Four Common-Sense Reasons Why Your Prayer Life is Weak
Being able to pray to the Living God is a fantastic privilege. But having a healthy prayer life can be hard to develop, maintain, and keep fresh over time. Prayer takes discipline. It also takes wisdom. And if you want wisdom for living the Christian life, read the Book of James. It is like the […]
How Do We Know That Saving Faith Requires No Works on Our Part?
Recently I wrote a blog entitled, “Understanding Saving Faith Is Not Like Breaking the Enigma Code.” I argued that saving faith is simply being convinced that the Lord Jesus Christ guarantees everlasting life that cannot be lost to all who believe in Him for that life. You can see that blog here. J. H. read […]
You Can At Least Put Up With One Another (Ephesians 4:2)
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love (Eph 4:1-2; cf. Col 3:13). “You don’t have to like each other, but you do have to stop hitting each other!” That’s […]
“If You Don’t Get Out of the Relationship, You Will Go to Hell!”
Dr. John Piper is a famed theologian and retired pastor. But he has made some rather shocking statements for a 5-point Calvinist. The title of this article is one of them. He told those words to a young woman who had grown up on the mission field and who was living with a young man […]
Is Inviting People to Become Friends of God a Good Way to Evangelize?
Shawn found out that one of my former seminary professors was speaking at a church near DFW airport. I went to the church’s website and found out that they have an interesting way to evangelize. They have a heading called Friendship with God. They invite you to click to find out how to become a […]
How Much Glory Do You Expect in Christ’s Kingdom? How the Word Glory Is Used in Romans 8
The noun glory occurs sixteen times in the Book of Romans. The verb glorify is used an additional five times in Romans. Many of these twenty-one uses refer to the glory of God (1:23; 3:7, 23; 4:20; 6:4, etc.) and to glorifying God (1:21; 15:6, 9). I would like to narrow down the topic a […]
Why Many Puritans Died Without Assurance
The Puritans remain immensely popular. But reading them can be dangerous for your assurance. R. T. Kendall explains why. Kendall went to Oxford to study the Puritans and was surprised by how they lacked assurance of their salvation. He explains it in the introduction to his book Grace: I went to Oxford in 1973 to […]
The Finished Work of Christ Proves His Promise of Life Is True! (John 19:28-31)
There are at least five other major scenes at the cross before this one. I start here because Jesus had said that He would rise on the third day. Day one started when He died on the cross, which is why we start there. In the Jewish way of thinking, a part of a day […]
How Can Perfect People Feel Regret?
The very concept of gaining eternal rewards in Jesus’ future kingdom is foreign to many Christians, but it’s certainly not foreign to the Bible, which repeatedly teaches about the importance of rewards. “[L]ay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” Jesus urged (Matt 6:20). And Hebrews says God “is a rewarder of those who diligently seek […]
You Aren’t Living for Rewards? See a Shrink!
Receiving eternal life is a free gift, obtained by faith in Christ alone for it. Our good works have nothing to do with receiving eternal life but are important because they will result in rewards in the kingdom of God. However, many believers do not live their lives in light of these rewards. Why not? […]