Theology / Man and Sin

  • The First Gospel

    Genesis 3:15

    The protevangelium, or first gospel, of Genesis 3:15 declares that God’s kingdom will once more be present in its fullness when Satan is destroyed. Christ came and dealt the crushing blow to the Devil, triumphing over him and ...Read More

  • The Flesh

    Romans 8:1–8

    Learning to love the things God loves is essential to the mortification of our flesh. Aside from studying Scripture by ourselves, small-group Bible studies and accountability relationships between members of the same sex are powerful weapons in our spiritual warfare ...Read More

  • The Foolishness of Idolatry

    Isaiah 44:6–20

    Every form of idolatry manifests our doubts that God really has the ability to save. Counselors have long understood, for instance, that one of the main reasons people become drug, alcohol, and sex addicts is because they are looking for ...Read More

  • The Forbidden Fruit

    Genesis 3:1b-5

    Do you believe in what God has revealed to us? Do you take Him at His word when He tells us He is good and that He never lies (Num. 23:19)? Or do you let your own “knowledge” or ...Read More

  • The Glorious Ones

    2 Peter 2:10b–11

    That Peter calls demons “glorious ones” does not suggest they have some goodness left in them. Rather, it warns us of the power and might they still possess even though they are fallen. Though we must not fear evil if ...Read More

  • The Good Fight of Faith

    1 Timothy 6:11-12

    Everyone who follows Christ makes the “good confession of faith” when he joins a church body, and Paul’s exhortation to Timothy to remember the confession he made before other witnesses is an allusion to the importance of fellow witnesses ...Read More

  • The Great Conspiracy

    Acts 4:23–37

    Satan did not stop conspiring against God and His Anointed after the work of Herod and Pilate. He is continually at work. C. S. Lewis said that we often err either by ascribing too much or too little power to ...Read More

  • The Image of God

    Genesis 9:6

    Sin did not destroy the image of God in man. Today’s passage tells us that even after the fall, mankind is still made imago Dei. All people still reflect, in some way, the dignity of the Lord, no matter ...Read More

  • The Inevitability of Judgment

    Romans 2:1–16

    Obedience means submission. If we obey the law because it is God’s law, we are showing trust in Him. If we “do what is right,” ignoring the element of submission, we are acting in pride. Such “good deeds” are ...Read More

  • The Key of Church Discipline

    Psalm 7:11–13

    Dr. R.C. Sproul has often said that we must first understand the bad news if we are going to know the good news of the gospel. There is bad news for all the natural-born sons and daughters of Adam ...Read More

  • The Law on the Heart

    Romans 2:12-16

    The fact that God’s standards were written on your heart means you knew God’s law even before you knew Him. The same is true for all people. Never hesitate to proclaim the high moral standards of God. Some ...Read More

  • The Lord Knows How

    2 Peter 2:9–10a

    That God keeps the unrighteous under punishment by turning them over to their sin should be a sober warning to us. While those of us with true faith will never lose our salvation, if we persist in disobedience, we may ...Read More

  • The Lord Send Him Out

    Genesis 3:22-24

    Even though Christians have been set free from the bondage to sin and death (Eph. 2:1–7), we still struggle with the desire to flee God’s presence, the feeling that our labor is futile, and contentiousness in our ...Read More

  • The Need for Faith

    Romans 3:10-20

    John Calvin said the law of God is a mirror to reveal our sin and drive us to Christ. It is more than a list of do’s and don’ts designed to show us how to obey God. Think ...Read More

  • The Need for Repentance

    Matthew 7:21–23

    Repentance does not eliminate the struggle with sin and make us perfect immediately. But it does result in a marked change of thoughts, words, and deeds whereby we do not love our former lusts as we once did. If we ...Read More