7 Reasons God Allows Sin to Remain in Believers
The Lord allows sin to remain in His people so they are stirred to the frequent exercise of prayer.
Through the indwelling sin that remains, Christ is glorified. While the enemy, sin, dwells in us, Christ’s grace and Holy Spirit are at work in us so that the enemy cannot overcome, domineer, or destroy us. Because of indwelling sin, we know that we cannot justify ourselves, but can only be justified by the perfect... Continue Reading
What Really Counts?
Without new birth, and faith at work through love, there is no justification by saving grace.
Even in gathered churches, hearers must be warned as well as being cheered; the Gospel is always relevant to ongoing life in church; flaws in practice may red-flag faulty profession; the best proof of a state of grace is Christ’s own progressive, inward, spiritual, loving, renewing, life in us. Sorry Introduction I recall a... Continue Reading
Who Do You Highly Esteem?
So just who are you awestruck by?
It is God who we should seek to please all the time. It is God who we should care greatly about disappointing or letting down. No human being can ever come close. Rock-star celebrities – in whatever arena – can only go so far as those we greatly admire and want to be like. All... Continue Reading
Do You Have Resurrection Courage?
The resurrection was the central hope of the apostles’ preaching.
The resurrection of Jesus began the final days. The resurrection was the central hope of the apostles’ preaching. In fact, the most quoted Old Testament verse in the New Testament is Psalm 110:1: The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” Why was this verse... Continue Reading
The Sons of the Prophets
The Sons of the Prophets were a reform movement from within Israel.
I think we should see our churches today as like the Sons of the Prophets: semi-monastic communities that interact with the wider culture, including the corridors of power when required, but largely do our own thing while living within it. We are, as Peter would have it, exiles even within the land (1 Peter 1).... Continue Reading
The Binding of Satan — Background and Introduction to the Controversy
Amillennarians understand the binding of Satan to be a present reality, while premillennarians see this scene as an entirely future event.
When viewed against the backdrop of redemptive history (culminating in Christ’s saving work), the binding of Satan is directly tied to the success of the missionary enterprise. Satan was bound when his power of deception over nations and empires was broken by Jesus’s death and resurrection. John is not referring to the absence of all... Continue Reading
Honour Your Dishonourable Father
If you have a dishonourable father, honour him by being willing to forgive him.
So don’t be bitter. Especially since what you think about your parents reveals what you think about God. If you’re bitter about your parents, then you’re not being grateful to God. Still, forgiving your dishonourable father isn’t the only way to honour him. The Bible says, “The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers... Continue Reading
The Parts We Leave Out
In the monotony of the ordinary it is easy to forget God’s perspective and purposes.
God is sovereign over every square inch of his creation, and so he is equally sovereign over square inch of our lives. Our building, our dreaming, our working, our sleeping, it all fertile ground for growing in faith and giving glory to God. We just have to learn to see it. Unless the Lord... Continue Reading
On Wolves, Sinners, & Social Justice Hypocrisies
What does our outrage and call-out/cancel culture really say about us?
God gives grace to the humble but opposes the proud. If we want to see real change in our world, it starts right here, with our own sin. Go down, this day, to your own house justified, first. This will renew our motivations together in what we are trying to accomplish when we feel the... Continue Reading
Love is Not Heavy-Handed
Those who refuse to seek forgiveness from others prove that they have not experienced forgiveness from God.
When Jesus tells how to restore relationships, he has laid a table of tenderness. He has established a context of gentleness. He has told of the necessity of a kind of healthy-self doubt that acknowledges how blind we can be to our own faults. He will soon go on to tell that we must be... Continue Reading
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