Posts from June 2022
Justification Is the Result of Our Union with Christ
Section 6: Salvation – Part 1 Week 4: Justification – God’s Declaration of Our Righteousness Day 4: Justification Is the Result of Our Union with Christ Rom. 6:1-10 How is it that God is able to treat Christ’s righteousness as our righteousness? We’ve said that Christ serves as our representative, and that’s true. But let’s take a closer look at the nature of our connection to him. In the Digging Deeper section on Humanity, we noted that God sees all…
Justification Is Based on What Christ Has Done for Us
Section 6: Salvation – Part 1 Week 4: Justification – God’s Declaration of Our Righteousness Day 3: Justification Is Based on What Christ Has Done for Us Rom. 5:1-11 We need to be righteous in order to gain eternal life. The problem is: we aren’t righteous. Fortunately for us, when we put our faith in Jesus, God looks at his life rather than our own. As we noted in the section on his life and death, Jesus perfectly obeyed God…
Justification Isn’t Based on Anything We Do
Section 6: Salvation – Part 1 Week 4: Justification – God’s Declaration of Our Righteousness Day 2: Justification Isn’t Based on Anything We Do Rom. 4 We saw yesterday that justification is a declaration by God of our righteousness. How does one go about obtaining such a declaration from God? To answer that question, in Romans 4, Paul takes a look at the life Abraham. God called Abraham from his homeland in the city of Ur and told him to…
Justification Is a Legal Concept
Section 6: Salvation – Part 1 Week 4: Justification – God’s Declaration of Our Righteousness Day 1: Justification Is a Legal Concept Rom. 3:1-26 Last week we looked at the process of coming to faith in Christ. This week we want to take a closer look at something that happens as a result of our coming faith. Paul says we are justified by faith (Rom 3:26, 28), but what does that mean exactly? Justification is a term that has legal…
Saving Faith Is the Result of the Holy Spirit’s Work within Us
Section 6: Salvation – Part 1 Week 3: Conversion – Turning to Christ in Faith Day 5: Saving Faith Is the Result of the Holy Spirit’s Work within Us 1 Peter 1:3-8, 23-25 Jeni and I went vegan a few years ago. There was a time when I couldn’t have imagined that. We had once tried a vegan restaurant and couldn’t bring ourselves to eat anything. Everything on the menu had quotation marks. For example, what in the world is…
The Park City Podcast – S1:E18
PROVIDENCE AND CONVERSION What are we to make of the 400-year period when Israel is awaiting the Messiah and God appears absent? What’s so miraculous about conversion? In this episode, David and Phil discuss God’s providence as Israel awaits the coming Messiah. Then, in the devotional, they discuss how the Lord works in our hearts to lead us to faith. This discussion on God’s providence stems from the current sermon series on the book of Esther. Despite not being mentioned…
Saving Faith Includes Repentance
Section 6: Salvation – Part 1 Week 3: Conversion – Turning to Christ in Faith Day 4: Saving Faith Includes Repentance Acts 2:14-48 Thus far we have focused on faith as the way we take hold of what Christ has done for us. But what are we supposed to make of passages like Acts 2:37:38 where Peter tells the crowd to repent and be baptized in order to have their sins forgiven? Did Peter make a mistake? Or what about…
Saving Faith Includes Trust
Section 6: Salvation – Part 1 Week 3: Conversion – Turning to Christ in Faith Day 3: Saving Faith Includes Trust John 3:1-23 People need to hear the gospel so they can come to faith. But what is faith? From a biblical perspective, it’s important to understand that faith involves more than believing certain facts. Trust is an essential element. We use to have a basset hound named Colbi. She was very sweet, but she was also a lot of…
What Is the Gospel?
Section 6: Salvation – Part 1 Week 3: Conversion – Turning to Christ in Faith Day 2: What Is the Gospel? Rom. 1:11-17 I have a tendency to talk too much. In fact, I’ve been known to go on and on about subjects even when no one is particularly interested. I know what you’re thinking, “What?!!? You? No!” It’s true though. So much so, Jeni often ends a question with, “I need the two-minute answer.” What is she looking for?…
Saving Faith Requires Hearing the Gospel
Section 6: Salvation – Part 1 Week 3: Conversion – Turning to Christ in Faith Day 1: Saving Faith Requires Hearing the Gospel Rom. 10:1-15 One night, when I was still a practicing attorney, I woke up with a sudden fear that there was a case that urgently needed attention. But I had no idea what case, much less what I needed to do on it. Not a good feeling. I racked my brain, but I couldn’t come up with…
Election Highlights God’s Grace
Section 6: Salvation — Part 1 Week 2: Election: God Chose Us before the Foundation of the World Day 5: Election Highlights God’s Grace 2 Thess. 2:13-17 Not everyone agrees the Bible teaches the doctrine of election, at least not as we have described it so far. We delve into that debate in the Digging Deeper section. For now, imagine a friend tells you about a job and gives you a couple of tips for your interview. You put in…
The Park City Podcast – S1:E17
PROVIDENCE AND ELECTION Where do we see God’s providence in Israel’s exile to Babylon? How is the doctrine of election good news? In this episode, David and Phil discuss God’s providence during the division of the kingdom of Israel and its subsequent exile to Babylon. Then, in the devotional, they discuss what the Bible has to say about the doctrine of election, as well as what makes this a challenging topic to talk about. This discussion on God’s providence…