Spiritual Growth / Sanctification and Growth

  • 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 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 Holiness of Christ

    Mark 4:35-41

    When we trust in Jesus, we are His holy people by God’s decree, and, over time, we become holy in our experience as we put sin to death and grow in likeness to Christ. In Jesus, we have a ...Read More

  • Glorifying God in Worship

    Genesis 4:1–16

    In worship, we may say all the right things in our liturgies, but if our hearts are not in it, the Lord is displeased with our offering of praise. Similarly, our hearts may be fully into worshiping God, but if ...Read More

  • The Sixth Petition

    1 Corinthians 10:13

    Today’s study is based on question and answer 127 of the Heidelberg Catechism, which reminds us that the world, the flesh, and the Devil “never stop attacking us.” Until we are glorified, there is no point at which we ...Read More

  • 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

  • Depending on the Lord

    Isaiah 66:1–2

    Christian growth comes as we learn more and more what it means to depend absolutely on God. Our Lord, since He is a jealous God, will not put up with His people not depending fully on Him. Thus, He will ...Read More

  • How to Pray

    James 5:16

    Martin Luther’s advice on prayer is found in the handy booklet titled A Simple Way to Pray. Many people, including Dr. Sproul, have found this work to be very helpful for their prayer lives, but even if you do ...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

  • Speaking the Truth

    Ephesians 4:25

    Matthew Henry writes, “Truth is a debt we owe to one another; and, if we love one another, we shall not deceive one another.” Christians must be known for their love of the truth and the trustworthiness of their speech ...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

  • God’s Work Ethic

    Ephesians 4:28

    God’s people are called to be generous, not foolish. We want to provide real help to widows, orphans, and others who are in true need, first in our churches and then in the world. As we seek to help ...Read More

  • The Eighth Commandment

    Deuteronomy 5:19

    As we will see tomorrow, there are a multitude of ways we can steal from others. Many of these are government-sanctioned, which is why it is important for us to understand what God’s Word says about theft. If we ...Read More

  • The Seventh Commandment

    Deuteronomy 5:18

    Just as idolatry led to destructive consequences for the ancient Israelites, the analogous sin of adultery leads to destruction on an earthly level (2 Kings 17:6–23; Matt. 19:1–12). This should be enough to cause us to ...Read More

  • Dealing With Anger

    Proverbs 14:29

    We can avoid expressing our anger sinfully if we stop to think about how we are being treated and the relative importance of the situation. Often, we are so quick to show our ire that we forget that others may ...Read More