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Sin Nature

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, Progressive Christianity, Theology on
July 10, 2022

Five Lies of the Progressive Gospel

Can Christianity progress? Apparently, a lot of people think so.

Over the past several years, there has been a movement of professing believers reexamining and deconstructing the Christian doctrines they have always believed in. They call themselves “progressive Christians,” though the term “Christian” is being used loosely here, as this group now holds beliefs that completely disagree with and go against nearly everything the Church has affirmed for the past 2,000 years.

There are different reasons for why someone has become a progressive Christian. Some of these folks have had bad experiences with the local church and hypocritical, abusive leaders. Some could never make sense of what the Bible teaches and were quickly dismissed whenever they tried asking questions. Others just feel like what they were taught in Sunday School growing up doesn’t match up with the loving, affirming God they believe in. These situations caused them to rethink their faith and ultimately reject the biblical gospel in favor of a progressive one.

What’s so wrong with the progressive gospel? A lot. Far more than can be covered in one little blog post. But there are five progressive Christian beliefs in particular that are absolutely untrue and antithetical to the good news of God’s Word. These five lies ought to be exposed and avoided at all costs by true, Bible-believing Christians.

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In Blog, Salvation, Theology on
May 16, 2022

Just As If I’d Never Sinned

One Sunday when I was in middle school or early high school, my pastor was teaching about the difference between the three parts of the salvation process: justification, sanctification, and glorification. As he was describing justification, he said “When I am justified, it’s just as if I’d never sinned.” This play on words has always stuck with me and reminded me of what being justified means.

But even this helpful phrase may leave you wondering—What exactly is justification? How is justification possible, and how can I know if I’ve been justified? What happens to me when I’m justified? If you’ve ever considered these questions, keep reading because this post is for you!

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In Blog, Heresies, Theology on
April 3, 2022

Test the Spirits

Everyone is trying to sell us something, whether it be on YouTube ads, interstate billboards, or commercials during the nightly news. Forbes reported in 2017 that the average American is exposed to four thousand to ten thousand ads every single day.[1] Everybody wants to convince us that their product or message will make our lives easier, better, or more enjoyable.

And this isn’t limited to secular media outlets. Even our pastors and churches feed us different messages every week. Many of these messages are rooted in the Word of God and are edifying and uplifting. However, there are also messages being delivered by “pastors” every week that are not rooted in Scripture, that are not truly edifying, and that actually lead people away from the truth of the gospel. Because of this, we must be like the Bereans, examining the Bible to see if what we are hearing lines up with God’s Word (Acts 17:11), and test the spirits (1 John 4:1).

To help you test the messages you’re hearing and discern whether what you’re being taught is biblical truth, I’ve compiled a brief list of nine heresies that originated in the early church and are still popular today and how the Bible disproves them.

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In Bible Study, Blog, Numbers on
March 14, 2022

Lifted Up

We are a forgetful people.

Unlike our omniscient God, we forget things all the time, and human beings have been like this since the very beginning. Adam and Eve forgot God’s command about the tree in the middle of the garden and ate its fruit. The kings of Israel and Judah forgot that they served the one true God of the universe and led their nations to worship foreign idols. The Jews forgot what the Scriptures had taught them about the coming Messiah and rejected Jesus when He claimed to be the prophesied one. The early churches forgot the teachings of the apostles and quickly fell back into their old sinful ways. Today, we forget even the smallest of tasks like watering our plants, switching the laundry, or checking for mail.

There’s always a consequence for forgetfulness. When we don’t water our plants, they wither and die. When we don’t switch the laundry, our wet clothes get musty and smelly. When we don’t check for mail, we can miss our bills or even have a package stolen (and also annoy our postal worker). Israel was known for being quite forgetful, and they endured some pretty harsh consequences for their forgetfulness—one of these consequences being the deadly bite of fiery serpents.

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