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Sanctification sometimes feels as though God is bringing about circumstances in life which will make us both very holy and very unhappy. But that isn’t how it really is. Sanctification is an ongoing struggle, a battle waged against sin and the flesh. But while the battle sometimes seems to be trench warfare, there also great joys that ... Keep Reading

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus Christ included fasting as a spiritual commitment for those who would follow Him. Jesus gave instruction on how we are to live as Kingdom citizens, and in   Matthew 6 He taught that giving, praying, and fasting were to be a part of a believer’s life: “When you give (v. 2)…, ... Keep Reading

That is one reason why adoption is such a beautiful thing: it is not the merit or worth or greatness of the orphan… it is the other way around! The orphan is helpless! The child’s situation is hopeless! The grace and generosity on display is that of the adopter! So it is with our adoption by God: all the countless merits of His character are on display in this act of adoption.... Keep Reading

One of the great truths of the Bible is that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. With the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Magi followed the light of the star that placed them with GPS precision at the location of the infant Jesus.  These wise men had been compelled to leave their distant land in pursuit of the new bo... Keep Reading

What is the evidence that a person has been truly converted? 2 Corinthians 5 tells us that a person who is genuinely converted is spiritually transformed. This person is a new creation, the old has passed -and is continuing to pass- away. One way that we see that is in the new heart: the person begins to have a completely different set of d... Keep Reading

When I was a freshman in high school, I had a football coach who was intense. Really intense. He had a mustache that resembled the look of a proverbial Viking which made him all the more intimidating. He was the kind of man who during his tour-of-duty in Vietnam spent his free time killing water buffalos with his 50 caliber machine gun. In ... Keep Reading

Last time, we established that conversion is our willing response to the gospel. In conversion, we sincerely repent of our sin and place our trust in Christ for salvation. Today, we'll look at repentance and faith in a little more detail.  Throughout the New Testament, sinners are urged to respond to the gospel- they are urged to repen... Keep Reading

It has been said that nothing drags more stubbornly than a sack of failures. Every one of us who has breathed the air of this world knows what failure is like in one form or another. Whether it is a missed free throw, a failed relationship, a business that went south, or a devastating moral disaster that has caused deep sorrow and collateral... Keep Reading

Conversion can be defined as our willing response to the gospel call, in which we sincerely repent of sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation. To think about conversion carefully, we’ll look at the necessity, nature, and evidence of conversion over the next few posts. The Necessity of Conversion Previously, we observed that ... Keep Reading

Some years ago media mogul Ted Turner suggested that we ditch the Ten Commandments and hold a contest on who could come up with a better set of guidelines. To put forward the idea of replacing God’s standard of righteousness, and the foundation of jurisprudence, with pithy progressive ideas is the epitome of what C.S. Lewis called &ldq... Keep Reading