Holy Spirit

I remember hearing this question in a Bible study more than once, and this was the common answer: “Mercy is not getting what we deserve.” While it's short and pithy, is mercy as simplistic as that? Is it only the commutation of a sentence or stay of execution? Or is mercy much richer and deeper? To...

When speaking about God it’s always crucial to remember that we are speaking about He who is incomprehensible, the infinite One of Whom finite language cannot fully describe or define. Thus, theologians have rightly stated that most language concerning the Being of God is analogical, rather than...

The world is, at its very core, divided. There are divisions between races, between nations, between political parties, and on and on it goes. Even within our own selves we are divided. We desire to do good, but our flesh drives us to do evil. God is not like this. God is not divided. The doctrine...

During his 1789 National Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, George Washington declared: ... it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God … ... both Houses of Congress have … requested me to “recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and...

For a number of years, my family enjoyed a mid-summer escape from the hot winds of the Kansas plain to the cooler heights of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Colorado. With Horn Peak looming above our cabin, we were nourished by the warm-hearted fellowship of the saints and the heart-warming...

Our English term sanctification derives from two Latin terms sanctus and facio . When brought together they mean “to make holy.” If we are to understand how the term sanctification is used in Scripture, we must understand the Scriptural use of the term holy . The biblical notion of holiness, or...

One afternoon a group of bored boys decided to bother an old man working in his yard. After causing the man a little trouble they moved on. However, the town wherein they lived was a small one and so having recognized one of the boys the old man called on the father of that particular boy. When the...

Every Christian can readily acknowledge, ‘I’m not what I used to be; but I am not yet what I will be!’ We are all very much a work in progress. This is reinforced by the verb tenses the Bible uses to refer to different aspects of salvation: we ‘have been saved’ (Eph 2.8), ‘…are being saved’ (1Co 15...

Perhaps the most thorough definition of regeneration came from the pen of Herman Witsius, the 17th century Dutch theologian, in his work, The Economy of the Covenants : “Regeneration is that supernatural act of God whereby a new and divine life is infused into the elect person, spiritually dead,...

After rising from the dead, ascending into heaven, and being enthroned at God’s right hand, Christ poured out the Holy Spirit on the church. The significance of this event cannot be exaggerated. It is the culmination of Christ’s exaltation short of his second coming. It is here that every benefit...