My Only Boast Is You
A couple years ago, at Together for the Gospel, I was introduced to a wonderful new hymn written by Jordan Kauflin, All I Have Is Christ. It’s on my mind and in my heart today because we sang it twice...
View ArticleThe Newly Slain One
Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day. As you prepare to gather with other Christians—for worship, instruction, fellowship, and prayer—remember that your only basis for access to God and for fellowship with other...
View ArticleMy Jesus, My Righteousness
Father, you know the utter self-centeredness of my nature inherited from Adam. You know that even when I have examined my heart for hidden motives, which bend me toward self-exaltation, my innate...
View ArticleApproaching the Unapproachable God
He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords; who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see (1 Tim. 6:15-16). Let...
View ArticleChrist Our Sacrifice
“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Pet 3:18). The first...
View ArticleChrist Our Substitute
In yesterday’s post we began thinking about the gospel message of 1 Peter 3:18, noticing Jesus as our sacrifice. Today, let us think about Jesus Christ as the sinner’s substitute: “For Christ also died...
View ArticleChrist Our Savior
The past two days we’ve learned Jesus is our Sacrifice and Substitute. He is also our Savior. “For Christ also died for sins … the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet 3:18)....
View ArticleCrucified with Christ
Crucifixion was a form of the death penalty used by the Romans in Jesus’ day. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia records the history and development of the cross as a form of punishment....
View Article10 Things that Are True When I Confess My Sin
While recently meditating on 1 John 1:8-2:1, the Holy Spirit uncovered ten significant truths that I affirm every time I acceptably confess my sin to God. If we say we have no sin, we deceive...
View ArticleSaturday Evening Devotions
Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day—a day of great privilege for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, let me suggest you take some time this evening to prepare your heart and mind so that you may...
View ArticleLove Poured Out
The Cross of Christ humbles our proud hearts and produces joyful sobriety as we ponder it as the ultimate demonstration of God’s love for helpless, ungodly sinners like you and me. One of the simplest,...
View Article“Even Death on a Cross”
At the climax of the apostle Paul’s description of the humility of Christ, which led to His voluntary submission to the cross as the will of God, is the phrase “even death on a cross.” The humility of...
View ArticleWhen the Cross Speaks Most Powerfully to Us
While reading a chapter in How Long, O Lord?: Reflections on Suffering and Evil, by D. A. Carson, I was struck by this excerpt, which introduced to me a poem I had not seen before: “Frequently it is...
View ArticleWhy Did God Kill Jesus?
When the Old Testament prophet Isaiah predicted the suffering of Messiah he said, “But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief” (53:10). Why? Why would God the Father be pleased to kill...
View ArticleHow Deep the Father’s Love for…Me
The Holy Spirit often leads me to use hymns for the purpose of self-counseling. Today, I’m counseling myself with the lyrics of “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us.” But, since this is self-counseling,...
View ArticleMeditating on the Cross
[The past couple days, I’ve been thinking a lot about the work of Christ on the cross on my behalf and found this article I first posted in the spring of 2012. So, I’m posting it again.] Crucifixion...
View ArticleHow Does Jesus Christ Fulfill the Law?
In preparation for preaching Romans 10:1-4, this Lord’s Day, one of the Romans commentaries I’ve been reading is James Montgomery Boice. Discussing the meaning of Romans 10:4, “For Christ is the end of...
View ArticleAvoid Taking Communion in an “Unworthy Manner”
One of the soberest warnings in the New Testament concerns the manner in which we approach and participate in the Lord’s Supper. Following the apostle’s repetition of Jesus’ command to regularly “do...
View ArticleAccursed
When the Bible refers to someone as being accursed, it means he will be damned forever with no hope of redemption. It is from anathema, which means “the disfavor of Jehovah,” and was used of “the...
View ArticleOur Advocate with the Father
The Bible calls Jesus our “Advocate with the Father” (1 Jn 2:1). An advocate is one who pleads for another, a defender, an intercessor. When the apostle John attributed this role to Jesus, it was in...
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