The claim that a Christian can reach a state of sinless perfection — a condition in which sin is no longer possible or even inclined toward — contradicts the explicit warnings of I Cor. 10:12, Heb. 4:1, and Phil. 2:12, misreads the commands to “be holy”…
When a person begins to seek God, Satan begins to seek that person. The obstacles are predictable and consistent: laziness, pride, fear, prejudice, and the love of an evil life. Each has appeared in the lives of people who sought God and failed to find him…
Responsibility is not assigned generically — it is measured by ability and opportunity. The Christian who has both is the most accountable person in the world: accountable for what they do, accountable for what they could have done and did not, and accountable for whether they…
Poverty is broader than the absence of money. A person may be materially comfortable and still be desperately poor — in relationships, in character, in fellowship with God. The poor Jesus declares “blessed” (Matt. 5:3) are not the materially destitute; they are the poor in spirit…
The first gospel sermon was preached to an audience that had more personal connection to the events of the gospel than any audience since. They were eyewitnesses or near-witnesses of the birth, the ministry, the crucifixion, and the reports of the resurrection. Peter preached by the…
“Born of water and of the Spirit” is not a theological puzzle to be decoded — it is the single answer Jesus gives to the question of how to enter the kingdom. The theories that split it into two separate events either multiply births beyond what…
The rich fool was successful by every external measure. He was a failure at the only measure that counts. His five mistakes — disregarding God, selfishness, equating himself with a beast, planning to live without work, and expecting a soul to thrive on temporal things —…
Money is not evil; it is a rival. The person who lets money be a rival of God has lost the capacity to use money righteously. The person who keeps money in its proper place — a tool for supporting life, caring for others, and honoring…
Love is the defining characteristic of the disciple of Jesus — toward God, toward enemies, toward the brotherhood, toward the sinner. The test of Christian identity that Jesus himself set is not doctrinal precision but visible love: “By this all men will know that you are…
Jesus is the supreme example of loyalty — to truth, to his disciples, to the church, and to God. Every form of his loyalty cost something. The call to follow him is a call to the same costly faithfulness. Peter’s instruction — “For you have been…