Are you overwhelmed by sin? Do you struggle repeatedly with the same sin, unable to see any significant progress against it? Has this sin entangled you for years? Is you conscience hounded by guilt? Grace to You has some biblical encouragement for you: First of all, consider that how you deal with the promptings of […]
Read More Overwhelmed by sin?Exercise, sleep, and diet — how do they relate to our sanctification? Over 40 years ago John Piper was confronted with this issue after realizing the relationship between patience and sleep. Basically, it is easier to be patient after a good night of sleep. So then, as he puts it, “Is patience a fruit of […]
Read More Piper on physical exercise and sanctificationToday should be cleaning day. Today should be the day that I clean out my backpack/laptop case. All those papers, files and notes that I have been carrying between the office and home for weeks need a permanent home outside my backpack (I envision a large, overflowing garbage can…). Over vacation I read ten or […]
Read More Cleaning daySome helpful articles from the last week: Jon Bloom explains why “God is Merciful Not to Tell Us Everything: “Can you imagine how the disciples might have felt if the Lord had explained to them that he would not assume his earthly reign for another 2,000-plus years, during which the Church would gradually and with […]
Read More Grab bagThe pain of parenting is not greatest the first time a child commits a significant and serious violation of trust. It is when that child persists in his sin for years and decades. The greatest trouble for a cancer patient is not the first chemo treatment. It is the ongoing chemo treatments, followed by radiation, […]
Read More Keep onNot only is the means of our salvation — justification — essential, but so is the process of our salvation, called sanctification. If one asserts (as is true) that justification is only by faith in Christ, then so must our sanctification be by faith in Christ. Or to state the same truth in the opposite […]
Read More Four questions about sanctificationIt is the work of the Spirit of God to use the Word of God to change the fleshly man into the man of God. I need Scripture for the transformation of my heart. So says Jonathan Edwards: Saturday, May 23. How it comes about I know not, but I have remarked it hitherto, that […]
Read More I need ScriptureSome helpful articles seen recently: John Newton, writing his troubled friend William Cowper, notes the hardness of the Christian life — and the grace of Christ: “For every day shows us some new thing in the heart, or some new turn in the management of the war against us which we were not aware of; […]
Read More Grab bagJohn Piper sets out to resolve the question of whether Paul and James contradict each other about the relationship between faith and works: Paul says in Romans 4:2,3: “If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘And Abraham believed God, and […]
Read More Faith and works: Are Paul and James contradictory?Author George Bernard Shaw went to visit fellow Brit and sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein on one occasion. As the artist showed the writer his studio, Shaw noticed a huge block of stone in the corner and asked Epstein what his intention was for the granite. “I don’t know yet. I’m still making plans.” “You mean […]
Read More A steadfast mindToday my Dad and I talked about the nature of the gospel and the reality that it must and will produce transformation in those who believe. There is no salvation without some form of transformation. William Mounce addresses the same issue in his recent blog post, “Is there a difference between ‘certainly’ and ‘never’?” As […]
Read More Implications of believingThere is much that might be said about sanctification, but here are a few key principles to remember about progressing in faith and growing in Christlikeness (derived primarily from 1 Peter 1:13-16): Sanctification is the natural outgrowth of the gospel and being saved by Christ. Sanctification is not a means of receiving grace but an […]
Read More Principles of sanctificationWhen communicating the gospel to unbelievers, it is tempting to make conversion the end of the conversation. That is, it is possible to be so concerned about the salvation of the individual that we ignore what happens to the convert after his salvation decision. But God cares about what happens to us after our salvation. […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (8/7/11) – SanctificationThis morning, Byron Yawn offered a compelling meditation on the gospel, complementing what I wrote yesterday about the gospel and sanctification. Here he asks, how will the gospel influence “good” people? Obviously, conversion brings a change, but salvation is not about the adjustment of one’s behavior from bad to good. Ultimately, Christianity is not about […]
Read More Preaching the gospel to good peopleIt is good to contemplate the glories of heaven. What lies ahead? What will it be like to be in the presence of and see the Savior? What joy might our newly redeemed from sin bodies be like (can you imagine no impulse to sin ever again)? What glories and grace will be revealed to […]
Read More John Stott on glory
Words of Grace 