December 19, 2018

What to Do When You’ve Sinned

GuiltDavid was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), yet he committed a series of terrible sins in his affair with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). This can happen to us, even as God’s people – we can commit sins even though we have been called to righteousness.

We often talk about the need to overcome temptation – and we should, this is the goal (cf. 1 John 2:1). But what happens when we fail to overcome temptation? Are we without hope? No, we can be forgiven. Should we continue that errant course? Again, no, we are still to strive to do what is right. So what should we do?

In this article, we are going to notice six things we need to do after we have sinned.Continue Reading

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February 28, 2018

Willing to Forgive

Forgiveness

“Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4).

When Jesus taught His disciples about the need to forgive those who had sinned against them, they said, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5). They recognized that it is not always easy to forgive, especially when others habitually or consistently sin against us – either “seven times a day” (Luke 17:4) or even “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22).

However, as the Lord’s disciples, we must be willing to forgive others as the Lord has forgiven us. Paul wrote, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).

We are to be willing to forgive, but what does this willingness to forgive look like?Continue Reading

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July 12, 2017

A Parable About Forgiveness

Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

When Peter asked Jesus a question about how often he should forgive his brother, Jesus answered and told him to forgive his brother “seventy times seven” times (Matthew 18:21-22). His point was not that we should keep a record of the number of times we forgive someone and then after the four hundred and ninetieth time we refuse to forgive them again. Instead, Jesus’ point was that we should always be ready to forgive.

After Jesus answered, He used a parable to explain His answer. In the parable, He showed that we must forgive because we have been forgiven. There are several lessons to be learned from this parable about forgiveness.
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May 10, 2017

Words Associated with Sin

Sin

There are several words in the New Testament that refer to sin. Sometimes these words can be used interchangeably because there is a lot of overlap between them. But there are also some subtle differences in their meanings. We will consider some of these words in this article.
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September 14, 2016

The Death of Jesus

Crucifixion of Christ

In the previous article, we considered the life of Jesus. He perfectly fulfilled the Father’s will – even in His death. This article will focus on the death of Jesus and what we should understand about it.
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June 15, 2016

Godly Sorrow

Prayer

There are many reasons to sorrow in this life. However, in this article we will focus on sorrowing over sin. Paul discussed this in his second letter to Corinth:

“For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while—I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

“For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter” (2 Corinthians 7:8-11).

Sorrow can be produced by our own sins or the sins of others. Generally, sorrow is destructive unless we have the right kind of sorrow – godly sorrow. What is godly sorrow? Why is it beneficial for us? We will examine the passage above and seek to answer those questions in this article.
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May 25, 2016

Remember the Fallen

The Stoning of Stephen

In the United States, Memorial Day is a time to remember those who have died while serving in the armed forces. It is certainly appropriate for us to appreciate the sacrifices that have helped make it possible for us to live “a tranquil and quiet life” (1 Timothy 2:2).

In a similar way, it is good for us to remember those who died not for a country, but for the kingdom of Christ. The New Testament provides us with a record of a few such individuals. In this article we will remember these martyrs* and consider some lessons from their deaths.
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