The Lord Opened a Door for Me … So I Shut It
Paul longs for unbelievers to be saved, but he also longs for Christians to stand firm in Christ until the end. Both are important.
Perhaps our ministry plans don’t necessarily have to be made without any consideration of our personal wellbeing. It’s hard to operate when there is something causing our spirit not to be at rest (2:13). The making of ministry choices is clearly more complex—and God more gracious—than needing to choose the path that is hardest for... Continue Reading
Jesus and the New Testament
Jesus told His apostles in advance that He was going to give them more revelation in the future. This revelation would be mediated through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’s promise is not that the Holy Spirit would help the disciples to understand truth they had already received. Rather, the Spirit would guide them into the truth—all of it—that Jesus wanted them to have but that they were not yet ready to bear. In other words, these verses are about receiving truth (new revelation)... Continue Reading
Forget the 99 Shades of Grey – We Need to Again Affirm Truth
A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed.
In an age that denies truth and absolutes, Christians must resist the siren call to join with it in its deep-seated scepticism. There is real objective truth out there which is knowable. As Francis Schaeffer used to say, we may not have exhaustive truth, but we do have true truth. But more and more Christians today... Continue Reading
Are There Great Men of God?
When we consider “great men of God,” we should instead refer to them as “sinful men who were greatly used by the great God.”
If all people sin—even Joseph—there are no great people. Some may object that Joseph and others like him are great by comparison. That is, they are greater than Haman or the Pharisees. This is a faulty argument. It is no more logical to say that a rotten apple is fresh just because it is less... Continue Reading
Jesus Christ the God-Man
According to Scripture, is both. Jesus is both limited in His humanity and infinite in His deity as Lord over creation.
God grafted human nature into His divine Son. The result was not a hybrid demigod like Hercules or some kind of Superman. Rather, both the divine nature and the human nature retained their individual, essential properties. But now man was joined to God in one living Person, Jesus Christ. In Him, believers draw life from... Continue Reading
Dead Men Talking – Part 6
Dead guys remind us about the power of the gospel and in so doing, lead us to the cross.
May you learn from them, be inspired by them, and be challenged by them. When you run across a new name, dig in and learn something new about one of the great heroes of the Christian faith. But ultimately, my encouragement is this: Follow the dead guys to the cross. The cross is where they... Continue Reading
Shepherds and Saints
Those set apart as elders must be constantly on guard against pride and arrogance.
An elder in Christ’s church must be a man of spiritual maturity and godly character. His role is that of shepherding the flock in the model of the chief Shepherd (John 10; Heb. 13:20-21). He carries out that role in three ways: by ministry of prayer and the Word and by personal example. Peter stresses that... Continue Reading
True Renewal – Holiness of Living
It is a natural human desire to want to see someone we love or someone famous or powerful; how about our desire to see God?
John Murray wrote in his book Principles of Conduct, “And the import is that the holiness of God demands holiness on the part of those who enter into such a covenant relation with Him.” Therefore, any desire to see or know the Lord must be accompanied by the wiliness to be holy. John Murray further... Continue Reading
Be Honest About Your Perspective on Christ
There is a difference between a believer who sometimes questions, and a true skeptic.
Do not be satisfied to live in the shell of Christianity with all the forms and religious talk without truly believing. Remember what Jesus said, “You are my disciples if you abide [remain] in what I have said. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8 ). Live... Continue Reading
Neither Despair Nor Blind Optimism
Success for the church is faithfulness to God and remaining steadfast in Christian hope.
A well-grounded Christian hope perseveres through all the confusion going on in our culture. Live each day to the glory of God by displaying this hope to those around you. Love God, enjoy him each day, care for your family, care for your neighbor, and rest in Christ. It’s possible to be so caught up... Continue Reading
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