Category Archives: Faith

What Is Saving Faith?

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We know forgiveness of sins and eternal life comes through faith in Jesus Christ, but what does it mean to believe in Jesus? If you listen to some present the gospel, you might think it’s merely believing Jesus died on the cross to save you from your sins. But this was not the message of the apostles and the early church. The New Testament gospel message is primarily about the identity of Jesus. In other words, it is not merely belief that Jesus did something, but that Jesus is who He said He is. It is not “Believe that Jesus can save you from your sins,” but “Believe in the identity of Jesus so that He can save you from … Continue reading →

God With Us

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He said, “Certainly I will be with you. …” – Exodus 3:12 Moses had spent the last forty years of his life in Midian, looking after his father-in-law’s sheep. His days of luxury and privilege in Pharaoh’s house were a distant memory. He had to flee Egypt because Pharaoh sought his life for killing an Egyptian taskmaster who was beating his fellow Israelite. And his own people didn’t appreciate what he did either. So the wilderness became his safe place… a place where he didn’t have to walk the fine line between pleasing Pharaoh and helping his people. He probably felt for what his suffering brothers and sisters were going through hundreds of miles away, but what could he do … Continue reading →

Evil, Suffering, And God

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We Christians believe that God is all powerful, all knowing, all present, all good, and worthy of our trust. At the same time, we also believe there’s an abundance of evil in the world. Now God could eliminate evil and suffering immediately, …but He doesn’t. The fact that He doesn’t seems to create problems in many people’s minds. Some see it as a logical inconsistancy: that it is impossible for an all powerful, all knowing, good God to allow evil to exist. Rather than earnestly searching the Bible for the answer, they take the easy way out by concluding God isn’t all powerful, all knowing, all good, or He doesn’t exist. But God does exist, and there is much evidence … Continue reading →

Guilt: What To Do With It

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Are you struggling with feelings of guilt? Are you ashamed of something you have done recently? Perhaps your whole life has been one failure after another. You’re powerless to do what is right. You can’t stop doing the things you do. While you may have given up a long time ago, there is hope. You just have to look beyond yourself and look to God who already has provided a solution to your problem! The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. – Luke 18:27 When it comes to guilt, you’re not alone. Everyone has done wrong. Some people pride themselves in being ‘law-abiding citizens’, however there is not one person who has not broken God’s law … Continue reading →

The Meaning Of Yahweh’s Name

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Israel went through a time of slavery in Egypt. God had told Abram this would happen beforehand (Genesis 15:13), but He allowed it to happen anyway. Slavery is evil, but God always has a purpose and is able to bring good to His people out of anything. Whatever manner God deals with His people, whether through something He does or something He allows, it is always to bring glory to Himself. Glory is simply the revealing of God’s character and nature such that we can understand and appreciate Him better. So to find out why the Israelites were enslaved, we need to ask how God revealed His character and nature through the situation. What do we learn about God from … Continue reading →

“Say These Words…”

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During the terrorist incident in Mali this past week, many hostages died. But one hostage was let go after an Islamic attacker told him to recite verses from the Koran. This reminded me of an episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown where he was at the wailing wall in Jerusalem. Anthony said he didn’t believe in a higher power. But after finding out he was a Jew, a rabbi quickly grabbed him, strapped on a phylactory, and got him to recite the words of a bar-mitzvah blessing. I think it’s pretty obvious the freed hostage did not become a Muslim merely by reciting verses from the Koran, just as Anthony Bourdain did not become a practicing Jew and believer in … Continue reading →

Second-Hand Faith

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“…I am left, I alone…” – 1 Kings 19:10 Hypothetical questions: If the person who led you to Christ suddenly told you, “I’m sorry. I misled you. I was wrong. There is no heaven or hell. Jesus is a fairy tale. God does not exist. … I have proof, and here it is…,” how would your faith fare? What if all of the great Christian preachers, teachers, authors, apologists, radio and TV personalities, etc. you look up to suddenly said the same thing? What if everyone in the world abandoned Jesus and urged you to do so… what would you do? I’ve thought about questions like these off and on for many years as a way of identifying whether my … Continue reading →

Abandoning Fleshly Righteousness

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The fleshly nature has two ways of expressing itself. The first is the one we are most aware and ashamed of: it is our desire to sin. But the second way is also bad, and maybe worse because we are not ashamed of it – we’re even proud of it: it is our desire for self-righteousness. When I say self-righteousness, I’m not talking about a holier-than-thou attitude, or a hypocritical righteous facade. I mean sincerely trying to do the right thing through one’s own willpower and determination, but apart from reliance on the power of God. This kind of ‘righteousness’ falls far short of the righteousness God requires for salvation or for living the Christian life. That law-keeping is insufficient … Continue reading →

Is Sanctification By Law Or By Faith?

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We tend to misunderstand what was going on in the Galatian church. Well, let me rephrase. I have misunderstood what was going on in the Galatian church, …but I do think many of us share the same misunderstanding. What I mean is, as we read Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, we assume they were trying to be saved by the works of the Law of Moses. It’s real easy to come to this conclusion when we see warnings of “a different gospel,” and read statements like “a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through the faith of Jesus Christ,” and “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” There is so much … Continue reading →