In Colossians 3:11, Paul says (echoing v. 4 — “Christ, who is our life…”), “Christ is all, and in all.” That is, Christ is all-sufficient. He is everything a believer needs and He is everything to that believer. And He is in all believers equally — no one gets an extra dose of Jesus. His […]
Read More Christ is allJust because I have life this moment does not mean that I am guaranteed life in any future moment. For the believer, this is a comforting statement because he can be happy with life here and he is happy with life in eternity (which is Paul’s point in Phil. 1). For the unbeliever, this is […]
Read More The uncertainty of the continuance of lifeThe release of one book has produced a massive (and needed) output of words in the blogosphere on the topic of hell. I’ve been planning to write something myself (perhaps tomorrow morning). For now, this 8-minute excerpt from a message by R. C. Sproul is a sober reminder of the profound work Christ accomplished by […]
Read More The curse of God and the grace of ChristJohn Stott reminds us that there is value in reading passages that appear to be for unbelievers only (passages like Eph. 5:1-6). His words are another way of saying that we need the gospel every day. We live dependent on gospel truth every moment of our lives: It would be easy for Christians to speed-read […]
Read More It’s worth readingA man must be lost before he can be found by the grace of Christ. One must be in desperate straights before he might be saved by God’s salvation. A man must be cognizant of and convicted by his unworthiness before God will redeem his sin and use that man for God’s own glory. A […]
Read More One must be lostContinuing the thought from yesterday’s sermon of Paul’s presupposition that salvation will always produce transformation, Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote this: …regeneration is the profoundest change in the world, and that therefore we must always keep this in the forefront of our minds. A Christian is not just a man who has decided to be a little […]
Read More Regeneration is the profoundest changeYesterday I interacted with two stories relating to the nature of saving faith. When a man is genuinely saved, the fruit of that salvation will be evidenced in his life. That is, empowered by the Holy Spirit, he will be changed so that while prior to salvation he could do nothing good, now after salvation […]
Read More Faith and worksFaith in God is not enough to save a man. Two related stories that came across my computer screen this morning authenticate that statement. The USA Today references this morning a survey by Lifeway Christian Resources about the so-called faith of young adults (age 18-29). In this study, among those who identified themselves as “Christian:” […]
Read More Religious theists and saving faithThe word “salvation” means “rescue.” And in this rescue the believer is rescued from two different objects. He is rescued from the wrath of God — in a very real sense, salvation is not just to God, but also from God — from His wrath. But the believer is also rescued from the ongoing effect […]
Read More Saved from what?While putting together my thoughts for yesterday’s leftovers, I received an email blog post from Desiring God where John Piper revealed, “My happy confession of having no merit.” A short piece, it reinforces what we’ve been saying all the way through these first chapters of Ephesians — the merit of our salvation is only Christ. […]
Read More No merit of our ownThe truth of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone has been a part of the church now for almost 500 years. You would think we would understand it with clarity. It’s been repeated and explained over and over in church after church. Countless sermons have been preached about it. Innumerable books […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (8/16/09)We are saved by grace. We are undeserving of it, yet recipients of God’s benevolent love all the same. In Ephesians, Paul also includes the prepositional phrase, “by faith” as a component to the process of salvation. That is, faith is not the cause of our salvation — grace through the work of Christ is […]
Read More Saved by grace through – how much? – faithA. W. Pink: The nature of Christ’s salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Savior from hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire who have no desire to be delivered […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Salvation (Pink)Thabiti Anyabwile, What is a Healthy Church Member?: Conversion is the radical turn from an enslaved life of pursuing sin to a free life of pursuing and worshipping God. Conversion is a change of life, not merely a decision. This change is not a matter of moral rectitude, self help or merely behavior modification. It […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Salvation (Anyabwile)Jonathan Edwards (The End for Which God Created the World; in God’s Passion for His Glory): …the glory of God is the ultimate end of the work of redemption, which is the chief work of providence towards the moral world, as is abundantly manifest from Scripture. For the whole universe is put in subjection to […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Redemption (Edwards)
