When sin trips up a fellow believer, you must perform a spiritual rescue by following God's rescue manual. This is God's chosen way of restoring relationships, yet many times Christians ignore or choose not to follow this plan.
The reason many Christians are not happy in life is because they are not fruitful. The fruit of the Spirit adorn a Christ-centered life and characterize a community of grace.
Too often we think about spiritual growth in individualistic terms and forget this basic reality: we display these fruits through our interactions with others. The fruit of the Spirit adorn a Christ-centered life and characterize a community of grace.
How little we understand the nature of sin and the magnitude of its rebellion against the glory of God. The flesh produces sinful works that the believer must kill.
How little do we understand the nature of sin and the magnitude of sin's rebellion against God's glory? The flesh produces sinful works that the believer must kill. Because the flesh powerfully fights against the Spirit, you must daily be killing sin or it will kill you.
Many believers don't understand what it means to walk in the Spirit, so their Christian experience is weak, and they often fall back into sin. This robs them of the joy of the Christian life. Believers defeat the desire of the flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit as they walk by Him and are led by Him.
Believers are called to have peace in our hearts. Yet many of us do not experience the peace and strength that the Bible calls us to enjoy. Earthly kingdoms rise and fall, nations come and go; but our God is sovereign over all, and His kingdom will last forever.
Americans can easily and wrongly assume that Christian liberty is the same thing as American liberty. The appropriate exercise of our freedom in Christ is loving service to other believers.
It's hard to tell the difference between the truth and lies because false teaching is intentionally meant to look good. Because our age is saturated with false teaching, we must spot and resist false teaching to remain faithful to the Lord.
The Galatians had to embrace their freedom in Christ because there is no spiritual middle ground—without Christ is spiritual death, with Christ is spiritual life. Jesus Christ is the only place of spitual safety.
God is good and gracious. He showed that character to the people of Nineveh. However, Jonah did not respond well to this gracious character. We must give grace.
Paul uses an allegory to communicate a key doctrinal truth in Galatians 4:21-5:1. What truth is he trying to communicate? He is calling believers to stand fast in the freedom Christ has brought to them.
We cannot assume that just because we've heard the gospel and believe it that our lives match it. Paul expresses his pastoral, personal concerns over the Galatians' openness to this other false gospel.
Adoption is one of the pictures we get of being in the family of God. But, what is adoption? Adoption is the gracious action of God whereby a former rebel and stranger becomes part of God's family and enjoys all the blessings and privileges of this new family relationship.
The Bible's story shows that our spiritual transformation from slaves to sons depends on God's gracious action, not on our works.
What is Baptism according to the Bible? In today's sermon, Pastor Zach breaks down what the Scriptures have to say on the issue.
The person who trusts in Jesus by faith becomes united to Jesus. When we don't know about or don't understand this truth about our union with Christ, our understanding of the Christian life is incomplete, and our enjoyment of Jesus is shallow. We are united to Christ!
Life likes to throw us curveballs, and our typical response is discontentment. Through our relationship with Christ, we can have contentment in every situation.
Why was the Law given? The Laws purpose was to expose sin as transgressions and its function was to imprison people under sin until the Seed came, shattering their self-righteousness so that they would be ready for Christ to come.
Are God's promises more frequently talked about or trusted? Do we simply discuss them or depend upon them? Because God will always keep his promises, you can always trust God when He makes a promise.
The Abrahamic blessing, enjoyed only by Abraham's true children, is received by faith in the Abrahamic Seed, Christ, who removed the curse of the Law by His death on the cross.
This type of text is very important for us as we grow in our faith; it does not give us commands to obey or principles to live by, but it shows us the scale and scope of God's purposes across history. The Abrahamic blessing enjoyed only by Abraham's true children is received by faith in the Abrahamic Seed, Christ, who removed the curse of the Law by His death on the cross.
The Christian life is by faith from start to finish through the Spirit's power. Christians can succumb to a works-based, performance-driven, flesh-energized approach to the Christian life instead of walking by faith.
How did the early church respond to the first threats against their evangelistic preaching? They asked the Lord to intervene by sharing the problem, seeking the Lord in prayer, and as a result were filled with the Holy Spirit who empowered them to continue speaking with all boldness.
Gospel rejection is a reality in gospel ministry. This tension prevents us from sharing the gospel and discourages us when we are rejected. How do we handle gospel rejection? We must embrace it with the love Christ showed to us.
Christians have the privilege of introducing people to Jesus. With the Lord's help, we can overcome the fear, tension or awkwardness of introducing people to Jesus.
How did Jesus develop redemptive relationships? Jesus is our greatest example in developing relationships with which to share the gospel. We must follows his example.
What result does justification have? It results in a new spiritual life that is lived by faith through the believer's union with Christ.
Justification is by faith alone. When we understand the truth of the gospel more deeply, we can then live it out more completely and boast in our Savior more passionately.
How can you be right with God? You can be right with God only when you put your faith in Jesus alone.
