Explore
Articles, Bible studies, questions and reflections to help you explore the Christian faith.
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People’s Opinions Don’t Define You (The Prayer of Jabez)
Other people have incredible power over things that matter to you. They can physically hurt your body. They can discourage and distract your soul from looking at Jesus. They can steal and take your possessions. And they can also slander and libel you to destroy your reputation. I’ve spent a lot of time reading Luther’s…
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Why Should I Believe in Jesus?
Many people expect the answer to be: because the evidence is strong, because Christianity makes sense, because the Church says so, or because faith will improve your life. But none of these things give faith. The Bible gives a deeper answer, with two parts. It says you should believe in Jesus because God tells you…
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Universal Justification But Not Universal Final Salvation
I was recently asked a series of excellent questions about universalism. The questions arise from a real tension. The Bible teaches that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. God genuinely reconciled the world to himself through the blood of Christ. He sincerely desires the salvation of every person. Does that mean that…
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Who Can Forgive Your Sins?
Muslims and Christians both speak about forgiveness.But the Qur’an and the Bible present Muhammad and Jesus very differently. We see that clearly when we compare what they say about forgiveness. The Qur’an (Surah 47:19):* ١٩- فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّـهُ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنبِكَ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ يَعْلَمُ مُتَقَلَّبَكُمْ وَمَثْوَاكُمْ 19. Know, therefore, that There…
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Sanctification Is Knowing God’s In a Good Mood with You
Many Christians think sanctification means becoming less disappointing to God. That’s why self-help books are quite popular with lots of Christians. And why many Christian books are quite similar to self-help books. Because if you view sanctification as essentially moral improvement, it is essentially “self-help.” Many of these same Christians rightly affirm that sanctification is…
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Luther Preached the Gospel So Objectively that It Sounded Universalist
A recent visitor to my church explained to me his understanding of the Christian Gospel: The visitor was earnest, lovely, a kind and gentle soul. The only problem is this: What he said is not the Christian Gospel. Point 2 is absolutely true, and is the teaching of God’s Law. Points 1 and 3 are…
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Owning the Keys Gives the Church Flexibility in the Call
When you turn wise human arrangements into divine commands, you obscure God’s Word and confuse Law and Gospel. At the extreme end of this kind of mistake, we end up falling foul of Jesus’ warning in Mark 7:7 (quoting Isaiah 29:13): in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. (Mark…
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All Christians Owning the Keys Supports the Public Call to Ministry—It Doesn’t Undermine It
The Augsburg Confession 14 rightly and biblically says “no one should publicly teach, preach, or administer the sacraments without a proper public call.” Many Christian churches agree with this statement in principle, but the biggest differences arise among Christians about what a proper public call is. Some claim that proper public call is created by…
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Owning the Keys Means Every Vocation is Spiritual
People sometimes speak as though pastors and missionaries do “spiritual” work, while everyone else merely has an ordinary job. Martin Luther rejected that distinction. Every Christian has the same baptism, the same Gospel, the same faith, and the same standing before God. Christians have different offices and different work to do. All these vocations are…
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Jesus Thinks He Gave the Keys to Everyone
I’ve heard it argued that Jesus did not give the Keys of the kingdom to every Christian, because when Jesus gave the Keys, only the apostles were present. There are numerous problems with this argument. For example, when Jesus actually gives the Keys in John 20:22-23, John does not make clear who exactly was present.…