Category: Sanctification
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Gospel-Driven Sanctification
by Jerry Bridges Early in my Christian life I heard someone say, “The Bible was not given to increase your knowledge but to guide your conduct.” Later I came to realize that this statement was simplistic at best and erroneous at worst. The Bible is far more than a rulebook to follow. It is primarily…
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What is Now True Because of Jesus
The Apostle Paul notably quipped: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Romans 1.16) The “gospel” is the message – the “Good News” – about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and of the Kingdom in and over which he reigns.. Paul…
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Shaped Through Suffering
“The suffering that comes to us is not random. It is not just the flow of chance events that careen along without a plan. It is not crazy coincidence. It is not haphazard and undirected. It is easy for us to see suffering as blind chance, or bad luck, or what others are doing to…
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Spiritual Chrysalis
In preparation for this past Sunday message from Galatians, I again marveled at the insight and passion of Martin Luther concerning our Union with Christ: “So far as justification is concerned, Christ and I must be so closely attached that He lives in me and I in Him. What a marvelous way of speaking! Because…
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Balance of Faith
A true, vibrant Christian faith is someting akin to a balancing act. In a post this morning, Tim Keller suggested: If we are going to grow in grace, we must stay aware of being both sinners and also loved children in Christ. Keller’s paradigm reminded me of something Edward Payson – “Praying Payson of Portland”…
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Killing Me Softly: Putting Sin to Death
In Colossians 3.5, the Apostle Paul commands: Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Based on the language Paul uses it is clear that sin is in our hearts, and it will not just go away on its own. We need…
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Looking Heaven-ward
“There are two methods which the Lord graciously adopts, in order to draw our heart away from this present world: The first is by setting before it the attractiveness and stability of “things above:” The second is, by faithfully declaring the evanescent [temporary] and shakable nature of ‘things of earth.’ … Now it is much…
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The Difference That Makes All the Difference
Francis Schaeffer, of his own testimony, writes: “I became a Christian once for all upon the basis of the finished work of Christ through faith; that is justification. The Christian life, sanctification, operates on the same basis, but moment by moment. There is the same base (Christ’s work) and the same instrument (faith); the only…
