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Does Jesus Got You?
In 2003, the International Dairy Foods Association celebrated its tenth anniversary of the “Got Milk?” advertising campaign. During the past ten years, just about everyone from Michael Jordan to the Cookie Monster has been featured wearing a milk mustache. Besides …Read More
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Perseverance of the Saints
In my many years as a professor of theology and conference speaker, one of the questions I am most frequently asked is, “Doesn’t the Reformed (or Calvinist) tradition teach the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints?” “Yes, it …Read More
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Secure in God
About three years ago, one of my friends admitted to me that he believed that true Christians could lose their salvation. I remember going home that evening quite dismayed that someone with whom I served in ministry actually believed that …Read More
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High Fidelity
“And to forsake all others, till death do us part.” One would think, that with the decades-old trend in the broader culture of “personal marriage vows,” wherein husband and wife fill in the blanks and speak their own words, that …Read More
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In the Hope of His Glory
One of the most beautiful passages of Scripture found itself eloquently translated in the seventeenth century: “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High …Read More
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Almost Home
Genuine perseverance and assurance are sorely lacking among Christians today. The fruits of perseverance and assurance — diligent use of the means of grace, perseverance in heartfelt obedience to God’s will, desire for fellowship with God, yearning for God’s …Read More
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The Means of Persevering Grace
Until the Arminian controversy in the Netherlands in the early seventeenth century, Calvinism did not have five points. Calvinism summarized itself in its great confessions and catechisms and never thought to reduce itself to five points. The Arminians, however, had …Read More
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Safe and Secure
The biblical doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is referred to by several names, for example, “once saved, always saved,” “the security of the believer,” and “the preservation of the believer.” In each case, the doctrine described says that …Read More
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More Than Conquerors
“If you have it, you never lose it; if you lose it, you never had it.” This pithy adage gives expression to the doctrine in the church that some call the doctrine of eternal security, while others refer to it …Read More
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Preserved by God
Winston Churchill is often quoted as saying, “Sure I am of this, that you have only to endure to conquer. You have only to persevere to save yourselves.” Considering what he accomplished in his life, such a statement is certainly …Read More
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Things That Cannot Be Shaken
The entire epistle to the Hebrews seeks to encourage tired and suffering believers to keep looking to Christ in order not to lose heart and give up the good fight. God’s good providence has ordained that we all must …Read More
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Privileges Bring Responsibilities
The letter to the Hebrews, as our studies throughout the year have shown, is full of Old Testament language and ritual. Running throughout it is an ongoing sense that as believers we are on the move, on a pilgrimage through …Read More
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Keeping Our Eyes On Christ
I think that I have heard more sermons based on Hebrews 12 than on any other passage of Scripture. Actually, to be even more precise, I believe that I have heard more sermons based on Hebrews 12:1–2 than …Read More
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How Long Will it Last?
“He’s going through a religious phase.” How often did you overhear that being said about you in your early days as an openly professing follower of Jesus Christ? Admittedly the sheer force of conversion on an untaught mind can …Read More
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Perseverance of the Saints
What are we to make of the stunning words of Hebrews 6:4–6 with their fearful warning against apostasy, a falling away from the faith and from the Lord? They have often been a source of puzzlement and dread …Read More
