Category: . . . Perseverance of the Saints
What to Do When Your Sin Brings Overwhelming Guilt
This man was in big trouble! Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! (Psalm 130:1-2) How did he get into such a predicament? Listen closely:...
That is Not the Way You Learned Christ
Have you ever felt the lure of your old life before Christ? Maybe you ran into some friends who knew you before you became a Christian and their talk of having fun enticed you, or someone you dated before seems interested in reconnecting with you. Paul...
The Worth of Warnings (Part 2)
In Part 1 of this article we discussed the value and purpose of biblical warnings to believers—warnings about making salvation certain. Now I want to challenge you to consider four of these warnings and examine your own response to them. The Warning Not To Love the...
Who Is the Person of God-Pleasing Faith?
“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Faith is also the means of gaining God’s approval, “for by it the men of old gained approval” (11:2). Furthermore, faith is the only means of gaining God’s...
The Cross or Loss
The cross is the character of Christianity. As the self-appointed spokesman for Jesus’ handpicked coterie, Peter says the right thing at the right time: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” But Peter cannot leave good enough alone. As Jesus goes on to...
Stand Firm and Be Saved:The Necessity of Perseverance
Near the end of 1 Peter we read this: “I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!” (5:12). Peter’s letter was a sustained exhortation for believers to see the difficulties of the Christian...
Seven Laws of the Race
The motif of the Olympic race was dear to the Apostle Paul. Did he sit in the stands in Athens or Corinth? Perhaps so. Regardless, parallels between “the games” and the believer’s race in life were often on his mind. He (along with the author of...
The Worth of Warnings (Part 1)
Why do the writers of Scripture promise sure salvation for believers, but then warn those same believers not to fall away from the faith and be lost? It’s a fair question, after all, because if something cannot happen, why caution someone against allowing it to happen?...
If Anyone Thirsts
“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink’” (John 7:37). Jesus made this dramatic statement in connection with the water-drawing ceremony associated with the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles....
A Story That Does Not End Well: Marianne Hearne
Marianne Hearne experienced her first real crisis of faith when she was just five or six years old. She attended a good church with her family and learned to love God through the teaching of her parents, church and extended family. So it was natural that...
