Sanctification is the setting apart of the Christian from the world and unto God — accomplished by the Spirit, through the truth, by the will of God, in Christ. It is not achieved by the Christian’s moral effort alone; it is the Spirit’s work applied to…
This lesson from 2 Peter 1:10–11 explains where true assurance of salvation is found and where it is not. Assurance does not rest on feelings, perfect knowledge, perfect obedience, or good works, but on being in Christ and walking in the light. God promises confidence and stability to those who are diligent and faithful in their walk with Him.
Burdens are not all curses; God uses some to strengthen us, commands us to share others, and invites us to cast on Him the ones no man can carry — and wisdom is knowing which burden is which. We treat every burden as an enemy to…
Christ is the perfect image of God, and God’s settled purpose is to remake every Christian into that same image — a change worked from within (transformation) and aimed at the likeness of Christ (conformation) until each trait of Jesus becomes ours. We talk easily about…
The outline defines forgiveness this way: to hold one as though no offense had been given — in love, in sympathy, with full interest and goodwill, as though nothing had happened. That is a demanding standard, and most of us know it. The question is not…
Timothy’s life is the story of what faithful parents, a mentor-apostle, and willingness to be sent can produce. He was the son of a mixed household — Greek father, Jewish mother — with no obvious path to apostolic usefulness. By the end of Paul’s ministry he…
Christ is the Prince of Peace, who alone gives peace with God, peace with others, and peace within; sin is the disturber of all three, and that peace is enjoyed only by being reconciled to God in Christ and submitting to His terms. Everyone is hunting…
Giving is a grace — not a tax, not a formality, not a matter of convenience. It is a spiritual discipline tied to the sowing-and-reaping law, offered to a God who responds to liberality, and ultimately inseparable from the unspeakable gift of Christ. There is a…
A gospel preacher who does not know the truth he is preaching, the error that opposes it, the conditions he is preaching into, or his own responsibilities has not simply failed to prepare — he has disqualified himself from the task. Knowledge is not optional equipment…
“Do they not blaspheme the honorable name by which you have been called?” (James 2:7). The name by which the church has been called is the name of Christ. The names the New Testament gives to those who bear that name — disciples, servants, soldiers, saints…