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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...

How do you know that you really get the gospel, that you really understand and believe it? Or perhaps better said, how do you know that the gospel has...

The Apostle Paul says that at the core of all our sin is idolatry. He didn’t just mean bowing down to statues (though that counts). Idolatry is much bigger than that: It’s deciding something has such worth and weight that we think possessing it is the key to a happy life. So we prioritize it over knowing and obeying God. Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship” (CSB).

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.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Not only that, but the fear of the Lord is the beginning of the Christian life. The Bible makes it clear that to love God, to honor God, to obey God, we must fear God. But “fear” is a word with many dimensions, many definitions. In what ways are we to fear God?

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.’

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/

want to encourage you to read at least part of a denominational ad interim committee report on human sexuality. That may sound rather drab and difficult, but I am convinced you will find it both helpful and rewarding. It won’t even be particularly difficult. So let me set the context and then tell you why you should read it.

In the Apostle Paul’s day, there were 613 written, Old Testament laws that Jews strictly adhered to. If that sounds like a lot, it is. But there’s more. In addition to these hundreds of laws, devout Jews also developed a set of traditional customs to help ensure they didn’t break any of the 613. They called these the “hedge about the law,” like a hedge around a pit that keeps you from falling into it. The logic was that if you didn’t break the “hedge,” you certainly wouldn’t break the laws themselves.

Who is Jesus? And why do Christians make such a big deal of him? Charles Hodge provides a stirring answer in his Systematic Theology. Why do Christians make such a big deal of Jesus? Here’s why…