Who among us cannot see the difference between the ancient church and us? between the Apostles and us? or even between the Reformers and Puritans of several hundred years ago and us? It was as if a fire burned in their bosoms. Are we even aflame at all? They seemed driven by a holy passion and resolve. Are we motivated by a holy passion for God? They were as men at war with their sin and they strove for holiness as if empowered by a heavenly strength. Do not so many seem to be at home with much of their sin and content to do the minimum God requires? Continue reading “The missing ingredient”
What are you living for?
Each of us lives for something. We labor and strive every day and throughout our whole lives to get somewhere, to gain something, to move beyond where we are, to add to what we presently have. And whatever that thing is for which we live, it shapes our lives and deeply affects the decisions we make every day. In a real sense, it governs us. We’re enslaved to it. We’re driven by it. It preoccupies us. So what is it for you? What are you living for?
Continue reading “What are you living for?”
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Getting victory over your sin
Jesus tells us to watch and pray in order that we might not enter into temptation (Mt 26.41). So why does it so often happen that we watch and pray and then still find ourselves falling into sin? The answer is because we’re watching and praying against the sin and not against the temptation. We’re on guard against the sin but not against the temptations which give rise to it. Continue reading “Getting victory over your sin”
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Watch and pray against temptation
In Mt 26.41 the Lord tells His disciples–and us to “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Yet, how many go about careless of the snares about their feet, careless of the lying beauties before their eyes at every turn, careless of the lusts and lies of their own hearts so ready to lead them astray!
Continue reading “Watch and pray against temptation”
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No longer a slave to sin, Part 2
In yesterday’s post I explained from Rom 7 that in regeneration believers are freed from the dominion of sin as a law over them. They are now placed under the law of the Spirit of life, by which they delight in good (6.17-18) and desire to do good (7.18, 21). And the discovery of the opposition and resistance of sin in them when they would do good (7.21-23) is actually an encouraging sign of grace. Continue reading “No longer a slave to sin, Part 2”
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No longer a slave to sin
I want to explain what Paul means in Rom 7.21-23 by the believer finding sin to be a law within him. Many Christians struggle with the entire passage of Romans 7.7-25, and we can’t take time to deal with it as a whole. But if we can understand what Paul means by the law of sin, it’ll illuminate not only this passage but every letter Paul wrote. If this gets a little foggy at times, just keep reading. It will get clearer, and the payoff is gloriously liberating. Continue reading “No longer a slave to sin”
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Don’t try to keep the Law of God!
I’ll assume you’re familiar with the story of the rich young ruler in Mk 10.17ff. A young man of means come to Jesus asking “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” That sounds all well and good until Jesus responds, “You know the commandments…” “Did Jesus just tell this man he could get to heaven by keeping the Ten Commandments!?” Continue reading “Don’t try to keep the Law of God!”
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The wrong fuel
Man persists to do life without God, to press on with life and leave Christianity out of the equation. One denies that God exists and takes life by the horns while another denies the God that is–the God of the Bible–the God of Christianity–and adopts a religion that offers a god more palatable to his liking. Either way, the determination is the same: to do life without God. But how does this work out? It doesn’t. It can’t. Continue reading “The wrong fuel”
