“Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might […]

My friend Dave Wilson told the story that one day he was stopped at an intersection behind a car and a motorcyclist. The motorcycle had fallen over sideways as it had rained and the road was slick. The guy was having a difficult time getting the motorcycle back upright because the road was slippery and […]

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13, NASB. I want to […]

So we find that in human experience we have a problem in that the idea of moral and desirable good are split – we are often wanting what we know is wrong, and rather despise what is right. It is almost laughable to say that you love the moral way of living. In fact, a […]

I want to delve into something that may at first seem like nit-picky hair-splitting semantics. I think that if you will persevere and read to the end you will find that it is most profound and is deeply foundational to our idea of grace and the real motivation for living the Christian life. In Genesis […]

“”Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, “who, when he had found one pearl of […]

Once there was a crusty old music teacher who taught the 3rd and 4th semesters of music theory at a famous music college. As he was explaining the details of an obscure point of classical harmony, one of the students, a theory major, sent a text message to one of his friends: “How will I […]

Before we move on, I wanted to pause to give you a roadmap of the general territory you are about to traverse. There is a certain shape of theology which has arisen as I have gone down this road, and I want to give a simple overview of what is assumed in general here. 1. […]

Grace, forgiveness and mercy are the real central message of God, the core gift and offering of Jesus Christ to the world. They are the key difference between Christianity and every other system of belief. The gospel is truly good and happy news. It is not necessary or even possible to be forgiven once in […]

To the uninitiated, Christianity’s obsession with sin can seem off-putting. We don’t like to constantly face what is wrong with ourselves, and no one wants to talk about it. We hear about God and love and yet it immediately descends into talk of morals and guilt and forgiveness. The idea of grace is all wrapped […]