There are times we get things backwards in the Christian life. Sometimes we think the worst thing that could happen to us is another trouble or trial. In reality, that difficulty or resistance may be a gift from God to grow our faith and experience more of His love. Wise Christians learn to stop resisting His providence and start increasing their h…

Having finished making his case that the only people who will spend eternity with God are those who have been justified by His grace, Paul now turns to revealing more of the blessings or benefits that come to every single person who has faith in Jesus. It is one thing to know about these benefits, and an altogether greater thing to live like they a…

God will defeat Satan, restore His people, and eliminate evil and death.

"Love" is a concept that is often misunderstood. We can get our definition of love from many places, but the only final and definitive definition of love comes from God Himself. By learning about God's love for His people, we will better understand what it means to love, and how we should go about loving one another.…

Rejoice because of the marriage you were made for.

We are meant for relationship with Jesus, not with a seductress who’s trying to draw us away and is doomed for judgment.

God's judgment against sin is certain, but those who trust in Jesus need not fear it — their sins were already judged when Christ died on the cross.

We are easily deceived by appearances. What might look to us to be an unmitigated disaster, might actually be a remarkable success. Not just in the sense of making something good happen out of a mistake, but more in the sense of the thing itself being truly good. All we need are eyes to see it.

Our salvation is characterized by both joy and judgment.

We are prone to evaluate spiritual things with all the wrong tools and criteria. We are impressed by things that are meaningless and miss the obvious things that are vital. We learn toward things that we can control and fuel our pride and we neglect the things that display our weakness and His glory. That is why we often judge colossal failures to …

One temptation that is constantly facing Christians is to forget who Jesus actually is. Wrong systems of belief can have a negative effect on us, causing us to diminish the significance of Christ’s person and work. In contrast to this, Colossians 1:15-20 calls us back to the majesty and supremacy of Christ. This passage shows us that Jesus is in a …

The stories of Christ’s victory, the spread of the gospel, and final judgment should shape how you live today.

God promised Christians would suffer. But that’s not God’s only promise. There are many more glorious promises God makes to every Christian - one of which is that Christians will surround their King in glory with no more suffering forever. And that promise will be realized because of all their King has done; and because of their union to their King…

Satan seeks to destroy Christian faith through both forceful government persecution and subtle cultural pressure to compromise, so stay faithful to the end.

All of us are prone to fear the wrong things. When we do, we often cower when we should be courageous. There is a way to live a courageous Christian life. It does not often involve huge exploits or massive sacrifices. More often than not, it means choosing to do what you know is true, when doing so looks scary.…

Satan is waging a war against God's people, but his defeat is certain, so stay faithful to the end.

In a time of judgment, hold fast to God and his word, and boldly share the gospel because resurrection’s coming.

The Lord’s Supper is a nourishing experience that communicates our rich blessings in Christ.

In this fallen world we will experience affliction, and we will desire to be delivered out of it. Our King experienced affliction too — and God delivered him out of it. He sought the Lord and perfectly feared the Lord, and the Lord delivered him. In fact, it is because Jesus sought and feared the Lord that we are able to be delivered. All that is l…

Many of us know that baptism is important. But even once you’ve done it, how is it relevant to daily Christian life?

God is directing his people to do something new and intimidating: To go in a way they have not passed before—a way that will involve difficulties, trials, and tests. God wants his people to know that when he directs them, he provides for them and ultimately delivers them.

If you don’t know Christ, repent because judgment is coming. If you do know Christ, rejoice because judgment is coming.

Good News should make you happy. Otherwise it would not be good! And the Good News of salvation - being justified by grace through faith, and not works - should make you particularly joyful. A child may not understand the meaning of a massive inheritance until they reach adulthood and have access to it. In like fashion, a Christian may not grasp th…

It is easy to be afraid of what will happen in the future- especially when faced with suffering. It is a lot harder to take our eyes off our fears and our suffering and trust our God. Psalm 56 helps us to trust God, and it reminds us that we don’t need to be afraid, for we already know what our future holds.…

God will preserve his own people, and they will enjoy his protection and presence forever.

It is always interesting to see which questions God deems the most important to answer. Many times we come to the Bible with queries we consider of utmost importance. God knows the questions behind our questions and always tells us what we actually need to understand. There are three questions answered in this passage. Each of them fills out the an…

Expect to suffer in this world, and put your hope in Jesus.

The Lord is more concerned for His glory than your good. That becomes obvious when you unpack this passage. The other thing that becomes obvious is that He loves His people so much! In many ways, this particular paragraph pulls together the entire Bible and explains how it is God is able to save anyone… and remain God!…

Jesus Christ is the only worthy Saviour who fulfills God's redemptive plan, inviting believers to worship Him as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Lamb who conquers sin and death.

Today we launch into the second big section of Romans. I. The reason for the Gospel: universal guilt (1:18-3:20) II. The heart of the Gospel: justification by faith (3:21-4.25) As we do, we begin to unpack a paragraph of the Bible that some have viewed as the most important information of all. For this paragraph is answering the question of who can…

Our greatest need is to know God, love God, delight in God, and make much of God.

It is easy to move on from the preached Word without changing how we live. James called that being a “hearer only” of the Word. In an effort to capitalize on what we have seen in Romans so far, let’s consider seven obligations laid on us, now that we have done the work of understanding the text. How should we then live? That is our question!…

Living toward God’s promises encourages us to step out in faith, trusting that God can transform our ordinary acts of obedience into extraordinary eternal impacts, even when circumstances seem challenging.

When was the last time you were in awe of the glory of Christ? As 2024 is coming to an end and we celebrate the new year, may we catch a glimpse of Jesus' glory from this passage, and be utterly amazed and transformed.

God works through sacrificial love and seemingly impossible circumstances to bring about redemption through a baby who is born in Bethlehem.

You will never understand what it means to be saved until you grasp what you must be saved from. The facts of our condition are dire. We are far worse than most of us could imagine. If it were not for God’s Word we would never believe how utterly helpless we were to find our way to God. This only makes His gracious salvation all the more beautiful.…

We are helpless outsiders until Jesus, our divine Redeemer, pays the price to give us new life and his love.

After all his personal evangelizing of his fellow Jews, Paul had a good idea of what their objections would be to trusting in Jesus. First on that list was their belief that things like possessing the Law, being circumcised, and even just being Jewish, would guarantee them entrance into heaven, regardless of how much they sinned. This was a misplac…

In anxious times, count on God’s people and God’s providence.

While Paul is debunking the silly idea that some people get a free pass to heaven (like the Jewish hypocrite he is arguing against), he also lets drop a fascinating insight into the relationship of God to every human ever created. Ever wonder why you feel bad for doing certain things? Curious why you have these inner conflicts in your mind about wh…