Salvation / Faith

  • Taking Joy in the God of Salvation

    Habakkuk 3:17–19

    Believing God when “the chips are down” is one of the most difficult things that we will ever be called to do. Yet if we trust the Lord only when things are going well, then we do not really trust ...Read More

  • The Lord Answers Habakkuk

    Habakkuk 2:2–5

    Just as God’s vision to Habakkuk appeared from his perspective to be delayed, the Lord’s consummation of history may from our vantage point seem to be delayed. However, as we have seen, our Creator always brings His plan ...Read More

  • Securing our Faith

    Matthew 1:18–21

    The Old Testament also points to limited atonement or particular redemption. Israel’s high priest offered atonement only for the people of Israel, not for Israel and those who remained outside the covenant community. From first to last, the Bible ...Read More

  • Justification by Faith Alone

    John 8:46

    Because we are sinners, we can do nothing in and of ourselves to merit eternal life. Even after we are saved, our best works remain tainted by sin and cannot produce the perfection we need for a righteous standing before ...Read More

  • Proving Our Faith

    Isaiah 58

    Our good works do not get us into the kingdom of God, but they do evidence the authenticity of our faith. We cannot rely in any way whatsoever on these works if we want to see God, but if we ...Read More

  • The Good News of God’s Reign

    Isaiah 52:1–12

    Restoration requires faith in the Lord, but we are not able to muster up in ourselves faith that will persevere to the end. We need an atonement that covers even our unbelief, and God must create in us new hearts ...Read More

  • Worthless Egypt

    Isaiah 30:1–7

    For Judah, trusting in Egypt was foolhardy as well as sinful. Egypt could provide no real help, for it was a shadow of its former self. Poetically, Isaiah describes Egypt as the normally terrifying sea monster Rahab who has been ...Read More

  • The Law of God

    Exodus 20:1–17

    In recent years, there has been a lot of controversy in the United States as to the placement of the Ten Commandments in public. In all of this rancor, however, we should never forget that the commandments should first be ...Read More

  • Guided by the law

    Matthew 15:1–9

    Under the old covenant, the covenant community was enslaved to sin and, therefore, burdened by God’s law. In contrast, we live under the new covenant, the era in which God has poured out His Holy Spirit abundantly. If we ...Read More

  • God’s Gift of Faith

    Ephesians 2:8

    If we believe that we are capable of working up faith in our souls, we cannot boast in Christ alone. But if we understand that we have faith only because of the work of the Holy Spirit, then we can ...Read More

  • The Lordship of Christ

    Romans 10:9

    None of the Apostles ever conceived of separating Jesus’ work as Savior from His lordship over the lives of His people. To believe one can be saved without serving Jesus as Lord is to give both ourselves and others a ...Read More

  • Three Aspects of Faith

    Romans 10:14–17

    Saving faith is not a cold, empty rationalism that simply gives intellectual assent to facts. At the same time, it is not a blind entrusting of ourselves into the hands of someone else. Instead, it is a warm, intellectually vital ...Read More

  • Christ Our Righteousness

    1 Corinthians 1:30–31

    Jesus is the only human being who has ever had perfect faith in God. The faith the Lord demands from us is real faith, not perfect faith, and faith can be real even if it is imperfect. Still, we are ...Read More

  • For Abraham’s Sake and Ours

    Romans 4:22–25

    As sinners, we regularly overlook the faults and transgressions of others. We know that no sinner is perfect, and so we are often willing to give people a pass when they do the very same misdeeds of which we ourselves ...Read More

  • Goodness and Faith

    Psalm 37:3

    We will continue to sin until we are in the direct presence of God, so there will always be occasions when we disbelieve the Lord and transgress His law. Our need for perfection has been met in Christ, and He ...Read More