Doctrines of Grace

We think of Thanksgiving as a holiday, but it is an exercise that requires some intentionality. It implies that the thanks given can be received. When growing up my mom would make my favorite dish on my birthday. I would thank her, and she would receive the thanks with a hug. It is this very thing...

Although believers have received the promise of an eternity with the triune God in the new heaven and the new earth, we’re often tempted to lose an eternal perspective, whether during days of mundane matters or terrible trials. You may be single and dread facing another lonely night, or you may be...

Alan T. Baker describes one pastor’s ministry transformation: “Whereas [he] once served out of his words and deeds, he now ministers from his wounds.” [1] Words and deeds matter, but this source of service offers a whole different “deep calleth unto deep.” In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Paul tells...

Perhaps we’re most accustomed to thinking that we’re in danger of forgetting God during times of barrenness instead of times of blessing. But the Bible teaches that we’re just as prone to wander from worshiping God when things are going well for us as we are when things aren’t. In Deuteronomy 8 we...

In this series on the Ordo Salutis, we come to progressive sanctification, where we consider how God works in us and what he requires of us. In justification and adoption God acts on our behalf. We see this in the answers to Questions 33 and 34 in the Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC), which note...

Nothing but the sight of death impresses on us so viscerally a sense of finality. As Christians, we are comforted by faith in the resurrection and the life to come, but death nevertheless strikes our limited and sin-affected minds with definitiveness. Do we think of our being made holy in Christ as...

Westminster divine, Anthony Burges, contended that “of all points of Divinity, there is none that with more profit and comfort we may labour in, then in that of Justification, which is stiled by some articulus stantis & cadentis ecclesiae, the Church stands or fals[ sic ], as the truth of this...

If you happen to find yourself alone without any distractions, where do your thoughts wander? Are you anxious about that next job assignment, cowering before an intimidating boss, demanding your rights from someone, or eager to defend your motives? Do you fear for your child’s health, reputation or...

If anything gives us the opportunity to be unfaithful to God it is trials. In the midst of suffering we are often tempted to doubt God’s faithfulness and friendship, goodness and grace, and power and promises. We sometimes wonder if we will make it, how we will make it, or why God is doing this to...

Face to Face with God We celebrate Christ’s work as our high priest and mediator. Is Jesus active in those roles today? And how is Jesus “a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek?” Guest Desmond Alexander provides satisfying answers to these questions and others through the course of today’s...