Christians are God’s fellow workers — not because God needs us, but because He has chosen to build His kingdom through human agents; this privilege carries both dignity and accountability, and the work is tested by fire. “For we are God’s fellow workers” (1 Cor. 3:9)….
Separation is the governing experience of fallen human existence. It begins with the separation of man from God in the garden and ends at the judgment with the ultimate, eternal separation of the righteous and the wicked. Between those two poles, every form of separation —…
A Christian is not forbidden recreation, but he is governed in it; the same Lord who owns his worship owns his leisure, and every amusement must be measured by whether it can be carried on to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). Few questions reach…
The word “Christian liberty” is used in two almost contradictory ways. One use invokes it as a shield against accountability — “I have liberty in Christ; don’t bind your traditions on me.” The other use names the profound freedom Christ actually purchased: freedom from the guilt…
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…
Among all the forms that sin takes, four are identified in Scripture with unusual consistency and severity: hypocrisy, slander, worldly pleasure, and selfishness. They are “cardinal” not because they are the only sins but because they are foundational patterns — forms of sin that shape the…
The New Testament church has identifying marks — undenominational, congregationally governed, missionary, made up of converted and worshipping and united and pure members — and every member should know them well enough to help keep the church true to the pattern. A congregation drifts the way…
Material and spiritual creation both came from the same source and operate through the same three persons — but with different materials: the Spirit organized and perfected matter in the one; in the other, he organized and perfected the spiritual realm through the incarnation, the apostles…
The church is by its very nature a missionary institution: its God-given mission is to uphold and spread the truth of salvation and to seek and save the lost — the same mission as Christ’s — and every member shares it. A congregation that forgets why…
The New Testament church spread the gospel to the whole world through the missionary zeal of independent local congregations — each one God’s fully equipped unit for evangelism — and that pattern, not human zeal alone, is how the work is to be done. The early…