In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” The Greek word for “old” in our text is ἀρχαῖα. It’s where we get the English word “archaic.” I’m not trying to read that back into the text … Read more
Men will either sin or not sin—erupt with anger or remain in control—based on what is in them already, not what is introduced from the outside. It’s not your kid’s fault that you got angry; it’s not your wife’s fault you’re irritable; nor is it that scantily dressed woman’s fault that you lusted. You sin against our holy God because you want to sin—and the environment around you simply gives you an excuse.
Enjoying communion with your local church is truly a blessed time. It is not only a sober and convicting remembrance of our Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection, but it is also a joyous celebration concerning our salvation and His return (1 Cor. 11:26). This means of grace is truly an essential ordinance to our worship … Read more
Recently, we’ve been walking through Romans 1:18-32 for Sunday School. This passage teaches us that all men, women, boys, and girls know God is real because He has shown it to them. But they deny this reality and suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And then Romans 1:21 says, “For although they knew God, they did … Read more
Since God is unchangeably holy, His hatred of sin has not changed. God will always have an intense hatred for sin. One day, Christ will return to judge the nations, and those who have not bowed the knee to the Lord of hosts will suffer His great wrath. Revelation 14:19–20 says, So the angel swung … Read more
Today’s post has my name on it, but I didn’t write it. Rather, we turn to our friend John Bunyan to consider his exhortations on why believers ought to depart from iniquity. This comes from Bunyan’s work, A Holy Life, The Beauty of Christianity. Here are Bunyan’s words on why Christians must depart from iniquity: … Read more
George Alvarado, Michael Coughlin, and Chuck Ivey discuss what it means to submit to the government or practice civil disobedience. Is there a balance? Does submission to the government mean you’re a statist? If you call out the injustices and practice civil disobedience, does that mean you are not practicing Romans 13? How do we … Read more
We’ve been walking through Genesis 4:6-7 in these posts and today we want to look at our response. The ball is in Cain’s court so to speak. How will you respond Cain? Sin’s desire is for you, but you must rule over it. Be killing sin or it will be killing you. We know how … Read more
Last time, we looked at God’s rebuke of Cain and the exposure of his sin (Genesis 4:6-7). In this post, we want to dive a bit deeper into a better understanding of sin. In this gracious rebuke from the Lord, we also learn some important truth about sin and a warning about sin. Sin is … Read more
In his work on the Mortification of Sin, that is, the killing of sin, John Owen (1616-1683) writes: “Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Be killing sin or … Read more
Michael interviews Brad Weber of Theology Nights @ http://theologynights.com/ Theology Nights offers Reformed theology, articles, teaching, videos, and podcasts. In this episode, Brad gives us insight into his former life of addiction and what drives him to do what he does today. Brad is an elder at Youngtown Metro Church. Enjoy this discussion between brothers who … Read more
Michael interviews Dr. Dustin Benge of Southern Seminary about the two sermons he gave at the 2019 Cruciform Conference concerning the cruciform gospel. Dustin preached from Titus 3 and posed 4 questions to consider: Where does a cruciform gospel start? What does a cruciform gospel exalt? What is the message of a cruciform gospel? And … Read more