Does Scripture give us a hint as to whether the world will end, and if so, how? Yes, it does. Of course, as you already know, it doesn’t tell us what everyone really wants to know, namely, when will it end? That is a mystery that God has chosen to keep hidden within his own heart. But... Continue Reading

Scripture gives us example after example of men who finished poorly. David’s adultery left his family in shambles. Solomon’s appetites turned his heart to idols. Asa fell prey to a prideful spirit that kept him from relying on the Lord when he grew ill. Hezekiah’s pride left the kingdom vulnerable. Moses’ moment of faithlessness kept... Continue Reading

From late in my high school days, my plan was always to have five children.  We would have a boy, a girl, a boy, a girl and a boy.  Each child would come two to three years apart.  We would start our family three years after we were married.   Not only that, I would be... Continue Reading

The loss of this distinction makes it more difficult for us to understand Paul on his own terms, in his setting. Further, it removes from us an important way to think about Scripture more broadly, about ourselves as image bearers (theological anthropology), about our eschatology, and about life in the here and now.   In part... Continue Reading

False teachers are not always argumentative or divisive; often they are some of the nicest people we know. They usually creep in not with scowls on their faces but with big smiles. They don’t normally creep into churches and teach obvious heresies and falsehoods; they usually subtly question the truth and teach partial truths, and... Continue Reading

A common interpretation of the passage suggests that a woman will desire control over her husband, but her husband will resist that control and respond in even more dominating ways of his own. John Piper says this. “When sin has the upper hand in woman, she will desire to overpower or subdue or exploit man.... Continue Reading

I am not just barely tolerated by God, but accepted in the beloved. He loves ME, and, yes, if I may say so, he likes me. And so let’s all put aside our doubts and our fears and run this race together, shall we? Let’s quit trying to lift ourselves up by tearing one another... Continue Reading

Our Father is perfectly wise and good and he knows how to uphold his children so that we persevere. That illness, that disappointment, that conflict, that setback, that failure—in God’s hands don’t we see these things bringing us to a new sense of our helplessness apart from the Lord, a new lease of life in... Continue Reading

All this to say, what John 3:16 tells us is that God sent his one and only Son in order that (i.e., with the intent that) every believer in him (i.e., every Christian believer) would not perish but have everlasting life. In other words, God’s plan of atonement was directed specifically at those who believe (a group coextensive with the elect, on... Continue Reading

In the absence of what the preposition “for” tells us about the death of Jesus, we have no hope. Delete what “for” implies and we have no gospel, no good news to share with a dying world. No other preposition conveys what “for” does. Not “to” or “with” or “beside” or “through” or “behind” or... Continue Reading