Articles (Page 2)

Articles (Page 2)

In A Body

What did the writers of the New Testament mean when they claimed that Jesus Christ was resurrected? It certainly was not that he only appeared to be resurrected when in fact it did not happen. That is, resurrection to these writers did not mean that he appeared in some apparitional way, or some imaginary way, or some spiritualized way similar to the kind of thing a person might say about a deceased relative (i.e. “Mother is here with us whenever…

He Leads for His Sake

Part of our problem with God in the midst of difficulty is that we continue believing that our lives are all about us. And when we turn inwardly, becoming preoccupied with self, we quickly spiral into fear and anxiety. But, Psalm 23:3 says, “He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Here, the Lord frees us from our deadly self-centered trajectory though the reminder that God’s work in our lives is for his name’s sake. Your present…

From My Isolation: Two Questions Concerning COVID-19

Everybody is talking about it. I can’t stop thinking about it. I am writing this from my bedroom where I’ve been self-isolated, separated from my wife and child for four days, due to certain symptoms. The existence, spread, and devastating effects of COVID-19 over the last couple months are causing many people to ask a lot of questions.  The first question is, “Where is God in all of this?” The short answer is: where He’s always been. God is currently…

What About Untimely Death?

If God works all things according to the good of those who love Him (Rom 8:28), why do some believers suffer and die? It is helpful to remember when answering hard questions like this that it is always gain for a Christian to die (Phil 1:21). God will sometimes override the good thing of temporal provision to bring the better thing of going to be with him (Phil 1:23). This is not a surprise, even for the Christian, because no…

Don’t Just Tweet Your Proverbs: Lessons from Solomon

I don’t quite understand it. Everyone knows that King Solomon was the wisest man in the Old Testament. Yet, he had the most precipitous moral freefall of all the kings. The early Solomon loved God. “Now Solomon loved the Lord” (1 Kings 3:3). But the later Solomon was out of control morally: “Now Solomon loved many foreign women.” “Solomon held fast to these in love” (1 Kings 11:1,2). What went wrong? In fact, the marital alliances he made with the…

Closing With Christ

When modern evangelical churches seek to bring the unregenerate to Christ (and they should do so with passion), they often fall prey to a formula which produces disappointing results. The pattern runs something like this: Extending a public altar call Praying “the sinner’s prayer” Giving immediate verbal assurance that one is in Christ on the basis of the sinner’s sincerity and the accuracy of the wording of the prayer Immediate, or near immediate, public announcement that this person is now…

Walking to Death: Isaac and Jesus

How beautifully and intricately the Old Testament prefigures Christ. Today I read the following words concerning Abraham and Isaac walking to the mountain where Isaac was to be slain. Some, not all, believe this to be the same mount where the Temple was later to be built and close to the very place where Jesus was later crucified. “Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the…

If We Are Faithless

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself,” meaning, “He is faithful to judge you.” (2 Tim 2: 11-13; also see Rom 3:3-8 which clarifies further). This passage is often misunderstood. He is faithful or true to His character and His word to judge unbelief. This passage does not promise comfort for unbelief. He might deny you, but He won’t deny Himself, or His character. “Let God be true and every man a liar.” This is…

The Surpassing Worth of KNOWING Christ

Most do not understand the implications and ramifications of KNOWING Christ. It has a comparative value. Notice what one like Paul will forfeit to know Christ. I’m quoting only part of the long sentence, but it conveys what I want you to see: “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered…

The Guarantee of Holiness

“Say not that thou hast royal blood in thy veins and art born of God,” said puritan William Gurnall, “unless thou canst prove thy pedigree by daring to be holy.” There is no such thing as an unholy Christian (at least in any ongoing sense.) Can Christians commit any sort of sin? Yes. Can Christians repeatedly commit sin? Yes. Can Christians commit the worst of sins? Yes. But it is inconceivable that a person could be a Christian without holiness…

Disinterestedness

Disinterestedness. This compelling word is not about what you might expect. We have all seen (and been) the disinterested student, expressionless, gazing into some unknown blank space outside the classroom, waiting out the final eternal moments of the professor’s pedantic, sleep-inducing hum. That describes a use of the word, but not our use. What we wish to say with this word is immensely desirable; it was once employed to describe the best of conditions of the believer. The following intriguing…