What is sanctification? I think the place to begin answering that question is to consider that, as Christians, we are united to Jesus Christ for our salvation. We are united to him by faith, and it is by virtue of our union with him that we receive from God through Christ all the benefits of salvation. Of course, the chief benefit of that salvation would be our justification, that God forgives our sins and counts the righteousness of Christ as our very own. He imputes that righteousness to us. But no less important than justification is the grace of sanctification. Sanctification is the wo ..read more

  After instructing various members of Christ’s body, Paul exhorts them to “work heartily” in all they do. Why? Because they are “serving the Lord Christ” in these things.   Our work, whether it be the work of a mother at home or an employee on the job, is done in service to Christ. The end of all Christian labor is the glory of God.   We are motivated to work heartily for the Lord by a love for him that stems from him first loving us. This love of God (both for him and from him) motivates the Christian to work with enthusiasm and vigor; this love of God motivates the Christi ..read more

In counseling, there is a fear of sounding trite, using well-worn clichés, saying something everyone knows you’re “supposed” to say. Sometimes telling a couple in trouble that they need to pray can sound like that. “Pray for your wife… pray for your husband… pray with each other… pray about that…” can sound like, “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning.” But I want us to think about prayer differently. If we think about prayer as a mere formality, we are missing something powerful. If we don’t see how prayer fits into spiritual warfare, we will be weak, detached from God, and from eac ..read more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGClJu_caWI One of the most difficult doctrines for both Christians and non-Christians to grapple with sometimes is the doctrine of Hell. Many people wonder if the doctrine of Hell is just, if God is just to condemn sinners to Hell. Many people make the objection that the punishment doesn't fit the crime, that Hell is too extreme of a punishment for the sins of man. Other people will argue that since God is love, he would never send people to Hell. But there is this question that remains: "is God just to send people to Hell?" because Hell is a biblical concept ..read more

  Starting with the Wrong Question “Why should I attend the assembly of the saints if the pastor is teaching something I already know?” “Why should I attend Sunday night service if I can read my Bible at home?” “Why should I attend church if I don’t have a formal ministry to participate in?”   These questions flow out of another, more fundamental question people ask. “How will attending church benefit me?” For many, this is the chief question asked when deciding whether or not to attend church.   There are undoubtedly helpful answers to this question (see: the ordinary means of ..read more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoiN3ymmwHo The best way to understand what God's means of grace are is to turn to the book of Acts and to observe what the first Christians were doing after their salvation. In Acts 2:42 we read this: And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Of course the apostles' teaching would be essentially the equivalent of what we have today in the Scriptures, the Word of God. The breaking of bread is most certainly the Lord's Supper, not an ordinary meal but the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The ..read more

“And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God,” Eph. 6:17b You have heard it said that when in danger it is either “fight or flight.” Sometimes getting away from danger is the best option for our safety (Prov. 27:12). But in marriage, flight it is not an option. When our marriages are in danger there is only one option: fight! There are times when it seems that fighting for our marriage is a must, or else it will just wither and die. Sometimes a spouse may wander, spiritually or morally. It is time to fight. Sometimes my own heart may be cold. It is time to fight. On occasion, it may ..read more

One of the qualifications of an elder, perhaps the only distinguishing qualification from a deacon, is that the elder must be "able to teach." This is a translation of a single word διδακτικόν. The word is often translated in Lexicons as "able to teach," "skilled at teaching," "have the teaching ability of a schoolmaster," etc. EDNT translates it as "qualified to teach." These are all satisfactory English translations. The problem is that one needs to know what Paul is attempting to communicate or these English translations are distorted by modern conceptions of what constitutes "teaching." T ..read more

Pragma-what? Pragmatism is the philosophical idea that something is true if it works. Likewise, we might say it states that something is good if it works. Pragmatism is a results-driven way of viewing reality. If a particular course of action brings about desired results, then pragmatism states that that course of action was good and right. This style of thinking can be seen in the business world. For instance, if my toy company desires to make a larger profit, I may use cheaper components to make my toys. If this decision brings in a larger profit, then the decision was good and right accord ..read more

Why is there a Gospel? This is a question worth talking about. Notice I’m not asking “What is the Gospel?” That’s a great question, but it’s not what we’re talking about today. Why is there a Gospel? Two very basic reasons for you. Why is there a Gospel? Because we’re that bad. The good news is that Jesus Christ the Son of God came to die to save sinners from the judgment they deserved. One way we understand the depth of a problem is by seeing how big a solution was needed to overcome the problem. Imagine someone tells you this story: “My son was playing with the GI Joes in the toilet. Long s ..read more