Ligonier Ministries

How should Christian values impact business ethics in the office?

I remember having a discussion a few years ago in the boardroom of one of the Fortune 500 corporations here in the United States. I was speaking to the chairman of the board, the president, and several vice presidents of …Read More

How were the books of the Bible selected and compiled, and how were the decisions made as to what would be distributed as the Word of God?

Even though we think of the Bible as being one book, it’s actually a collection of sixty-six books, and we realize that there was a historical process by which those particular books were gathered together and placed in one volume …Read More

What is the significance of baptism?

Just as an aside, the word significance has as its root the word sign. A sign is something that points to something beyond itself. We all recognize that whatever baptism signifies, Jesus obviously thought it was very important because he …Read More

What is the biblical basis for human dignity?

As a Christian I do not believe that human beings have intrinsic dignity. I am totally committed to the idea that human beings have dignity, but the question is, is it intrinsic or extrinsic? Dignity, by biblical definition, is tied …Read More

Should Christians listen to secular music?

THOMAS: What is secular? Music is music. If there’s “secular music,” is there something called “Christian music?” Music is math. It’s notes, sounds, silences, rhythm, and beat. One isn’t secular and the other one Christian. So I’m not quite sure …Read More

When should I leave a church?

SPROUL: Along with the question of when should you leave the church, another thing I would say is that there are times when you may leave the church where it’s not absolutely necessary to leave the church, and there are …Read More

What does it mean to be “in Christ”?

LAWSON: To be in Christ, first of all, means that we have a saving relationship with Christ and are brought into union and communion with Him in such a way that, as we are in Christ, what is true of …Read More

Can a Christian fall into deep sin, die, and still be saved?

We are not the final arbiters of anyone’s final destiny. To me, that is a supremely important thing to grasp. We have relatively poor measures to understand all that God does in the lives of people who sin, and there …Read More

Can praying to Mary or the saints keep a professing Christian out of heaven?

SPROUL: It’s a gross act of idolatry to be praying to Mary and to the saints. That is a very serious matter. I think there are thousands—perhaps millions—of people within the Roman Catholic Church who really are trusting in Christ …Read More

Is it ever permissible for a Christian to refuse medical treatment?

This is a question that comes up all the time in the field of Christian ethics. One of the problems we have in dealing with all of these modern, heretofore unthinkable advances in technological medicine is that all the other …Read More

Since no one seeks after God, why do so many unconverted people come to church?

LAWSON: In a lot of churches, I think people are going to be entertained, or they are going to make relationships, or they are going out of religiosity. They are going not for God, but for what God would provide …Read More

Can our prayers change God’s will? If not, why pray?

SPROUL: To ask that question is to answer it. What could I possibly say to God that would change His mind? Would I give Him information that He didn’t have before I talked to Him? Could I give Him counsel …Read More

If Jesus was born of “the substance” of the Virgin Mary, how was He without original sin?

SPROUL: When we talk about Jesus receiving “the substance” from His mother, the Virgin Mary, we’re talking about His human nature. Because we’re talking about His deriving His human nature from His mother, you would think that human nature would …Read More

When John identifies Jesus as “the Logos,” is he referring to the Logos in Greek philosophy?

I think John is writing intentionally to communicate with Jews and Gentiles. Therefore, he knows that as he begins his gospel and says, “In the beginning,” all the Jews will sit up and think, “We’re back in Genesis.” Then he’ll …Read More

What does it mean to be “called” in the New Testament?

The New Testament uses the word “to call” in more than one way. We can distinguish among three different ways in which we speak of divine calling. There is the idea of “a calling” we have that is a vocation, …Read More