Spiritual Growth / Godliness

  • Serving God in the Here and Now

    1 Corinthians 7:17–24

    If our primary concern in life is to change our present situation, then we will have little room to serve God wherever we are. It is not inherently wrong to seek a change in circumstances, and, indeed, a change may ...Read More

  • An Attitude of Contentment

    Romans 7:7–8

    Western culture does everything it can to stoke the fires of discontentment. Politicians pander to class envy. Advertisers depict products in a way that makes us think we must own them if life is to be worthwhile. Hollywood tells us ...Read More

  • The Ninth Commandment

    Deuteronomy 5:20

    There are a number of different ways in which we can break this rule against false witness. If we teach or proclaim wrong things about God’s character, we are bearing false witness. If we gossip and backbite to destroy ...Read More

  • Faith and the Law

    Hebrews 11:6

    We have a duty to do what is good, which means that we have a duty to do the right things for the right reasons. Although we should do right even when we are not motivated by faith and God ...Read More

  • The Imitation of Christ

    Ephesians 5:1

    The Apostle Paul’s teaching on our sanctification is ultimately a call to the imitation of Christ (1 Cor. 11:1). Therefore, we should pay close attention to the words and actions of Jesus if we want to understand what ...Read More

  • The Enemies of the Cross of Christ

    Philippians 3:18–19

    Although we are rightly distressed when we see professing Christians pervert the grace of God into an excuse for sin, we should not be surprised that such things happen. After all, if people could glory in their shame while the ...Read More

  • A Life Worthy of the Gospel

    Philippians 1:27

    We can by no means overestimate our need of the Christian community for our own faithfulness to our Savior in this world. All of the greatest leaders in church history had the support of fellow believers, and they were thereby ...Read More

  • Abounding Love

    Philippians 1:9–11

    Only by faith do we lay hold of Christ’s righteousness, which alone gets us into heaven. Yet we can also get additional rewards in heaven if we serve God faithfully. These rewards, however, are still grounded in faith because ...Read More

  • The World, the Flesh, and the Devil

    Ephesians 2:2-3

    Paul makes a subtle shift in Ephesians 2:1–3 from “you” (the Gentile Ephesians) to “we” (Jews like Paul and the Gentiles), indicating the universality of sin. John Chrysostom writes, “All are included. It is not possible to say ...Read More

  • Receiving Onesimus

    Philemon 17-18

    John Calvin takes Paul’s willingness to help Onesimus be reconciled to Philemon as an example for us. The apostle, he writes, “warns us how affectionately we ought to aid a sinner who has given us proof of his repentance ...Read More

  • Life Before Christ

    Colossians 3:7-8

    One commentator has said that “we should never confuse being moral with being Christian, but we cannot claim to be Christian if we ignore morality.” An outwardly upright life is not a sure sign that somebody knows Christ, but a ...Read More

  • Putting Sin to Death

    Colossians 3:5-6

    Understanding that we are already holy in Christ should not be confused with the perfectionism that we often see in other theological traditions. We will not be free from the struggle with sin before we are glorified, but knowing that ...Read More

  • Walking in Christ Jesus

    Colossians 2:6-7

    Discontent in our lives and envy of the blessings of others is the opposite of thanksgiving, and these things threaten to plunge us back into the darkness of sin. John Calvin comments, “Ingratitude is very frequently the reason why we ...Read More

  • Christ Our Wisdom

    Colossians 2:3

    The gospel is scandalous to unbelievers even though Christ is the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:18–31). But it is important to note that the message is to be scandalous, not our actions. We must take care not ...Read More

  • The Bride and Her Husband

    Ephesians 5:22-33

    Jesus certainly loves us individually and justifies us via our personal faith in Him. However, the relationship between Christ and His bride is a relationship between the sovereign Lord and a corporate body. Jesus loves a people as His bride ...Read More