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J.I. Packer

In Blog, Holy Spirit, Theology on
October 30, 2022

The Holy Ghost

Today is Halloween—the day where it’s all of a sudden acceptable to encourage your kids to stay out after dark and take candy from strangers. I grew up in a conservative, southern Baptist home, so I never really celebrated Halloween. I attended a handful of fall festivals in my childhood years, but I never went trick or treating, or walked through haunted houses, or decorated with spiderwebs and tombstones.

However, I once saw a Halloween decoration that I think my parents could get on board with. It was an outdoor sign made of different pieces of wood that were all painted in a variety of fall colors, and it read, “The only ghost that lives in this house is the Holy Ghost.”

The Holy Ghost, aka the Holy Spirit, can sometimes be a mystery to many believers. Who exactly is the Holy Spirit, and what exactly does He do in the world and in our daily, personal lives? Well, gang, it’s time to hop in the Mystery Machine and grab your Scooby Snacks because we’re about to discover that this Ghost is not as mysterious or daunting as He may seem.

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In Bible Study, Blog, John on
October 17, 2022

Jesus Draws Near to the Sinner

Have you ever been filled with so much guilt and shame over your sin that you wondered how God could ever forgive you?

I know I have.

Several years ago, I went through a season filled with severe shame over the temptations and sins I was struggling with. I was drowning in guilt and the depression that came with it. I was consumed by my failures and shortcomings, and I would rehearse them over and over in my head, day in and day out until I began to question God’s mercy, God’s love, and God’s forgiveness. How could a righteous, all-powerful God show me mercy? How could a holy, all-knowing God love me? How could a just, sovereign God forgive me, especially when I continued to sin daily?

I’m sure you’ve had one of these seasons. All Christians do at some point during their journey of faith. How can we overcome this shame that threatens to suffocate us, this guilt over past (or present) sin? We can discover this answer in John 8, where Jesus encounters a guilty, shame-filled woman.

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In Blog, Salvation, Theology on
September 11, 2022

The Transformation of Sanctification

I am a Christian, and I still struggle with sin.

Daily.

Like the Apostle Paul, I do sinful things that I don’t want to do, and I don’t do the things I know I ought to do (Romans 7:18-20). Such is the life of a Christian. Through the work of Christ, we’ve been made righteous in the eyes of the Father and we’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit, who gives us the desire and ability to obey God’s Word and do what is right. But all of us, even the godliest of saints, are still sinners. We still mess up and make mistakes. We hurt and offend people, and we disobey what’s written in the Scriptures. We say and do the wrong things, even if we have the best of intentions.

Thankfully, God doesn’t leave us this way. He doesn’t just save us and say sayonara, leaving us to fend for ourselves and figure out how to behave on our own until Jesus returns. No, God actively works in and through us every single day to make us more and more like Him through a process called sanctification.

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