The peacemaker is not the person who avoids all conflict but the person who wages war against the things that destroy peace — sin, division, injustice, unbelief — with weapons that do not include carnal force. The Christian is a soldier of peace whose army and…
Recreation is not the enemy of godliness; it is the restoration of the person for continued godly work. The Christian who does not know how to rest, play, or use leisure time well is not more spiritual — they are less whole, and eventually less effective….
The Holy Spirit is a divine person — not a divine influence, not a force that can be poured like a liquid, not a vague spiritual energy. The evidence is convergent: the masculine personal pronoun used for him in contexts where the neuter grammatical gender would…
“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…
The church is glorious because Christ is its glorious Head, it wears the glorious names God gave it, it carries out God’s glorious work, and it moves toward a glorious destiny as the bride of the Lamb — and everything that divides or rebrands it dims…
The “thousand years” is mentioned only once in the Bible — in the most figurative book of all — and cannot bear the weight of a literal earthly reign; Scripture everywhere teaches instead one coming, one resurrection, and one simultaneous judgment of righteous and wicked, leaving…
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…
James 1:27 gives the only definition of religion that God accepts: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” Between this and the religion…
The consequences of sin extend further than any human being can trace them. They begin in the ruin of the individual who sinned — the loss of dominion, the weakening of every capacity, the severance of companionship with God. They spread outward to the earth itself…
Revelation and inspiration are distinct acts in a related chain: God reveals truth about himself; inspiration ensures that revelation is accurately recorded and transmitted in human language. Divine revelation comes in two forms — general (through nature) and special (through direct communication, visions, prophets, and ultimately…