-
Justified by Faith
If you are a believer, you have been justified. That means God has determined that He will not regard you as a guilty sinner but as His spotless, perfect child. In this simple process are displayed all the wonders of ...Read More
-
Law and Gospel
Answer 86 of the Heidelberg Catechism emphasizes that we do good works because the God who justifies us also gives us His Spirit to conform us more and more to the image of Jesus Christ. Our Lord saves us from ...Read More
-
Law and Gospel
Our relativistic age does not like to hear that there is an eternal, unchangeable law that convicts all people. But the central message of the gospel is that we have broken this law and need to be reconciled to God ...Read More
-
Maligning Paul’s Character
The context of Galatians 1:10 refutes any notion that Paul was a people-pleaser. Would a man concerned to win the acclaim of all people call down curses upon some of them (vv. 8–9)? Paul’s becoming “all things ...Read More
-
Not Under the Law
John Calvin comments, “If we would obey the Spirit, we must labor, and fight, and apply our utmost energy; and we must begin with self-denial.” Walking by the Holy Spirit is the denial of the self and one’s fleshly ...Read More
-
One God, One People
Our unity as the people of God testifies to the unity of our Lord. To see Christians living and working together in harmony is a powerful witness that all believers possess the same Holy Spirit and share a common purpose ...Read More
-
Paul’s Former Life
Not all of us have had a dramatic conversion experience like Paul had, and by God’s covenantal grace, many of us may not even remember a time when we did not know Christ. Nevertheless, all who have turned from ...Read More
-
Pollution’s True Source
The concern with outward acts and not the intent of God’s law manifested these particular Pharisees’ blindness to the ultimate source of impurity. Jesus therefore reminded them that the heart is the true source of corruption, not the hands ...Read More
-
Severed from Christ
Martin Luther says that Galatians 5:2 “is a touchstone, whereby we may most certainly and freely judge all doctrines, works, religions, and ceremonies of all men.” Any of these that promise righteousness and salvation through them are to be ...Read More
-
Shadow Versus Substance
We might envy the old covenant saints because we do not usually see great seas parted, manna falling from heaven, and other “spectacular” displays of God’s power. But we are in a far better position than the old covenant ...Read More
-
The Covenant of Law
To obey the law means to come to know something of the holiness of God. The Israelites saw the glory of God on the mountain and trembled because of it. As Christians, we, too, should respect God’s law, for ...Read More
-
The Curse of the Law
Martin Luther comments on Galatians 2:17 that God’s law “requires perfect obedience unto God, and condemns all those who do not accomplish the same,” and on 3:10 he says that to follow God’s commandments is not ...Read More
-
The Fulfillment of the Law
The distinction between the civil, ceremonial, and moral laws of the Mosaic code is not so clear on the pages of Scripture. Nevertheless, the distinction is a helpful tool for applying this law to our lives today. We study the ...Read More
-
The Full Meaning of Moses
Matthew Henry writes that the Pharisees made the fundamental error in thinking that “the divine law prohibited only the sinful act, not the sinful thought.” The unseen sins of the mind and heart are the easiest for us to justify ...Read More
-
The Gift of the Spirit
Good works are not wholly absent from the Christian life. They do not earn God’s favor, but they do prove that we have faith (James 2:14–26). Martin Luther says good works “ought to be done not as ...Read More
