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The question about the cessation or continuation of special revelation has very practical ramifications for the Christian life, for God’s special revelation carries great authority. When people ascribe that authority to mystical experiences, the results are damaging to their spiritual lives, sometimes tragically so.

Every sin is serious, even the ones that look respectable. But that doesn’t mean some sins don’t deserve more attention than others. In fact, when the Bible rattles off a series of sins, it tends to mention many of the same ones. And while we don’t want to do ethics by list making, it is instructive to note what sins are mentioned, how often, and in what place. Here are the eight vice lists in the New Testament...

It’s the age of the tattoo, isn’t it? It has become something of a rite of passage for older teenagers or younger adults to get inked. Whatever we parents think about this trend, I expect we’re unanimous in at least wanting our children to wait until they are old enough to count the cost—to grow up enough to have some sense of what it will meanhttps://www.challies.com/

The Puritans use to speak of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. And they were right to do so. Sin is a heinous insult to a holy God. It is lawless, treasonous, rebellion. It’s also really dumb. Everyone who knows the Bible, knows people, or knows his own heart, knows this to be true: sin makes us stupid. Think of the Garden of Eden. You literally live in paradise, and you listen to a snake whisper something about a tasty fruit. Why risk it?...

Nearly every language has a short repetitive word for “father.” For example, in English, it’s “Dada.” In Spanish, it’s “Papa,” in Indonesian, “Bapa,” and in Turkish, “Baba.” Who comes up with these words? Babies do because humans have a primordial desire to reach out for a parent, someone who loves us perfectly and can take care of us.

Quite frankly, the excuses I have heard for why Christians don’t read or study the Old Testament are laughable. My goal is to persuade you to read, study, and even teach the Old Testament, but in order to accomplish this goal I must first deal with some of the most common excuses that are offered for ignoring this part of the Bible.

Jerry Bridges gave many gifts to the church, not the least of which was his 2007 book Respectable Sins. In it he coined a term that describes a whole category of sins that might otherwise escape our attention. “Respectable sins” are behaviors Christians (sometimes individually and sometimes corporately) regard as acceptable even though the Bible describes them as sinful. They are subtle or refined in such a way that we may even dress them up to become a kind of virtue. Bridges offers many examples: anxiety and frustration; discontentment; unthankfulness; impatience and irritability; worldliness; and so on.

Some time ago I heard an interview with Bono on a public news station, and the subject of Jesus came up. I guess Bono was in one of his truth-moods because here’s what he said: “The secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: ‘He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius.’

Trying to tame sin rather than killing it is as silly as people making pets out of predatory animals. I once read an article with the headline, “Pennsylvania Woman Killed by Pet Bear.” This woman had raised a black bear named Teddy from cubhood, and for nine years, there were no incidents. But then, one day, as she was cleaning his cage, the bear mauled her.

It happens often—too often—in the Christian world. Another celebrity preacher, celebrity author, celebrity speaker, is exposed as a hypocrite, as one who takes advantage of position and prominence to pursue not heavenly rewards, but fleshly lusts, fading treasures, or fleeting power. When yet another one is exposed, it is like a huge boulder is dropped into an otherwise still pond. There is a great splash, a great disturbance, a great series of ripples that flow outward, until the whole body of water has been disturbed.