Tag: growth in grace
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Dangers of Spiritual Resolutions
I’ve been there. Likely, so have you. The year begins with good intentions, and maybe even a strong start, only to fizzle days later. The Statistic Brain Research Institute reports that 75% of New Years Resolutions are broken within the first week of the New Year. No doubt most of the others go down soon…
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How to Preach the Gospel to Yourself
Paul, in Colossians 2.6, instructs us: “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him…” Simple words, but powerfully practical when unpacked. How did we “receive” Jesus? By faith and repentance – or by repentance and faith. We are not quite sure which comes first, but perhaps…
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Sailboat Spirituality
Do you sometimes have difficulty understanding or remembering who does what in our Spiritual maturation? We get that it is God who must make us alive to believe (regeneration), and that he gives us the gift of faith to believe, which leads to salvation (justification). But then what? Surely there is something we must do. …
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Gospel-Driven Sanctification
The first thing to remember is that we must never separate the benefits (regeneration, justification, sanctification) from the Benefactor (Jesus Christ). The Christians who are most focused on their own spirituality may give the impression of being the most spiritual but from the New Testament’s point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their…
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Grace of Repentance
Today is Ash Wednesday. That does not mean much to many in my theological circles. But for many other Christians it is a day that launches the Season leading to Easter – the Season of Lent. This day is designated Ash Wednesday because of an ancient practice of marking believers with ashes as a symbol…
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The Gospel in 6 Minutes
What is the Gospel? While in many ways this should be a simple question to answer, experience has taught me that many people are confused about what the Gsopel is. Most agree that the Gospel is something good. But they are confused about what particularly defines the Gospel. Some see the Gospel as merely that…
