How Do I Become a Godly Man?
1 Peter 1:13-16, Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (14) As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: (15) But…
Grow in Grace
One of the best known of all the references to grace in the Bible is Peter's summary statement at the conclusion of his second epistle, But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. Certainly, this…
Four Hundred Fifty To One
“…I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men” (I Kings 18:22) Odds and chances are concepts common to our current culture of gambling. Polling data and probability statistics are equally common to our present politics. Words such as likelihood…
Hannah: Commendable & Unusual
“…the name of the one was Hannah…” (I Samuel 1:2) Hannah stands spiritually above her contemporaries and counterparts even as Saul stood physically head and shoulders above the people of his day. Her quality of spirituality is both commendable and unusual. She demonstrated in her everyday life better Christian character…
Say What? A Terrible “Bible” Argument
I recently came across an argument by a professing Christian who was attempting to refute a fundamentalist (i.e. someone who believes the Bible) with what amounts to a full frontal assault on sola scriptura. It is a weak assault, but an assault nonetheless. It goes like this: “Christ Himself is…
3 Reasons to Think Biblically About Everything
We Christians are often guilty of “compartmentalizing”; that is, placing God in his little box while we--living in the “real world”--take care of our own problems and live according to our own devices. But the Bible advances a different view of reality. On this view, there is no ultimate significance…
The Grace of His Lips
Grace is the means by which I become a Christian, and faith is the mechanism that makes those means effectual. Put another way, faith is the hand that reaches up to God to access the grace I must have in order to get saved. By whom also we have access by faith…
How To Deal With Pride (Part 2)
Proverbs 16:17-25, The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul. Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. …
The #1 Way to Mishandle the Word of God
Perhaps one of the saddest trends in the church writ large is the misuse of Scripture to justify means apart from the intended truth of the text. Prosperity preachers often misuse the Scriptures to gain the financial support of their followers. “Emergent” preachers misconstrue the teachings of Jesus by boiling…
Giving Grace
Peter tells us that grace is a many-splendored thing. (I Peter 4:10)Thus far we have examined two aspects of grace, saving grace – the unmerited favor that results in my salvation, and helping grace – the unmerited favor that helps me to do what God tells me to do. In this post I…