The forgiveness of God

Stephen Charnock: If God did delight in the death of Christ, it was not surely simply in his death; for could a father delight to tear out the bowels of his son? The afflictions of his people go to his heart; much more would the sufferings of his darling. God had more delight in forgiveness […]

Pardon from sin

Stephen Charnock: [When a sinner is pardoned] the greatest evil is taken away, sin, and the dreadful consequents of it. Other evils are temporal, but those know no period in a doleful eternity. There is more evil in sin, than good in all the creatures. Sin stripped the fallen angels of their excellency, and dispossessed […]

Rescued

Here is a story of rescue and redemption from the former senior pastor at Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Skip Ryan (he’s now an assoc. pastor there). It’s worth 15 minutes of your time to see how God redeems sin for our good and His glory: HT: Dane Ortlund.

Comforting words: “You are a sinner”

“Luther taught that every time you insist that I am a sinner, just so often do you call me to remember the benefit of Christ my Redeemer, upon whose shoulders, and not upon mine, lie all my sins. So, when you say that I am a sinner, you do not terrify, but comfort me immeasurably.” […]

Standing against temptation

A father and son were on an errand to the grocery store for a loaf of bread. Of course the bread aisle was in close proximity to the donut case and very quickly the inevitable request was voiced. And that dad, being a “dad,” allowed him to get one. While they were getting into the […]

This isn’t hard to understand

Some books of the Bible are difficult to understand. In some Epistles, the flow of thought is somewhat obscured by complex structure. In some historical narratives, there are accounts of strange events that leave us wondering how to interpret and apply them (see Judges 19, for one example). In many of the prophets there are […]

Why God forgives

The sin of all men is great. We may choose to compare ourselves with others and suppose that we are “not so bad,” but set against the firm criteria of perfection (Mt. 5:48), all men are desperately sinful. There are no exceptions to that statement. The psalmist underscores that truth when he says, “If You, […]

Protect yourself

To protect itself from aggressors, the Texas horned lizard (more commonly known as the horny toad) uses some unique defense mechanisms, as the Smithsonian reported a few years ago: When the creature is threatened by a large predator, it runs through an elaborate behavioral repertoire. First, the lizard will hiss and swell its body with […]

What is sin?

This post is part of a series of posts on the basics of systematic theology. Why do we need theology, and what are the essential truths to know about each doctrine? All the posts are archived under the category “Theology 101.” Sin is defined as a transgression of the law of God — a […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles spotted recently: The timeline for the transition between John Piper and Jason Meyer as pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church has changed again. Read the plan and rationale from John’s pen. Addressing the same theme that I did in the post, “Satan and sin — two defeated foes,” Mike Riccardi writes about “Freed from […]

Satan and sin — two defeated foes

Many believers live day-to-day in discouragement and even despair over their sin. They erringly believe that they cannot escape their sin. They rightly believe that there is forgiveness and cleansing for every sin, but they wrongly believe that their sinful habits and patterns cannot change. In Colossians 2, Paul articulates two glorious truths for the […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from the last week: Here are two helpful resources on Mormonism: Russell Moore writes how “How Christians Should Engage Latter-day Saints.” The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary hosted a panel discussion on the topic, “The Mormon Moment? Religious Conviction and the 2012 Election” (audio | video) George Lawson writes that, “Reliable Source Reveals […]

Two more thoughts about the conscience

Following this morning’s post on clearing our conscience, here are two further considerations: Kris Lundgaard, in his excellent book The Enemy Within (still available for only $2.99 on Kindle) writes: The wisdom of the believer is to learn to listen to the voice of the Spirit’s resistance, no matter how faintly it may echo in […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from the last week: Chad Hall identifies “Three Reasons We Should Not Share the Gospel” — insecurity, arrogance, and narcissism. “What do all of these poor motivations have in common? Each one places the needs and interests of the evangelist ahead of the needs and interests of the other. Evangelism should always […]

Good news

There’s good news. And then there is the best news. This is the best news about the good news (from Romans 6). How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (v. 2) Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead […]