Sunday Leftovers: the believer’s security

The security of the believer is the objective reality of what God has done to save believers and keep them saved. It is different from the believer’s assurance, which is his subjective experience of his salvation. A believer’s security is unchanging. Despite what he feels about his salvation, once his name has been penned in […]

Questions to Unbelief

If to Jesus for relief My soul has fled by prayer; Why should I give way to grief, Or heart-consuming care? Are not all things in his hand? Has he not his promise past? Will he then regardless stand And let me sink at last? While I know his providence Disposes each event; Shall I […]

When suffering

While most know the story of John Newton as the author of the hymn, “Amazing Grace,” most are unaware of all the variety of struggles he endured in his life. For instance, after believing God had called him to vocational ministry as a pastor, it was seven years before he was able to be ordained. […]

What is wisdom?

Huston Smith, senior professor of religion at Syracuse University, recounted his interaction with a famous author and professor: While I was teaching at MIT, Aldous Huxley joined us for a semester as distinguished visiting professor in the humanities. Needless to say, he was in demand all over New England, and my regard for him was […]

Christ, our Advocate

A couple of years ago I sat in a courtroom as a member of a jury serving a criminal case. On that day there were two lawyers in that courtroom serving as advocates — one as a defender of the man accused of a crime, and the other serving as both defender of the victim […]

How’s your heart?

John R. W. Stott recounts the letter written by Robert Murray M’Cheyne to the Rev. Dan Edwards on October 2, 1840 after Edwards’ ordination as a missionary: I trust you will have a pleasant and profitable time in Germany. I know you will apply hard to German; but do not forget the culture of the […]

Christ, our joy

A. W. Tozer: If men do not have joy in their hearts they will seek it somewhere else. If Christians are forbidden to enjoy the wine of the Spirit they will turn to the wine of the flesh for enjoyment. The human heart with its divine capacity for holy pleasure must no longer be allowed […]

Identifying the fool

Say the word “fool” and the image of one who is easily duped comes to mind: Larry, Mo and Curly, Barney Fife, Laurel and Hardy. Yet they, and the characters they portrayed were not so much fools as simpletons who were essentially harmless, innocent, and amusing. Not so with the fool. Scripture is clear that […]

Sin in the believer

John Murray: “There must be a constant and increasing appreciation that though sin still remains it does not have the mastery. There is a total difference between surviving sin and reigning sin, the regenerate in conflict with sin and the unregenerate complacent to sin. It is one thing for sin to live in us: it […]

Propitiation and God’s wrath

John writes that Jesus Christ Himself is the propitiation for the sins of the believer (1 John 2:2a). There has been much debate about the meaning of the word propitiation. Some have suggested that it is synonymous with expiation, meaning that through Christ God has canceled the debt of sin. Others have said it is […]

Sunday Leftovers: Fighting against sin

In 1 John 2:1, the apostle declares, “I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” He is telling his readers — believers in a group of churches in Asia Minor who had been taught by a group of heretics that sin was irrelevant and that one could be in good […]

How do you respond to Scripture?

You wake up in the morning, get your favorite cup of caffeine or a glass of orange juice, wander slowly to a comfortable chair, and pick up your Bible. You sit still for a few moments, trying to orchestrate a coherent thought or two about what you are about to do. You then offer a […]

Mental Illness, Psychiatric Drugs, and Counseling Education

Yesterday Heath Lambert wrote the first contribution to a series of articles on “Mental Illness, Psychiatric Drugs, and Counseling Education.” He made three observations and then drew three implications from those observations: God Made Human Beings Body and Soul Physical Treatments for the Body Are as Good as Spiritual Treatments for the Soul Psychiatric Medication […]

Weekly ebook specials from Crossway

Crossway regularly has very good prices on their ebooks. I discovered this morning that they have weekly specials that they make known through an email distribution on Tuesdays. This week the emphasis is on apologetic titles by K. Scott Oliphint, including a title one of my daughters is reading with me (slowly — but it’s […]

True repentance

Martin Luther: When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said “Repent,” He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. [#1 of his 95 Theses] Sinclair Ferguson: Biblical repentance…is not merely a sense of regret that leaves us where it found us. It is a radical reversal that takes us back […]