Topic Archives: Salvation

‘But God,’ -Ephesians 2:4a. God spoke and all things came into being. He gave freedom for man and woman to eat of any tree in the Garden of Eden except one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve was deceived and Adam deliberately disobeyed God. And then death came upon all mankind, […]

These questions and statements are designed to provoke thought in the area of the sovereignty of God in salvation. The responsibility of man is not emphasized here but should be included in a balanced view of salvation. The fact that God is a sovereign and man is responsible to respond to God cannot be denied. […]

According to Romans 1:18-21 everyone born into this world, including you the reader, knows that there is a God. But many people attempt to suppress these thoughts about God. Here Romans says: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since […]

If I can talk you into believing the gospel, then there is someone else who is able to talk you out of believing the gospel of Christ. But if God convinces you, then it is, in fact, a reality which cannot be taken away from you. So, what is the gospel according to the Bible? […]

Geoff Thomas completed his ministry of over fifty years recently in Alfred Place Baptist Church (Independent) in Aberystwyth, and this was one of his final sermons. 2 Timothy 4:6-8 ‘For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I […]

‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.‘ 2 Corinthians 5:10 Can there be anything more fearful than the prospect of standing before the Lord Jesus Christ and giving a […]

This title may seem a bit odd, and there would be some good reasons for that, I suppose. Firstly, most people – in the West at least – are likely more concerned about what sort of coffee they might buy than what religion they may choose. And of course most folks simply pick up their […]

We noticed recently a leading religious commentator acknowledging that the West will collapse without a Christian revival. There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a rapid moral decay. He went on to say that the West will fall unless it rises up against the forces that oppose it. But how is […]

‘I am His’. Every believer in Jesus may say it. And with full assurance. ‘I am the Lord’s’. Humblingly and astonishingly we may also say that he is ours. To the Christian, God is not just the Lord but my Lord. But it is of the bond by which we have become his of which […]

2 Timothy 1:9, 10. God ‘has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our […]

‘Which is true, whosoever will or sovereign election?’ Like many questions this one demands a false answer. The Bible does not teach one or the other, it teaches both. Considered together the concepts may seem profound and difficult, but they are neither irreconcilable nor opposed to each other. Both are found in Holy Scripture and […]

There is a text in the Bible that is often misunderstood (one of many, sadly). Paul writes, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’ (1 Cor. 2:9). Preachers especially are prone to quote these words as if they were […]

How do we cultivate awe in the presence of God? What is Christian meditation? How will knowing Christ better help Christians in their daily walk with the Lord? Listen below to J.I. Packer and Mark Jones as they discuss some of these searching questions. Also, learn more about Mark Jones’ new book Knowing Christ, which […]

As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied (Isaiah 53:11). We all know we ought to be lifting up Jesus every time the Holy Spirit opens up a door to speak to someone of his glorious person and work. If you are like me, however, perhaps you […]

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come (2 Corinthians 5:17). Elvis Presley was already a huge rock and roll star when he sauntered into the Sun Records studio in Memphis in December, 1956. Jerry Lee Lewis was gaining fast on Elvis’ […]

Satan would have none of it. The Lord had said to him, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.’ But Satan thought he knew better. He had Job all figured out: ‘Does Job fear God […]

In 1524, Desiderius Erasmus, probably the foremost classical scholar in Europe, published a little book with the title Diatribe sue collatio de libero arbitrio (‘Discussion concerning free will’). Erasmus wrote the book to distance himself from the teachings of Martin Luther that were setting Europe ablaze and challenging the foundations of the papacy. Erasmus was […]

From beginning to end the Christian life is a life of faith. ‘We live’, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, ‘by faith and not by sight’ (2 Cor. 5:7). But what did Paul mean? What does it mean to live by faith and not by sight? To live by faith is to live your […]

I would like to ask you a question. But before I ask my question, I want first to prepare the way. The Bible has many ways to describe what a Christian is. A Christian is a forgiven sinner, a new creation in Christ, an adopted child of God, a heaven-bound pilgrim. One of the most […]

. . . propitiation in His blood (Romans 3:25). Our God is a consuming fire. He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In his just wrath he casts sinners into a Christless hell where they remain in conscious torment until the day they appear before the judgment seat of Christ and give account […]

‘And he went outside and wept bitterly’. It is Matthew’s final word about Peter. He has faithfully recorded the details of Peter’s sin – the warning that preceded it, the pride in which it originated, the sin itself in all its aggravating features – and now he speaks of the effect on Peter when the […]

We’ll come to our own day in a moment. But first, the world of Paul’s day and how there were things that many knew but failed to understand. One had to do with how people were living. All could see, for example, that in the realm of sexual behaviour, promiscuity in general and homosexuality in […]

Extracts from the chapter on ‘Adoption’ in John Murray’s Redemption – Accomplished and Applied, reprinted in a new British edition by the Trust in 2009.1 When God adopts men and women into his family he insures that not only may they have the rights and privileges of his sons and daughters but also the nature […]

I was born in 1974 in a small village in Siberia near the city of Tumen. My name is Vitali. When I look back on my childhood I cannot remember a single happy day. This was because both my parents were alcoholics. My father hardly ever worked and when he did all the money, or […]

Romans 3:24 ‘And are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.’ Some sentences are packed with meaning and this is a prime example. These words are a forceful explanation of what the wonderful truth of God’s justification is all about. Virtually every word in the sentence is important, even […]