Sermon: God’s Righteousness Revealed (Pt. 4)

“God’s Righteousness Revealed” (Pt. 4) Romans 3:25-26 February 12, 2017 It doesn’t take much for even a believer in Christ to become aware of his past sins and the shame and guilt associated with those sins. Though the sin might have been confessed both to the Lord and the one we sinned against, too often […]

Can we talk too much about justification?

For several weeks we have considered the passage in Romans that one writer has called “the most important paragraph ever written.” It is Romans 3:21-26 and it is perhaps the most concise explanation of the doctrine of justification — how unrighteous men are declared to be righteous before God. Taking four weeks to look at […]

Sermon: God’s Righteousness Revealed (Pt. 3)

“God’s Righteousness Revealed” (Pt. 3) Romans 3:24-25 February 5, 2017 This is the third week that we’ve looked at this passage that one commentator said “is possibly the most important single paragraph ever written.” [Morris, 173.] Why are we taking so much time and going so slowly through this passage? Because this may be the […]

Salvation and Sola Fide

In his great text on the doctrine of justification, Paul notes that it is acquired only by faith — “the righteousness of God [is] through faith in Jesus Christ.” He will reiterate the necessity of faith several times in this passage: God displayed Jesus Christ “publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith” (v. […]

Sermon: God’s Righteousness Revealed (Pt. 2)

“God’s Righteousness Revealed” (Pt. 2) Romans 3:21-23 January 29, 2017 Sometimes things are just not as they seem. Three years ago a 100-year-old woman only known by her first name, Eisha, died in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, leaving behind an estate worth approximately $800,000. Her wealth included gold coins, jewels, and a real estate portfolio that […]

Sermon: God’s Righteousness Revealed (Pt. 1)

“God’s Righteousness Revealed” (Pt. 1) Romans 3:21-22 January 22, 2017 Martin Luther had a problem. Listen to his words: “I greatly longed to understand Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in my way but that one expression, ‘the justice (righteousness) of God,’ because I took it to mean that justice whereby God is […]

Sermon: “You Must Be Born Again”

“You Must Be Born Again” John 3:1-8 July 31, 2016 (Communion Sunday) The book of John is all about belief and faith — John uses the verb “believe” 98x in his gospel. He asks questions like, “how does one come to believe in Christ?” And, “how does a believer in Christ live and act?” The […]

The biblical basis for God’s wrath

There are several common objections to the wrath of God: The wrath of God is inconsistent with God’s love The wrath of God is inconsistent with God’s forgiveness The wrath of God is unfair/unjust The wrath of God isn’t taught in the New Testament Yet Scripture consistently affirms that both the Old Testament and the […]

Sermon: The Greatness of the Gospel (Pt. 2)

“The Greatness of the Gospel” (Part 2) Romans 1:16-17 August 16, 2015 A few years ago an investment company produced a commercial advocating using their services to accumulate enough wealth for retirement — the commercial showed a couple sitting on a couch being bounced up and down from behind by their hosts in an attempt […]

The saving gospel

The gospel is powerful to save. Both the Old and New Testaments provide ample illustrations of the saving power of God. While the Old Testament often stresses the temporal salvation of God’s people (e.g., Ex. 14:13; 15:2), there are other demonstrations also of God’s power to spiritually save sinners (e.g., Ps. 77:14-15; Is. 12:2; 52:7, […]

Sermon: The Greatness of the Gospel (Pt. 1)

“The Greatness of the Gospel” (Part 1) Romans 1:16-17 August 9, 2015 I have in my closet some important letters — Raye Jeanne wrote them to me when we were dating and not yet married. Over the 13 months that we dated before marriage I suppose I have 100 or more letters (hard copies — […]

God forsaking God

Echoing the theme expressed by Heath Lambert in yesterday morning’s sermon, John Flavel wrote this several centuries ago: Did God really forsake Jesus Christ upon the cross? Then from the desertion of Christ’s, singular consolation springs up to the people of God… Christ’s desertion is preventive of your final desertion. Because He was forsaken for […]

Good Friday — “Father, forgive them”

It is hard to forgive; it is harder to forgive one who intentionally sins against you. I know of no story that better illustrates that statement than the account of Kevin Tunell. On New Year’s Day, 1982, 18-year-old Susan Herzog was killed in a car accident when her car was struck by one driven by […]

How gracious is God’s grace?

A number of years ago I cleaned out and rearranged my bookshelves and in the process found a number of empty binders that I was no longer using. Seeing this accumulation of treasures, my then 6-year-old daughter asked me for them so she could “play school.” [Now she teaches English at a middle school in […]

In Heaven…

There are a great many conceptions and misconceptions of what Heaven will be like. One aspect of Heaven that is often overlooked is the eternal unfolding of God’s plan of redemption to the redeemed: “and [He] raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that […]