Your righteousness is like the mountains… (Psalm 36:3) My family and I traveled to Denver, Colorado some time ago for a series of preaching appointments. During our stay, our generous host took us around to see some of the nearby sites, including several parts of the majestic Rocky Mountains. There is something all at once breathtaking, terrifying, and exhilarating about the mountains.
Gospel
I Have Other Sheep
In John 10:16 Jesus says, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” When you hear these words, what is your gut reaction? Are you offended that Jesus is just as concerned about homeless people and third-world gorilla fighters as he is about you? Or do you feel unconcerned for “other” people, because they’re totally different than you, although Jesus loves them also?
Christ for Us: the Core of the Gospel
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Although there is of course more to the fullness of Christian teaching than the brief creed the apostle Paul shares here, this what comes “of first importance”; this is the heart of the Christian gospel, the essential truths that separate Christians from non-Christians.
What Does Real Faith Look Like?
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain (1 Corinthians 15:1-2). Paul’s expression of the Christian gospel in 1 Corinthians 15 is well known as one of the chief apologetic passages in the New Testament.
Accountable To the Creator
I was blessed some time ago by Greg Gilbert’s book What Is the Gospel? This quote in particular struck me as helpful for Christians to consider, as we contemplate our motivation and message when it comes to evangelism:
Forever Here My Rest Shall Be
In a worship service in which I recently participated, we sang this beautiful hymn by Charles Wesley. I believe it was my first time to be acquainted with it and the words struck me powerfully. Too little thought is given, and too few messages and songs are devoted, to the marvelous and gospel-centering truth that salvation now and forever is found only in the substitution of Christ on the cross, for sinners.
God’s Word Is the Ultimate Authority
I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Notice that Paul couches the amazing Christian claim that “Christ died for our sins” in both Scriptural and historical language: “in accordance with the scriptures.”
The Core of Christianity Is Christ
The Bible is gospel-centered. The Bible is not primarily calling you to be a good person, but to trust in the grace of God to make you good enough for heaven.
Knowing Christ In the New Year
This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3). It is common, as each year begins, for people to make New Year’s resolutions … which is not a bad practice. As we look back over the past year(s), it is appropriate to wonder if we accomplished what we should have, if our life was as useful and happy as we would like it to be — and then, as a result of that assessment, we resolve to do better in areas in which we feel like we have
When They Saw the Child, They Worshiped
And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:11) There is a library full of lessons in this single verse of Scripture.
Why Such a Lowly Birth?
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (Luke 2:6-7). Jesus was born when “the time came.” The time came, not just for the fulfillment of Mary’s pregnancy, but for the fulfillment of God’s pre-world plan to become a divine human being. Think of it! The Bethlehem prophecy alone (Micah 5:2) reminds us that God had hundreds of years to plan this event! How will
Christ, the Power & Wisdom of God
We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1:23-25).
How God Calls Abraham, and Every Believer
Now the Lord said to Abraham, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1) How does Abraham go from idolatry to being a believer in the one true God? God speaks to him! This in a nutshell differentiates Abraham’s story from that of his father Tera who was a Babylonian idolater (Joshua 24:2). God is the one who initiates salvation, God is the one who calls Abraham out of pagan darkness into the light of His truth. God’s redemptive work, like the Creation itself, begins with God
Such Were Some of You
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? … And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Such were some of you. On one hand, what sweet words these are to believers! The church is not for perfect people but for sin-scarred, once-blind, still struggling people.
Why Did Jonah (and Why Do We) Disobey God?
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh” (Jonah 1:1-2). God spoke plainly to Jonah and instructed him to visit the capital city of Israel’s enemies with a message of repentance and, ultimately, grace. Yet Jonah refused. Why did Jonah — and why do we still today, as recipients of the Great Commission — disobey God?