Ephesians 2:2-3

THESE ARE THE TIMES that try men's souls. The Spirit has spoken expressly that in the latter times some should depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron. Those days are upon us and we cannot escape them; we must triumph in the midst of them, for such is the will of God concerning us.

Strange as it may seem, the danger today is greater for the fervent Christian than...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ephesians 2:1-10

We are acknowledging that in order to understand "grace" we must see it in relation to a Sovereign. As one writer puts it: "Grace is bound to be sovereign since it cannot by its very nature be subject to compulsion." That is why we often refer to it as free grace. There is no reason for grace but grace. I believe the...

For Reading and Meditation:     Deuteronomy 7:1-10

When the Bible says God is love, it is saying more than that God loves, or that God is loving, or even that God is lovely; it is saying that love is the power behind everything He does - love is not merely one of His attributes but His whole nature. God is not only the Author of loving acts; He is love in the very...

For Reading and Meditation:     Galatians 3:1-25

The Christian Church has always struggled to get the balance right between faith and works. Romans is the great book on "faith" while James is the great book on "works." I know some Christians who never read the book of James, taking sides with Martin Luther who called it a "book of straw." Martin Luther may have been...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 4:11-12

After Boaz has called upon the assembled group to witness that he accepts the full responsibility of kinsman-redeemer to Naomi which, of course, involved taking Ruth to be his wife, the elders respond by reciting the traditional blessing: "May the Lord make this woman, who has now come into your home, as fertile as...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ephesians 1:15-23

Young Christians who have just come into the faith often ask: Why is the resurrection so important? How can an event which took place 2,000 years ago have any relevance for us today? Three very simple statements (not original to me) will bring us to the heart of the matter. First, the resurrection of Christ assures...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ephesians 2:1-10

A Hindu once said in my presence: "A man may change his acts but not his character." He was saying that a change is possible, but not a vertical change; there can be improvement, modification, a change of attitude, but no deep radical change. The Christian church is not without a sprinkling of what yesterday I called...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ephesians 3:14-21

We are seeing that once we enter the sanctuary of God our perspective changes. This can happen to us when we are alone, of course, but the chances are it will happen more swiftly in the act of corporate worship. It is a command of God that we meet together, not only that we might come to know each other better, but...

Such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. § We … were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ...

You shall not follow a crowd to do evil.Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? § Do not love the world or the things in the world. If...