‘All things are lawful for me’, but not all things are beneficial. ‘All things are lawful for me’, but I will not...
Years ago, I was leading a Bible study for college students. As we were looking at a passage of Scripture that spoke...
Have you ever been talking to someone who is saying good things about you, but whose tone makes you nervous?
How kind of God to let us give up on him.
Every time I placed my foot, I prayed that it would hold, and, honestly, I was frightened.
David’s adultery, murder, and trail of lies must qualify as a worst-case scenario. How did he survive?
There is life on the other side of failure, even though that life may never be the same.
Does Jesus mean we should seriously think about cutting off our body parts if they’re involved in sin?
According to Ephesians 5:1, we are to "Follow God's example." The Greek underlying this imperative reads more literally, "Be imitators of God."...
When you read, "In your anger do not sin," your soul cries out, "Yes. That's fine. But how? How can I avoid...
The story of Jesus and the Gerasene demoniac is full of riddles.
Psalm 51 is a heartfelt, aching prayer for forgiveness. In this prayer, David begins by crying out to God for mercy (v. 1). He asks to be cleansed of his guilt (v. 2), freely acknowledging his sin...
In Psalm 38, David makes a strong connection between his devastating physical illness and his sin. Apparently, he had sinned in some particularly egregious way. As a result, he became terribly sick...
When we began our devotional study of Ephesians 2, I warned you that we'd run into a lot of bad news. So...
Moral chaos breeds chaos.
In Psalm 141, David wrestles with his own temptation to do what's wrong.
Psalm 139 begins with David’s acknowledgement that God has “examined” his heart.
...
“So watch yourselves! If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even...
Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law...
You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire...
When you become aware of your guilt in any of these ways, you must confess your sin. Then you must bring to...
But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one! Psalm 14:3 I remember when I first resolved to read through the whole Bible. I...
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 13:7 At first glance, ...
Last Friday, I offered some reflections on Jeremiah 7:11. I explained how the Temple had become, for many Jews in the time of Jeremiah, like a “den of thieves.” They believed that they were safe...
As the residents of Judah continued to disregard God’s law, reveling in idolatry and injustice, they believed they were safe from God’s judgment because of the Temple in Jerusalem. After all, the...
God, who set up the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, says he doesn’t need sacrifices. Rather, he desires worship and obedience.
God revealed his law to Israel, showing them how they were to live in covenant relationship with him. But, in their sinfulness, the Jews could not obey God’s law with such perfections as...
If chapter 2 were all we had of Romans, we’d think that we had to spend our whole life trying to earn God’s salvation. Even more discouraging would be the knowledge that, in...
Last Friday, I began reflecting on Romans 2:1-4. Today, I want to focus on verse 4. It comes in the context of the claim that all of us are sinners, and that our...
Romans 1 ended with a long catalog of human wickedness. Chapter 2 begins with the recognition that we might hear such a list as condemning others but excusing ourselves. As a Jew, Paul had heard...
If this picture of human sinfulness seems too negative, just read the morning paper.
There is so much “wisdom” out there that is, in the end, anything but wise.
As Jesus entered Jerusalem to cries of "Hosanna," the crowd had high hopes for him. Surely, if he were the Messiah, Jesus would gather together an army and soon lead a successful attack...
Genesis 34 is rife with dishonor and deception.
After the man and woman sin, their first instinct is to hide. They hide from each other and even from themselves (Gen 3:7). Then, as God comes to walk with them in the...
And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Adam's and Eve’s decisions stretch all the way to the modern workplace.
The purpose of sacrifice was not merely to remedy occasional lapses of purity. The Hebrew verb for “offering” a sacrifice means literally...
Even as the kingdom’s strength declines, the kings remain convinced they are in control of their situation. Confident in their own abilities...
Human life is a series of choices, and many of these involve vocation.
Although God’s grace has come into the world to bring reconciliation and justice, there are still evil spiritual powers at work opposing...
In chapter 7, Paul continues to emphasize that newness of life in Christ frees us from being “captive” to the “old written...
This call to reorientation means that we reshape our lives to think and do according to Jesus’...
One of the repeated and stressed themes in 1 Timothy is the tight connection between belief and...
Although Christ created the world entirely good, it has become tainted and subject to “the one who has the power of death...
This brings us to the second principle of faithful work—working for the benefit of others in need. “Be doers of the word...
Corrupted computer files are a sad reality of digital technology. After working hard to craft a document, it can be devastating to...
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