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Jesus

In Blog, Reformed Theology, Theology on
October 11, 2021

The Five Solas

There are so many false gospels out there today that are unfortunately very popular amongst some who claim to be Christians. The prosperity gospel teaches that one will be healthy and wealthy when they come to Jesus. The self-love gospel is hyper-focused on loving the self and doesn’t place much emphasis on sin or repentance. The social justice gospel preaches that Jesus came to stop oppression rather than to save sinners. Some believe that Jesus isn’t the only way to salvation. Others believe you have to do good works to earn your salvation. And those with a progressive view of Christianity spout ideas like the Bible isn’t the Word of God, homosexuality isn’t a sin, and hell doesn’t really exist.

Knowing and preaching the true gospel is important for many reasons. The Bible tells us that those who teach are held to a higher standard and will be judged with greater strictness (James 3:1). God’s Word also tells us that those who preach a gospel that differs from what’s written in it is cursed or, as the New Living Translation puts it, condemned to hell (Galatians 1:9). They will be judged and condemned because they are essentially leading people to eternal spiritual death, and Jesus once said that it would be better for these false teachers to have a millstone tied around their neck and drowned (Matthew 18:5-6).

These may seem like harsh words, but they highlight the extreme importance of having a proper view of the gospel. It is only when we know and understand the foundations of our faith that we can share the true gospel with others. You may be wondering, Well, what are the foundations of our faith, of Christianity, of the gospel? You don’t have to figure them out on your own. Thankfully, the Reformers formulated five phrases based on the truths of Scripture to describe the pillars of the gospel, and they all begin with the Latin word for alone – sola.

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In Bible Study, Blog, Genesis on
September 20, 2021

Did God Really Say?

As the popularity of progressive Christianity rises, it appears that more and more “believers” are questioning what God has commanded in Scripture. They ask questions like, Did God really say that homosexuality is a sin? Did God really say that only men can be pastors? Did God really say we should pursue modesty and purity? Did God really say there’s only one way to heaven and those who don’t go to heaven will go to hell? And when those who claim to be Christians continue questioning the Word of God, they tend to move further and further away from the faith until they leave Christianity altogether.

While this questioning of Scripture may seem like a fairly new phenomenon, it’s actually a very ancient temptation from the lips of the devil himself. It goes all the way back to the very beginning, to the story of the Fall in Genesis 3.

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In Attributes of God, Blog, Theology on
August 2, 2021

He is Righteous

Nobody likes a self-righteous person. Nobody likes those people who always think they’re better than everybody else. Nobody likes those people who always try to one-up others. But, if you think about it, you’ve probably acted in a self-righteous way at some point in your life. There’s probably been a time when you’ve believed you were better, smarter, or stronger compared to someone else, whether you verbalized that thought or not. There’s likely been an instance where you did something to one-up another person. We don’t like self-righteous people (and the self-righteous side of ourselves!) because we know that nobody is altogether righteous and nobody is really more righteous than somebody else. Everybody sins! There’s only one Person who truly is more righteous than anybody else, but He never puts us down because of it-

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In Blog, Book Reviews, Spiritual Growth on
July 12, 2021

The Well-Watered Woman

I’ve had my share of dry seasons in my spiritual life. I’ve had times when my Bible study felt dull, when God seemed to be silent, when a cloud appeared to be hanging over my head. And my dry seasons weren’t for a lack of effort on my part. I still went to church every week. I tried different Bible studies and reading plans. I even went on mission trips to foreign countries. But there were times when I felt further from God on a mission trip than I did back home.

I’m sure you can relate. Every Christian struggles with dry seasons in their spiritual walk. Maybe you’re struggling with a dry season right now. You want to be close to God, but He feels so distant. You want to learn from God’s Word, but you can’t seem to comprehend what it’s telling you. You want to grow, bloom, and flourish in your faith, but you just feel stuck in the mud. If you’re feeling this way, Gretchen Saffles’ new book, The Well-Watered Woman, is just the book for you.

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In Blog, Easter, Theology on
March 29, 2021

Once for All

I’ve lived in Florida my entire life, so hurricanes are something I’m very familiar with. A few years ago, category 5 Hurricane Irma was headed towards Florida just a couple weeks after Hurricane Harvey had absolutely devastated the state of Texas. In the days leading up to her landfall, the models projected that the storm would hit our area. Because we lived near the coast at the time, we were ordered to evacuate due to the potential of flooding.

Our family boarded up our windows, packed up our most valuable items, and drove to a friend’s house that was just outside of the evacuation area. After seeing news coverage of what Harvey had done to Texas, I was scared about what might happen to us, and I didn’t sleep much the night that Irma hit. But, by the grace of God, the storm weakened and moved east, and the worst damage we saw near our home was debris on the roads and some uprooted bushes.

Natural disasters, though scary, are natural, and we almost expect to witness at least a disaster or two during our lifetimes. There’s a natural disaster in the Bible, though, that seemed rather unnatural, and its results were likely frightening to those who lived in the area at that time. The cause of this unnatural disaster was the crucifixion of Jesus.

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