“Father, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
As a father of three boys, this verse has always struck me with a particularly strong force. The first part of this little section important, to be sure. My children should obey me because that is right and life will go better for them if they do. But, am I being the kind of father who invites obedience? Read the rest…
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship; created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (ESV – Read the chapter)
For anyone who would argue that our salvation has in even the tiniest of ways to do with our good works, this verse puts the lie to their position. Any individual, church, or even whole faith tradition that says otherwise is mistaken. That’s a pretty strong way to put it, but there really isn’t any other way around what Paul says here. Salvation comes by grace through faith and not by works. Period. We didn’t have anything to do with it being given to us beyond receiving the gift by faith. Read the rest…
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us…” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Have you ever wondered how and why our God could be such a merciful God? Perhaps not. Perhaps you’ve wondered more often why God seems like such an angry God. If that’s the case, you haven’t been taught very well about the character of God. That’s not your fault. It’s a symptom of our culture. Read the rest…
“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Verses like this one are a big part of why protestants tend to be so radically committed to salvation by faith alone. Look at what Paul is saying here closely because this is really important. If we could somehow get ourselves into a right relationship with God by means other than the grace of God as mediated through the death and resurrection of Jesus, then His death was without purpose. It was entirely pointless. Read the rest…
“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
This refrain echoes four different times in this Psalm. “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” This was the God they served and the people of Israel experienced it over and over and over again. They found themselves in all kinds of trouble, most of which was of their own making. Each time they fell headlong into the mess and from the perspective of the moment, it looked like they were going to be goners. Read the rest…
