I was born weak. Though I bear my father’s last name, I bear a much stronger resemblance to my mother’s side of the family. The people on her side tend to live long and relatively healthy lives, but they are physically and constitutionally weak—weaker, at least, than the hardy Challies folk. I was born again…
God promises grace to battle sin and to overcome sin. We believe that God gives that kind of grace to his people. This is not something we deserve; it is not something he owes us, but he gives it anyway. It is undeserved, the overflow of his love for us. And we long for that…
Sometimes it is good to have a bit of assistance in praying. Prone to Wander is a wonderful new collection of prayers inspired by The Valley of Vision. Last week I shared a prayer from that book that called upon God to Help Us Pray. Today I want to share a second prayer that calls…
This is the nineteenth installment in a series on theological terms. See previous posts on the terms theology, Trinity, creation, man, Fall, common grace, sin, righteousness, faith, pride, election, revelation, atonement, adoption, sanctification, incarnation, idolatry, and the church. In a lecture titled “The Meaning of Holiness” (video), R. C. Sproul identifies two major scriptural meanings…
This is the fifteenth installment in a series on theological terms. See previous posts on the terms theology, Trinity, creation, man, Fall, common grace, sin, righteousness, faith, pride, election, revelation, atonement, and adoption. The concept of sanctification is found throughout Scripture and in reference to a variety of subjects. For example, God sanctifies the seventh…
The Apostle Paul was fond of using athletic metaphors in his call for distinctly Christian lives. Romans 12:1 is just one example: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” But there is an…
This is the eighth installment in a series on theological terms. See previous posts on the terms theology, Trinity, creation, man, Fall, common grace, and sin. First and foremost, righteousness is an attribute of God: “For the LORD is righteous” (Psalm 11:7). The fact that God is righteous means that he “always acts in accordance…
I guess every preacher has to take on Isaiah 6 (Isaiah’s vision of God’s throne room) at one time or another. My opportunity came this past Sunday. It is such a beautiful and powerful text and it was a great pleasure to just soak in it for an entire week. Don’t worry! I am not…
One of the more interesting sections of dialog in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress has Christian and Hopeful discussing the danger of backsliding, of falling away from what had the appearance of spiritual life and growth. That dialog, drawn from the tenth stage of Christian’s journey, is important and instructive. Bunyan presupposes that such people…
There are not too many stories from the life of Jesus that made their way into all four of the biblical accounts of his life. Each of the authors writes for a different purpose or to a different audience and this leads them to different emphases. Yet one of the stories that each of them…
Once again, don’t run away from this blog post just because it’s got a bit of a Puritan flavor to it. I mentioned last week that I’ve been running through John Owen’s Overcoming Sin and Temptation and trying to distill each chapter to its essence–to a few choice quotes that capture the flavor of what…
We have just a few chapters left in our reading of R.C. Sproul’s classic book The Holiness of God. This week we come to chapter 9 which is titled, “God in the Hands of Angry Sinners,” a clear play on the title of Jonathan Edwards’ most famous or notorious sermon. Summary I hope no one…
Today we continue with our readings in R.C. Sproul’s classic work The Holiness of God. This week we come to chapter 8, “War and Peace with a Holy God.” I know that quite a few of you continue to read along; I trust you’re enjoying this rather amazing book. Summary As with last week, I…
I came across this bit of writing on Facebook today and quite enjoyed it. It stands as a good challenge at any age, but perhaps particularly in an age of Christian celebrity. It was written by George D. Watson, a Wesleyan minister who did the bulk of his ministry in the early 20th century. If…
Late this afternoon we heard from Thabiti Anyabwile on “Cosmic Treason: Sin & the Holiness of God.” He began by joking that his name is Swahili and roughly translated means “suffering for Jesus in the Cayman Islands.” And then he got down to business. He read Numbers 25 and divided his exposition of this chapter…
Crimson is a word, a color, that figures prominently in the Christian faith. The Bible teaches that each of us is born into this world encrimsoned, covered with the blood required of those who sin against God. And without further blood, further encrimsoning, there can be no remission of this sin. Blood cries for blood…
“Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18) Today those of us who are engaged in this project to read some great Christian classics together are going to be looking at the sixth chapter of J.C. Ryle’s Holiness. You can read more about this effort here:…
“Mighty indeed must that foe be who even when crucified is still alive!” Today those of us who have embarked on a project to read some Christian classics together are going to be looking at the first chapter of J.C. Ryle’s Holiness. You can read more about this effort here: Reading the Classics Together. Last…
The Introduction to J.C. Ryle’s Holiness This is the first of what I hope will be many opportunities to read the classics together. You can read more about this effort here: Reading the Classics Together. Today we start into an 8-week study of J.C. Ryle’s Holiness. Written in 1879, this book has stood the test…
A recent article at Psychology Today is getting a lot of attention. I noticed it at a couple of blogs and then saw it come across the wire at Digg, so it is being widely read. The article offers “Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature.” In the preamble the authors, Alan S. Miller and…