Category: Theology
Should People Feel Badly Before Responding to the Good News?
It seemed as if a wet wool coat of conviction was covering me before I came to Christ. I was weighted down with guilt. It seemed unbearable. Something had to change. My mother faithfully shared good news with me. I had heard it all before, but...
Free from the Law! What Does That Mean?
When I was a boy, our church used to sing a hymn called “Free from the Law, O Happy Condition!” Little did I know that being free from the Law was so important! Here’s a short explanation—a primer so to speak. Jews Were Under the Law...
How to Avoid Being a Theological Ignoramus
J.I. Packer tells a personal story about his freshman year in college (see Bruce Milne, Know the Truth, IVP, 1998, p. 9). The chaplain at his school took some of the students on “pastoral walks.” Packer was on one of those strolls and said of the...
Loving What is Beautiful
We were made for beauty. Our concept of beauty will vary, distorted by what theologians call “the Fall.” That is a way of speaking of the evil present within us permeating all aspects of our person. This causes one woman to long for an illicit affair...
The Gift of Love: When Do I Die?
It was told as true, but I cannot be sure of that. However, such love as I’m about to show you has been seen in the history of the world many times, in one form or another. It is sacrificial love, like Christ’s. It is the...
Seeking and Saving Zacchaeus, the Wee Little Man
“Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.” The story of Jesus seeking and saving Zacchaeus is found in Luke 19:1-10. The song, quoted above and throughout, is sung by children throughout the English-speaking church world. It memorably summarizes the Zacchaeus...
When Do Christ’s Sheep Become His Sheep?
“But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep” (John 10:26) I once heard a man read the above verse and ask, “When does a sheep become a sheep?” The question is a good one, and has importance in the dialogue in John...
Crumbs of Mercy
The Gentile woman’s daughter was demon-possessed. Having heard about Jesus from others and learning that he was in her region of Tyre and Sidon, she came and begged him to cast out the unclean spirit. Jesus’ response at first sounds less than gracious, even harsh: “Let...
Jesus’ Counter-Cultural Love
How do you define love? In our age of indulgence, many define love this way: giving another person what he wants, regardless of what may be best for him. For example, if a 30-year old pregnant woman wants to murder her unborn child because she doesn’t...
The Incomprehensible Love of God in Christ
When believers suffer, is it a sign that God doesn’t care? Is the seemingly arbitrary and unfair distribution of suffering in this life an indication that God is not a loving Father? Someone I know recently expressed personal doubts about the character of God. He...
