting yourself completely unless, as was Christ’s case, God calls you to empty yourself to the point of death in a particular moment. After all, the paragon of agape love, Jesus, demonstrated... Continue Reading

God’s Word could not be clearer. Our sexuality is created by God for His glory. If we love and fear God, if we have been made right with God through Jesus Christ, we will submit our sexuality to God. We will repent of sexual immorality and seek sexual purity according to God’s plan.   If... Continue Reading

If the offended God, who is holy and perfect, can extend His grace (His ill-deserved favor) to sinners like us, then what should we, the recipients of such grace, extend to those who have sinned against us? Are we full of His deep grace?   To be gracious is nice, attractive, and pleasant. But to... Continue Reading

Yet beneath the city’s beauty, signs of brokenness were visible everywhere—homeless people on the streets, refugee families with babies seeking assistance, and crowds gathering for riots and protests—reminding me that this is the world that “is” at the moment, beautiful, but also broken and deeply wounded by the cosmic plague of sin.  While shopping in... Continue Reading

The only hope any of us have of growing in our obedience, of being more like David when he lived by faith and not by sight, is not by trying to be like David in our own strength but rather, in reliance on the Holy Spirit, trusting in the Christ to whom David pointed and... Continue Reading

Rejecting a literal, historical Adam—or some of the details about him and Eve— undermines the authority of Scripture and has enormous theological and moral implications. The historical last Adam came to solve the real, historical problem caused by the historical first Adam.     In recent years, in an effort to harmonize the evolutionary story... Continue Reading