On one occasion Jesus talked with a brilliant young man about the 10 Commandments. The man said, “I’ve kept them all.” He really believed he had. What about you? Where do you stand in relation to the 10 Commandments? I want to suggest 3 possibilities:
Some of us feel we’ve kept them
The man hadn’t murdered anyone. [...]
Archive for the ‘Life Keys’ Category
Where Do You Stand?
Monday, June 14th, 2010What Does the Law Do?
Monday, June 7th, 2010None of us have seen God. He is invisible. We cannot see Him or know Him directly. But we can see what He is like, rather like looking at a reflection in a mirror. We can see the image of God, even if we cannot see God himself.
The law reflects the image of God. It [...]
Limit Your Liability, Lose Your Freedom
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010Why would anyone who had found freedom in Christ want to turn back to the law? Why would anyone let themselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery? Why would anyone want to be under the law?
Relationships of law have clearly defined limits. That’s why we have contracts—to limit our liability. Relationships of love [...]
What Do You Tell Yourself?
Monday, May 24th, 2010Notice the past tense—this is what you were. Many Christians live their lives in fear, as though they are still slaves. Are you more aware of what God still needs to do in your life, or of what God has already done?
What does Paul mean when he tells Christians they were slaves? A slave [...]
Have You Received the Holy Spirit?
Monday, May 17th, 2010This is a crucial question: How do you receive the Holy Spirit? How do you receive the new life that comes from above? Not by the law! The law cannot impart life! But by believing what you heard—the Gospel of Christ crucified.
There is no such thing as a Christian who does not have the Spirit. [...]
Just Tell Me What I Have To Do
Monday, May 10th, 2010The word “justified” belongs to the law courts, where a person is pronounced “not guilty” and cleared of all charges before the law. The opposite of justified is “condemned.” These two words point us to the last day when God, our Creator and Judge, will pronounce His verdict on our lives—either “justified” or “condemned.”
Nobody wants [...]
The Difference Between Invention, Tradition and Revelation
Monday, May 3rd, 2010Where did the gospel come from? Some people say that the gospel came from Paul—that he invented it. Others say that the gospel came from the church—that it was handed down by tradition over the centuries. But if you’re going to stake your life on the gospel, you need to have confidence that it’s true.
The [...]
The Mystery of Godliness
Monday, April 26th, 2010What hope is there for you and for me of a godly life? How will Christian people become what God calls us to be? Everyone is looking for the answer to that question. We often identify salvation with “justification,” by which gain entrance into heaven. But salvation includes “sanctification,” by which we are made fit [...]
The Proper Use of the Law
Monday, April 19th, 2010What is the proper use of the law for a Christian believer? That’s a huge question for every Christian and for every church. There are two common errors: The first is to say that Christians are subject to the Old Testament law. The second is to say that Christians can forget the Old Testament law.
Christians [...]
If You Take God’s Law Seriously
Monday, April 12th, 2010If you take God’s law seriously, it will convince you that you’re a sinner. Our instinct is to think that we are deserving, that God owes us. But God uses the law to waken us up to reality. God owes me nothing. What I deserve is hell.
Paul’s experience of the law
“I would not have known [...]
Some Will Wander
Monday, April 5th, 2010It’s very rare that anyone decides to abandon the truth. What happens is that people wander. It happens gradually. They lose their moorings and they drift. You don’t want to be that person. So you need to be alert to the danger. God may use you to bring a wanderer back and help them get [...]
What Does He Want From Me?
Sunday, March 28th, 2010He didn’t come to get you to do things for Him, He came to do something for you! Christ’s objective in coming into the world was not to demand something from you, but to accomplish something for you. The Gospel is not about what you are doing for God, it’s about what God is doing [...]
When You Can’t Get to Him
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010When sports celebrities or film stars are signing autographs for kids, they do it for a few, but then more come and at some point they turn away and won’t do any more. Apparently Jesus didn’t do that…So, the disciples decided to deal with the interruptions for Him. I can just imagine Andrew looking out [...]
That Hasn’t Happened to Me
Monday, March 15th, 2010If you are asking: Why would I deny myself and take up my cross to follow Jesus? Why would I lose my life, and spend it for the advance of the Gospel? This is the answer:
You won’t deny yourself, and you will not bear the cross unless you can see that through this there is [...]
Are You on the Fence?
Monday, March 8th, 2010What’s the risk of following Jesus? You come to church and you think about this: Should I really commit myself? Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. Some of us have been on the fence thinking about this for a long time. What is at stake in this decision?
Jesus does not say that following Him might [...]
Where Confidence Meets Humility
Monday, March 1st, 2010Have you experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in your life? Is your confidence growing? Peter has just confessed that Jesus is the Christ. He’s been given marvelous insight from God. Now he feels confident enough to tell Jesus what He should be doing, so Jesus has to correct him.
The danger of overconfidence
Peter has [...]
Opportunity Knocks
Monday, February 22nd, 2010Think of the opportunity! The disciples are sitting in a boat, a few feet from the Son of God. God in the flesh is so near they can touch Him and He is talking with them about how they need to be on their guard against the spreading influence of evil.
Where would you have gone [...]
Pick Your Battle
Monday, February 15th, 2010Jesus said these stunning words to the Pharisees. “You do religious things, but your heart is far from me. Your life is about yourself and your money. You do not really care about the people in desperate need around you, and the truth is you don’t really love God either.” Do you need a new [...]
The Very Thing Jesus is Against
Monday, February 8th, 2010The Old Testament specified one day a year when God called His people to fast—the Day of Atonement. The leaders of God’s people also called other occasional fasts, but the Pharisees had made fasting part of their regular routine. It appears that they fasted twice a week and encouraged others to do the same (Luke [...]
What Keeps You Going?
Monday, January 25th, 2010If you are a Christian, you experience two things: First, you know that you are in a struggle. Temptation is all around you. Your awareness of it is heightened. You often feel your own weakness. Second, you know that have been given power. Christ lives in you.
I love the way Paul puts it “To this [...]
What Believers Believe
Monday, January 18th, 2010The mark of a Christian here is not a general faith in God but a specific faith in Jesus: “We believe that Jesus is the Christ” (1 John 5:1). What does that mean?
“Christ” means “anointed one.” In the Old Testament God anointed certain people for particular tasks. These tasks reflected His great work of revealing [...]
Don’t Hold Your Breath
Monday, January 11th, 2010The person born of God will not continue to sin. They cannot go on sinning. Really? How can this be? The reason why the Christian will not and cannot continue in sin is because he is born of God and God’s seed remains in him. The new birth makes continuing in sin impossible.
If sin is [...]
What if the Bible said…
Monday, January 4th, 2010“I will give you new life, and here’s how you earn it: Do what is right. Stop sinning. Love God and love other people.” Works 101:1 (NIV)
If that was the message today, what would your life be like this week? The Christian life would be one massive effort. The whole thing would be riddled with [...]
Who Says So?
Thursday, April 16th, 2009Someone might say “It’s all very well for Mark to say that Jesus is the Son of God, but that’s just his opinion… Who says so?” The confession “Jesus in the Son of God” is much more than Mark’s opinion…
It is the unanimous confession of the New Testament
“These are written that you may believe that [...]
