Sanctify Us

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Jesus warns us of the danger of false teachers, whom He describes as ravenous wolves. The danger posed by false teachers.  False teachers are dangerous because they alter something of great value. Immediately after his admonition to “rightly handle the word of truth”, Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:16 to “avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness.” The contrast is unmistakable. God’s word provides us with the tools we need to be effective, faithful workers. Unholy false doctrine is nothing more than babble to be ignored. That’s why Paul goes on to call out Hymenaeus and Philetus as two men who had “swerved from the truth… they are upsetting the faith of some” (v.18). False teachers like Hymanaeus and Philetus are destructive forces.    Wolves in sheep’s clothing.  The frightening part of these spiritual wolves is that they d...

Many people find it difficult to read the Bible regularly and consistently for one reason or another. If you don’t find yourself reading Scripture as often as you’d like even though you try, one of these suggestions may help.   Reading is not your strength.  We all have different strengths and some of us struggle to do large amounts of reading in any context, not just the Bible. This may be due to limited education, limitations such as dyslexia, or simply not much practice at study. Some people’s jobs and hobbies really do not require much deep reading. Thankfully, God does not require disciples to be scholars. Here are a few ideas:   ·         Try a simpler translation or even paraphrase of the Bible. These have limitations and can sometimes obscure nuance, but there is still much to be gained from a version of the Bible that you can stick to and read regularly. ·         Study in shorter bursts. Bible...

One of the most informative accounts in the gospels is the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness found in Matthew 4:1-11. Satan wasn’t going to let Jesus carry out His ministry unopposed. At every turn, he looked for ways to throw obstacles in Jesus’ way. This is maybe seen most clearly when he directly tried to tempt Jesus. But more importantly, Jesus’ response teaches us how we can defeat Satan.   Time and place.  Why did Satan choose this moment to tempt Jesus? Jesus had just been baptized by John (3:13-17). Of course, Jesus did not need the forgiveness of sins that baptism would come to offer in the church. Baptism for the remission of sins works because it is the response of one who trusts in God for salvation and because it connects the sinner to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Neither of these things applied to Jesus for obvious reasons, but his baptism was still important. It was a sort of anointing to signify the start of His ministry. Jesus was given th...

In his letter to the Galatian Christians, Paul addressed an urgent issue that had come up. Judaizing teachers had come to them and led them away from the truth. Paul’s opening statements in his letter reveal much about the sanctity of the gospel of Jesus. A different gospel?  “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you have received, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:6-9).    The Galatians were losing their faith in the gospel. Paul could scarcely believe it—what could possibly be sufficient to pull them away from Jesus? He first calls it a “different g...