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• What Is Truth? by Derek Thomas
• Does God Control Everything? by H.B. Charles Jr.
• What Is My Purpose? by Ken Jones
• How Should I Endure Suffering? by Sinclair Ferguson
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On May 6, 1619, delegated pastors and professors from across Europe processed through the streets of Dordrecht to the Grote Kerk, the “Great Church.” There the Canons of Dort were read publicly in Dutch for the town and its guests to hear. As each delegate’s name was called, he tipped his hat in assent. Ever since, the Canons have belonged to the confessional heritage of the Dutch Reformed churches.

But how did everyone get there in the first place?

To answer that, we need to go back to the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, when the Netherlands became the scene of a fierce struggle politically and theologically over the grace of God.

The Reformation did not necessarily start on October 31, 1517, with Martin Luther, nor did it arrive in the Netherlands on untilled soil. For generations, reforming movements had been calling the church back to the Word in a series of medieval debates. Groups such as the Waldensians and Lollards had fled there, and movements within the Netherlands, such as the Brethren of the Common Life, encouraged a simple, Scripture-shaped piety. It’s said that on the eve of what we call “the Reformation,” Frisian fishermen living in huts could read, write, and discuss Scripture.

Upon this latest reformation movement in the Netherlands came the weight of empire. The seventeen provinces of the Netherlands were ruled by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Under his son and successor, Philip II of Spain, persecution intensified. While Charles enacted laws outlawing Protestantism, he never strictly applied them. Philip, however, did. He forbade reading and possessing forbidden books, worshipping outside the Roman Church, talking openly or secretly about the Scriptures, and teaching the Scriptures unless one was a graduate of a university. The penalties were severe: the sword for males, being buried alive for females, and fire for those who wouldn’t confess. If you failed to inform the authorities of someone later found to be a heretic, you’d be guilty. Tensions boiled over in 1566 in the beeldenstorm, the wave of public iconoclasm. In the years that followed, resistance to Spanish rule grew under William of Orange, the Netherlands’ leading noble, and the northern provinces eventually united in open revolt. In 1583, the new United Provinces rejected Philip’s rule.

That political upheaval formed the backdrop for the theological controversy that would later produce the Canons of Dort.

At the eye of that storm stood Jakob Harmenszoon, Latinized as Jacobus Arminius. Educated at Leiden and then abroad, Arminius had strong Reformed credentials and even a glowing letter of recommendation from his professor at Geneva, Theodore Beza. In 1588, he became a pastor in Amsterdam. Yet as he preached through Romans, concerns began to grow. While in Romans 2, he said his hearers would have been better off if they had remained in the Roman Church because at least, they would be doing good works in the hope of eternal reward, while now they did none at all. In Romans 5, he said death was inevitable even if Adam had obeyed the Lord’s command. In Romans 7, he moved away from the Augustinian tradition, suggesting that Paul was speaking of the unregenerate man. Especially in Romans 9, he interpreted “Jacob I loved and Esau I hated,” as classes of people rather than individuals.

Arminius’ senior colleague, Petrus Plancius (1552–1622) protested to the consistory (the ruling church council), which investigated Arminius, but nothing came of it. These concerns only intensified after Arminius became professor at Leiden in 1603. His colleague, Franciscus Gomarus, came to believe that Arminius’ theology endangered the church’s doctrine of justification by faith alone. If election was grounded in foreseen faith, then faith itself seemed to become a kind of work. The issue was no mere academic quarrel. It touched the very question of whether salvation is wholly of grace.

Many ministers called for a national synod to settle the matter. But in the Dutch Republic, theology and politics were tightly bound together. Some sided with the church’s right to govern its own doctrine and discipline; others insisted that the civil authorities had the decisive voice. Conferences were held in 1607 and 1609 between Arminius and Gomarus, but nothing was resolved. Arminius died in 1609, remembered even by opponents as a humble and godly man, but the controversy did not die with him.

His death didn’t end the fight. In January 1610, forty-three ministers sympathetic to Arminius met in Gouda and issued a five-point document called The Remonstrance, meaning “public protest.” From that point on, they were known as the Remonstrants. Their opponents replied in 1611 with a Counter-Remonstrance. The conflict spread from lecture halls and consistories into the pews and the streets. Congregations divided. Worshipers moved from church to church to avoid certain preachers. Riots broke out. By 1617 and 1618, the Dutch Republic itself was nearing civil conflict, just as the threat of renewed war with Spain loomed.

Under that pressure, the States General finally called a national synod. At the urging of King James I of England, it became an international synod. Reformed churches from across Europe were invited to send delegates so that the Dutch churches would not settle this matter in isolation. This was no small provincial meeting. It was, as one observer put it, a muster of the forces of Calvinism.

The Synod of Dort met from November 1618–May 1619. Dutch delegates were joined by representatives from England, the Palatinate, Hesse, the Swiss Republics, Bremen, and Nassau-Wetteravia. Due to political pressures and distance, the French and Brandenburgers were not able to attend.

The Remonstrants were summoned to appear and defend their views. But the proceedings quickly bogged down as their leading spokesman, Simon Episcopius, challenged the synod’s right to judge them and sought to redirect the debate. After weeks of delay and frustration, President Johannes Bogerman finally dismissed them with the famous order: “You are dismissed! Get out!”

After that, the synod examined the Remonstrant teachings from their published writings and set to work. A drafting committee, made up of Dutch and foreign delegates, labored intensely to produce what became the Canons of Dort.

The Canons were not written as a detached theological treatise. They were a pastoral and polemical response to a real crisis in the church. They addressed five disputed heads of doctrine, each one tied to the Remonstrant challenge. At every point, they defended the same great truth: Salvation from beginning to end is of the Lord. God’s election is gracious, Christ’s atonement is powerful, the Spirit’s calling is effectual, and God preserves His people to the end.

That is how we got the Canons of Dort: through persecution, political upheaval, ecclesiastical controversy, and a major international synod. The Canons were born in a fight over grace. That is why they still matter. They are the church’s confession that sinners are saved not by the uncertainty of their own will, but by the free, sovereign, and steadfast mercy of God.

Who is Jesus? Conflicting answers to this question have echoed through history. Ancient Gnostics taught that Jesus was a spirit who only appeared to be human. The Arian heresy said that He was a creation of God. Islam reduced Him to a mere human prophet. Much of medieval Roman Catholicism represented Him as an austere king, only approachable through mediators. If we fast forward to today, heresy and error have multiplied. Theological liberals claim that He is mainly a myth, while neo-pagans seek an affirming spirit guide, or now even an interdimensional alien. Popular songs seem to present Him as an imaginary friend who always guides us away from trials. Sadly, many others seem to know His name only as a curse word. To sweep these falsehoods away, we must to go back to the Bible. To know Jesus’ true identity, we must understand His name as it is revealed in the Word of God.  

Who is Jesus? In ancient times, the names given to children had to do with the testimony their parents wanted them to have. In our culture, many think of baby names first being associated with the way they sound. But in Jewish antiquity, it was customary to give children meaningful names that testified to God’s character. In Matthew 1, an angel of the Lord brought a message to Joseph, who was Jesus’ earthly father:

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matt. 1:20–23)

The Greek name Jesus is a combination of the divine name Jehovah and the verb to save. He is “Jehovah saves.” In the Old Testament, Joshua is the Hebrew name with the same meaning. Joshua saved by conquering the promised land and providing rest. But notice what Jesus Christ saves from. The very foundation of His identity is to “save his people from their sins.” He saves not just from the symptoms of our problems, but He deals with the very root cause.

Many do not think that they need to be saved from sin. They want help with self-improvement or desire a shortcut to better spiritual experiences. They are looking for saviors that will prop up their own prideful identity. Some pick and choose from a mix of heresies and half-truths, developing their own “personal Jesus.” This is idolatry. We should not be surprised that false teachers would promote these ideas. The church has been warned again and again that they would arrive (Matt. 7:15; Acts 20:30; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 2:18).

Since Jesus saves His people from their sin, we must know ourselves if we are to truly know Jesus. In historical Reformed churches, they would say, “You must become a sinner.” They did not mean that we need to start sinning more, but that we need to recognize our identity as a sinner (Luke 18:13). The gritty history of the Bible lines up with our own experience: God’s people had to learn through stumbling, wandering, backsliding, slavery, exile, and denials that they could not save themselves from their sins. We are by nature rebels and enemies of God. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). If we truly know that we are sinners, we know that we need the Savior who alone can rescue us from sin. 

Only Jesus can save us because He is truly God and truly man. We are mere creatures. He is Creator (John 1:1–3). We are flawed and fallen images of God. He is the “express image of God” (Heb. 1:3). His title is Christ, which means “the anointed one.” He is the Spirit-anointed Prophet, Priest, and King. He perfectly declared the truth, paid the price for sin at the cross, and accomplished victory over sin and death in His resurrection. His glorious identity as “God with us” makes Him the only Savior who gives eternal life to those who trust in Him.

Matthew’s gospel refers to Isaiah 7:14 when it says, “‘They shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Matt. 1:20–23). Why this second name? Who calls Him Immanuel? We do. The redeemed church of all ages and places continues to fulfill this prophecy. Knowing ourselves to be sinners saved by grace and having the Word, we insist that He is “God-with-us.” The true identity of Jesus has been at the very heart of church history. It was heresy and error about Him that led to the councils, creeds, reformations, and confessions that restated this truth. When false teachings denied Him, sinners who had been saved by grace proclaimed: “Immanuel!” Though we may live in an age of errors, we live in an age of the same opportunity. Let us continue to boldly confess Jesus Christ as “God with us.”¹

Paul had to speak harshly to the Corinthian community because the church there was not known for its maturity. The Corinthian church was racked by divisions; some followed Apollos and some followed Peter and some followed Paul. Problems confronted the Corinthian community—immorality, heresy, denying the resurrection. It was hardly a model congregation. In fact, if you go beyond the New Testament and you read the writings of Clement, the bishop of Rome at the end of the first century, you find a letter to the Corinthian congregation that was written decades after Paul's letters. Clement pleaded with the Corinthian Christians to go back, to read Paul's letters, and to begin to implement what the Apostle had taught them in the first place because the same problems were continuing in this community. Paul uses two sharp words of criticism for the Corinthian community. He calls them “carnal,” which is to say that they claimed to be spiritual but were actually more in the flesh than they were in the Spirit. Then Paul chastises them for being infantile in their understanding of the things of God and in their behavior. In a word, they were not behaving as mature Christians; they were being childish.

The Bible calls us to be childlike in our faith. To be child-like means to have an almost naive, innocent dependence on our heavenly Father. It's to have the kind of implicit trust in our heavenly Father that infants have toward their parents. At a very early age, infants and children tend to have a simple trust in their earthly parents, and so by analogy, we are told in the New Testament to be childlike in our faith, having the same kind of trusting attitude toward God that children do toward their parents in this world. That's also spelled out in greater detail by the Apostle Paul when he instructs the Corinthians, “Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature” (1 Cor. 14:20). The author of Hebrews frequently called the Christians to grow up into maturity in terms of their understanding of the things of God. Believers were chastened for being satisfied with the milk of the gospel and not digging deeply into the Word of God to come to an in-depth understanding of all that God has revealed.

To be infants in evil means that we're not supposed to be sophisticated, mature, adult practitioners of wickedness. Children sin, but infants are not locked up in maximum-security prisons in America because the sins of babies and of little children tend to be relatively harmless in comparison to the sins of adults. When we're told to be infants, it's in this respect: We as Christian adults should be naive in our practice of evil even as we are called to be fully mature in our understanding. Paul chides the Corinthians for their childishness, which had at its root a preoccupation with the spectacular and an ignorance of the deep things of God, specifically the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Isn't it more interesting and more exciting to focus our attention on the gifts of the Spirit than to focus our attention on the fruit of the Spirit? Yet that which has the enduring value to the church and to the individual Christian is the fruit of the Spirit.

The congregation in Corinth was filled with diverse manifestations of the spectacular gifts of the Spirit, but there was no love there. Paul is saying that it's time to put things in perspective. It is time to grow up in the Christian faith. He doesn't directly tell the Corinthians that they've been childish. This is a typical type of rebuke for the Apostle. He's gentle, he's sensitive, and in this case, he's somewhat indirect. He points to himself as an example: “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways” (1 Cor. 13:11). It's important to see that this doesn't just drop into 1 Corinthians 13 with no bearing on the rest of what the Apostle is teaching. He is obviously making an admonition. The thinly veiled criticism is that just as Paul stopped pursuing childish ways when he became a man, it was time for the Corinthians to stop pursuing childish ways in their Christian lives.

What created so much of the strife in the Corinthian church was the attitude of those engaged in the extraordinary gifts who were convinced that they were on a higher spiritual plane than the rest of the members of the church.

Paul is saying that they were on a lower spiritual plane because they were behaving in an infantile way. They misunderstood the meaning of true spirituality.

The purpose of being spiritual in biblical terms is that we be sanctified. The purpose of the Holy Spirit's activity in our lives is to instruct us and move us toward righteousness. Spirituality is the means to the end; it is not the end. We must never confuse the two. That's why the accent in the New Testament is not on the gifts of the Spirit; it's on the fruit of the Spirit. When the fruit of the Spirit is made manifest, righteousness is there.

Every day, we are surrounded by a numerous variety of things that attack Christian virtue and put pressure on the development of the fruit of the Spirit. It is the work of Satan to sow tares among the good fruit. If he can choke out the fruit of the Spirit in our lives or deceive us into thinking that the gifts of the Spirit are a substitute for the fruit of the Spirit, he has succeeded. He has kept us at a childish level of understanding of what Christianity is trying to make us. Paul says that we all go through different stages of development throughout life. Every adult was once a child. When we were children, we acted like children; we spoke like children, we thought like children, and we understood like children. We still have certain childish qualities that endure in our lives, but Paul insists, “When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” In putting away the childish ways, he focused his attention on the mature ways.

The mature Christian seeks to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Spiritual maturity looks like godliness that has been learned over time through making diligent use of the means of grace so that grace has had time to mature and ripen in our souls and our lives as our minds have been renewed by learning to look at life from the perspective of the biblical Word. The child plays with ABCs. He doesn't have a large vocabulary. He's at a simplified level of things. That's why we don't make children presidents of corporations; their understanding is limited. They haven't delved into the complex issues of life. There's a reason that the leaders of the early church were called elders. Yet in Corinth, there were young believers—full of exuberance, full of excitement, and full of themselves—who were like rebellious teenagers and who began to despise the authority of those who were mature and those whom the Apostle had commissioned as the ruling elders of the community. That's what the problem was all about. This problem was addressed in 1 Corinthians, in 2 Corinthians, and in Clement's letter at the end of the first century.

In saying that he put away childish ways after becoming a man, Paul states: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:12–13). Paul spoke even of his own heightened understanding of knowledge, and he was the most mature Christian alive in the world in his day. He was a man who had the equivalent of two doctorates in theology by the time he was twenty-one years old, who spent years in the desert being instructed by Christ Himself, and who was made an Apostle to the gentiles. It's that man who was saying, “Now I know in part.” He understood that even his understanding was limited and not worthy to be compared with what he would enjoy when he entered into heaven.

In those days, mirrors were not quite as brilliant in their reflection as they are today. There was a certain dimness to them, a certain internal distortion, and Paul was saying that this is the way that our knowledge is now. It's partial; we see in the glass darkly or in the mirror dimly. But all dimness and darkness will be removed when we enter into glory and look at things as they are bathed in the overwhelming light that comes from the presence of God. At that point, we will truly and fully know and experience love.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” Gal. 3:13

As we consider the death of Jesus, many things of significance could be taken into account. It is, of course, of the utmost significance that the death of Jesus was the sacrifice that accomplished the salvation of God’s elect. The angel said to Joseph, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). The book of Hebrews very carefully instructs us concerning the sacrificial and substitutionary nature of Jesus’ death (Heb. 9:14, 28). He died in the place of guilty sinners as their substitute. The death that He endured was not His own insofar as the sins were not His own, the guilt was not His own, and the punishment He endured was not His own.

While the sacrificial nature of Jesus’ death is of the utmost importance, the manner of His execution is not to be overlooked. The death of Jesus on the cross at the hands of Roman soldiers was not accidental or simply one of many ways by which He could have died. The manner of His death upon a tree is also of weighty symbolic significance for several reasons. Crucifixion, the hanging of the convicted person on a wooden cross (tree), was reserved for the most despicable of criminals. In fact, Roman citizens were rarely executed in this manner. It is fitting that Jesus was executed by crucifixion as He became the most reprehensible sinner in the sight of a holy God, and this by virtue of placing upon Him the sins of all for whom He died. As the Apostle Paul puts it, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus bore our sins, our guilt, and then also bore the awful wrath of God in our place—the punishment we deserved because of our sin.

However, it is also significant that Jesus was crucified on a tree as it demonstrates that He bore in His body the covenantal curse that Adam’s rebellion justly brought upon us. Adam broke the covenant of life (Westminster Shorter Catechism 12) and brought death to himself and all mankind. In disobedience to God’s explicit command, Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the covenantal curse of an eternal death fell upon him. This curse is manifestly symbolized in the shame and humiliation of being hung on a tree. Deuteronomy 21:22–23 states, “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.”

John Calvin comments on this passage, “Moses does not here speak generally, but only of those malefactors who are unworthy of burial, ”and “the man so hanged is called ‘the curse of God,’ because this kind of punishment is detestable in itself.” Of all the possible ways in which Jesus could have been executed, He was hung on a tree to demonstrate the covenantal curse that rested upon Him for our sake. The Apostle Paul makes this very point in Galatians 3:13, where he states that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’” Here the gospel is displayed in the starkest of terms. The innocent and blessed Son of God was hung on a tree as though He was a reprehensible criminal, and He suffered the unspeakable experience of the wrath of God—the covenantal curse—in our place, that we might experience unspeakable new covenant blessings.¹

I was recently in the Isle of Harris at a conference, and there was a time of prayer at the start of the day. An older man began his prayer by saying, “Today, Lord, is a day that has been given by You, a morning which we will never have again, a day which we will not be able to redeem.” I was suddenly struck by the force of the truth that our time on earth is finite: a certain number of days, hours, and minutes, and then no more. On our gravestones there is the date of our birth and the date of our death.

Let’s consider a few principles that shape how Christians view time.

God is the author of time.

The Bible begins and ends by talking about time. The creation story is full of references to time: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). At the very end of the Bible, John writes: “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20). God is the Ancient of Days.  

We experience time sequentially; There is the past, the present, and the future. But God knows the beginning from the ending. He is eternal in His being, wisdom, and power (Westminster Shorter Catechism 4)—there is no change in God. He does not age.

God has made Himself known in time.

When you were little, do you remember that feeling of wanting time to speed up? Now in middle age, with my children the age they are, I want time to slow down. I am told that in old age people want to wind the clock back. None of those things are possible. We are not in control of time, so it is vital in life to understand how we must live in the time we’ve been given.

God is beyond time. He is eternal, but “at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6). Likewise, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4–5). 

God is sovereign over time.

He is working all things out in accordance with His will (Eph. 1:11). There is a season and a time for everything (Eccl. 3:1). He declares “the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done” (Isa. 46:10). God is the One who “changes time and seasons” (Dan. 2:21).

We receive time as a gift from God. It’s why the prayer of the man at the conference is so striking and so helpful. Day by day, morning by morning, we remind ourselves with the psalmist that our times are in His hand (see Ps. 31:15). This means that we don’t need to give way to fear. Rather, we can recognize that God has given us time to use and enjoy.

Because God is the author of time, has made Himself known in time, and is sovereign over time, how should Christians view their time?

1. We recognize that time is precious and limited.

The book of Proverbs is full of advice on investing time wisely and not wasting it (Prov. 3:2; 9:11; 10:27; 15:15; 28:16; 31:12). The psalmist famously prays,

Teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Ps. 90:12)

The finality of life is taught again and again in Scripture. Jesus tells us that none of us can add a single hour to our life (Matt. 6:27; Luke 12:25).

2. We make the best use of time.

Colossians 4:5 tells us to make “the best use of the time.” Paul tells us, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15–16). The King James Version talks about redeeming the time. In other words, there is so much we can spend our time on and so much we can waste time on that we should deliberately and carefully use our time. It’s the Bible version of a time management course.

3. We see time as a gift from God to be enjoyed.

God has made everything beautiful in its time (Eccl. 3:11). The years, months, days, hours, and minutes are given to us by God. We have no idea how many we will have. In comparison to God, our lives are like a few handbreadths (Ps. 39:5–6), like the morning mist or the dew on the grass, so we are to enjoy the time that God gives us. Seeing time as an opportunity to glorify God and enjoy Him, we are to enjoy the good gifts He has given us.

4. We live in the light of eternity.

I find thinking about how time will work in the new creation difficult to understand, and yet it will be glorious. We will never have that feeling of wanting more time, and that fear of things passing too quickly will be removed. We will never just “run out” of time. The dread of times to come will be removed. We are told more in Scripture about time in hell, where it will be tortuously long and there will be no end to suffering.

Living in the light of these realities will change how we live, how we act, and how we speak. Time is very precious and limited, so I suggest that you begin your days with the prayer of my friend: “Today, Lord, is a day that has been given by You, a morning which we will never have again, a day which we will not be able to redeem.”

Paul’s life was a testimony to the gospel that he preached, so knowing something about his life helps us have a fuller and richer grasp of his message. In this article we will look at what may be said about Paul’s life before his conversion. In my book, The Life and Theology of Paul, I give special attention to Paul’s call and conversion.

We have no biography of Paul, whether from his own hand or from someone else’s. Paul’s thirteen letters and Luke’s account of the early church (Acts), however, give us a window into Paul’s pre-Christian life. The details in Acts and Paul’s letters provide the necessary context for coming to a fuller appreciation of the ministry and message of the Apostle, since many of these details have relevance for our understanding of Paul’s Christian life and Apostolic ministry. Here are a few things we know about Paul.

1. Paul was marked by “weakness.”

The New Testament does not provide a physical description of Paul. It does, however, include an indirect comment from his opponents: “For they say, ‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account’” (2 Cor. 10:10). Based on this caricature, Paul does not seem to have been a physically imposing person, and his rhetorical abilities were not well regarded by his opponents. An early but apocryphal second-century description of Paul describes the Apostle as “a man of little stature, thin-haired upon the head, crooked in the legs, of good state in the body, with eyebrows joining and nose somewhat hooked, full of grace.”¹

We do know that Paul undertook his Apostolic ministry in physical infirmity. He appears to have suffered some illness or debilitation when he preached in Galatia (Gal. 4:13). His listing of sufferings for Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:23–29 includes lashings, beatings, and being stoned. His body would surely have borne the marks of this brutal treatment (see Gal. 6:17). No assessment of Paul’s ministry, then, may attribute its success to the Apostle’s outward appearance. But Paul did not regard this factor as disqualifying him from his Apostolic ministry. On the contrary, he said such “weakness” was a mark of his ministry (see 2 Cor. 10:1–12:21).

2. Paul was also called Saul.

Attentive readers of the New Testament observe that early in the narrative of Acts, Luke consistently references the Apostle as “Saul.” Beginning in Acts 13:9, Luke consistently references him as “Paul.”² Why the change in name?

The change is not because “Saul” was Paul’s pre-Christian name and “Paul” was his Christian name, as is commonly thought. For a significant portion of Paul’s early Christian life, Luke refers to the Apostle as “Saul.” Luke gives us a clue concerning the shift, rather, in Acts 13:9 (“But Saul, who was also called Paul”). Paul had both a Jewish name (Saul), and a Roman name (Paul). Paul’s Jewish name reflects his descent from the tribe of Benjamin (Phil. 3:5), whose most famous son was King Saul. The name “Paul” was one of three names that he would have received under Roman naming conventions; the other two are lost to history. “Paul” was his cognomen, or personal name.³ The occasion when Paul began to use his Roman name with consistency was a crucial one. It marked the beginnings of the Apostle’s labors among largely gentile populations. In the providence of God, Paul was a man whose names facilitated his ease of movement in both Jewish and gentile circles.

3. Paul was a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin.

In Philippians 3:5, Paul remarks that he was “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews.” That Paul was circumcised on the eighth day according to the Mosaic law (see Gen. 17:12) tells us at least that his father was an observant Jew. That he was likely named for King Saul suggests his father’s embrace of his own heritage as an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin. That Paul describes himself as “a Hebrew of Hebrews” tells us that Paul himself embraced his Jewish upbringing and did so with enthusiasm. For all the cultural pressures either to apostasy or to syncretism, Paul consciously remained an observant Jew.

We have already seen indications that Paul’s father was observant of the Mosaic law. We may presume that the family was faithful to worship regularly at their local synagogue and to travel regularly to Jerusalem in order to worship at the annual feasts that the Mosaic law required old covenant believers to attend. However, we do not have many specific details about Paul’s family members. We do know that Paul’s father was a Roman citizen, since Paul was born a Roman citizen and did not acquire his citizenship later in life. We do not know, however, under what circumstances or when Paul’s father came by that citizenship. In Acts 23:16 we learn that Paul had a nephew (“the son of Paul’s sister”) who presumably resided in Jerusalem. Paul, then, had at least one sibling and appears to have been on cordial terms with her.

4. Paul was single during his ministry.

Nowhere in his correspondence does Paul mention a wife or children of his own. At the time that he wrote 1 Corinthians, he was single, and that by God’s calling (1 Cor. 7:6–7).⁴ It is possible that Paul was a widower, but his marital history remains a matter of speculation.

5. Paul was a Roman citizen.

He appeals to his citizenship twice in the course of his Apostolic ministry (Acts 16:37; 22:28). In both cases, Paul invoked his citizenship because Roman officials were depriving him of rights that were his by Roman law. On another occasion, Paul invoked his right as a citizen to have his legal case transferred from the governor, Agrippa, to Emperor Nero (Acts 25:11). This transfer, Luke suggests, likely saved Paul’s life (Acts 25:3). In each instance, Paul used his citizenship to prolong his Apostolic preaching ministry and to extend its sphere.

Paul tells us that he was born in “Tarsus in Cilicia” (Acts 22:3). Tarsus was located not far from the Mediterranean coast in what is today southeastern Turkey. It was connected to other major cities by road, and it was an international center of learning. It was no backwater village; it was, in Paul’s words, “no obscure city” (Acts 21:39). Like other major Mediterranean cities, Tarsus housed a Jewish community. First-century Jewish communities, while distinct, were not isolated from the other peoples and cultures among whom they lived. As we shall see, Paul himself gives indications of having been raised in a cosmopolitan environment.

6. Paul was a Pharisee.

Paul was a man with a reputation for learning (see Acts 26:24). By his own testimony, he was “brought up in [Jerusalem], educated at the feet of Gamaliel, according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers” (Acts 22:3). Although he was born in Tarsus, Paul received his formal education in Jerusalem, under the tutelage of the noted rabbi Gamaliel (see Acts 5:34). Paul describes himself as a “Pharisee” (Phil. 3:5). The Pharisees were an influential and respected group within Judaism who were committed to upholding both the written law of Moses and the oral law, the body of unwritten traditions that had grown up around the Mosaic law.⁵ Identification with the Pharisees set Paul apart, for example, from the Sadducees, who accepted the authority only of the Pentateuch (Genesis–Deuteronomy) and who did not believe in the resurrection from the dead (see Acts 23:6–10). Efforts to situate Paul in one of the competing Pharisaic “schools” in the first century have not proven persuasive. What we do know is that Paul embraced the Pharisaical education that he received and excelled in it. He tells the Galatians that “I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers” (Gal. 1:14). Paul, then, sat at the “top of his class” as a young student.

Paul would have received a thorough education in both the Old Testament Scripture and the legal traditions that had grown up in Judaism after and alongside that Scripture (see Gal. 1:14). Paul’s frequent citations of the Old Testament suggest that he had committed large portions, if not the entirety, of the Old Testament to memory. In Romans 15:8–13, for example, Paul cites four passages of Scripture (2 Sam. 22:50 [=Ps. 18:49]; Deut. 32:43; Ps. 117:1; Isa. 11:10). What each of these passages has in common is the word gentiles. Since Paul did not have available to him a printed concordance, we are bound to conclude that he accessed these passages from memory.

7. Paul was multilingual.

The New Testament indicates that Paul was conversant in at least four languages. His use of the Old Testament in his letters suggests competence in Hebrew. His letters show that he was fluent in Greek. Luke tells us that he spoke in Aramaic, the language commonly spoken by Jews in Palestine (see Acts 21:40). His travels in the western part of the Roman Empire, and his plans to minister in Spain (see Rom. 15), suggest that Paul was fluent in Latin, the main language of that part of the Roman world.

The New Testament also suggests that Paul was familiar with non-Jewish literature. In Athens, he quotes before the Areopagus the poets Epimenides of Crete (sixth century BC) and Aratus of Cilicia (third century BC) (Acts 17:28; see Titus 1:12). His Areopagus address also evidences awareness of and deft interaction with Stoic and Epicurean philosophy. Paul did not shy away from the study of Greco-Roman literature and thought, and he was not afraid to employ it in service of the gospel.

8. Paul was a tentmaker.

Paul was a tentmaker by trade (Acts 18:3), and he likely learned this trade from his father. That a man with extensive formal education should have engaged in manual labor may surprise modern readers, even as it would have scandalized many Greeks and Romans in the ancient world. It was customary, however, for learned Pharisees to earn a living, and many Pharisees worked with their hands.

Tentmakers built and repaired tents, which were in demand among military personnel. Tent making was a portable trade and well suited for an itinerant such as Paul. For Paul, tent making afforded him financial independence from the congregations he served. This independence was important to Paul, who was concerned to distinguish himself from the often financially predatory traveling teachers in antiquity. It was Paul’s boast and delight to offer the gospel “free of charge” (1 Cor. 9:18) and to tell his churches that he had “worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you” (1 Thess. 2:9).⁶ Paul did so, in part, to substantiate his claims that his ministry was not motivated by greed (Acts 20:33–34) and, in part, to offer a model or example to believers of diligence in a lawful calling (2 Thess. 3:7–9).

9. Before his conversion, Paul was a persecutor of the Christian church.

The ninth aspect of Paul’s pre-Christian life revealed in Acts and the Pauline Epistles made an indelible impact on the Apostle’s self-consciousness—his persecution of the Christian church. In Paul’s own accounts of his pre-Christian life in Acts (Acts 22; 26) and in his letters (Gal. 1; 1 Tim. 1), persecution dominates his autobiography. Writing to Timothy, we have seen, Paul could state of his pre-Christian life that he was “formerly . . . a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent opponent” (1 Tim. 1:13). That Jesus of Nazareth, who had been deemed a blasphemer by the Jewish leadership and executed for treason by the Romans, should be regarded as Israel’s Messiah and worshiped as the Son of God was too much for Saul the Pharisee to bear. Only the risen Lord Jesus Himself could bring Paul’s ferocious persecution to a swift and final conclusion.

Lessons for Today

Paul’s pre-Christian biography speaks to the church today in two important ways.

First, we see that God, in His providence, was preparing Paul from the womb to be the “Apostle to the Gentiles.” God was doing so in ways that Paul could not have foreseen. Paul’s place of birth, his heritage, his education, and his vocation were all means by which God was molding and fashioning Paul to be the servant whom God had purposed him to be. All Christians should look back in gratitude to the God who makes and sustains us when we trace the paths by which God has brought us to the places we are now. Reflecting on God’s providence in this way helps us renew our trust and confidence in God to lead us into the future even when that future may seem grim and uncertain.

Second, when the saving grace of God transformed Paul’s life, it did not make him into someone other than Paul. That is, Paul did not cease to be of Jewish heritage, an educated man, a tentmaker, a citizen, and so on. Grace transformed Paul and brought him under the lordship of Jesus Christ. Whereas these aspects of Paul’s life had once been employed in rebellion against Christ, after his conversion they were employed in the service of Christ. We should think about our lives in the same way. As Christians, we have a brand-new relationship with sin and a brand-new relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, we should ask how we can use the details and experiences of our lives to advance the glory of the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Christians working in secular professions and spaces often need to navigate obstacles as they seek to live out an active faith. Proximity to the lost world can be advantageous for laborers of the harvest (Luke 10:2), but it can also be an intimidating environment that threatens to dampen our witness. Here are five ways Christians can have a healthy approach to challenging workplaces.

1. Foster a missions mindset.

Mission fields are not simply places abroad. If you do not perceive yourself to be on mission at your workplace, it’s unlikely that you will consistently engage in gospel efforts there. Take ownership of your workplace community as a people group to whom you have been sent to serve. In your daily interactions with colleagues, customers, and clients, you have the privilege of representing Jesus to people in need of a great Savior.

Trust that God has placed you in your workplace for a reason. No matter how gifted an evangelist your pastor may be, he probably won’t have access to the offices or jobsites where you spend your days. God has given you this unique sphere of influence—use it for His glory. Pray for and engage your people group.

2. Be sensitive to where God is already at work.

Some of the best workplace advice I ever received was, “Keep your antennae up.” As an introvert, my workplace tendency is to keep my head down and my earbuds in, navigating each day as quietly and efficiently as possible. But in doing so, I often miss out on the good work the Lord is doing around me. I close myself off to the people He is bringing into my life, oblivious to their needs and unaware of opportunities to care for them. To counteract that tendency, I pray each day that God would increase my sensitivity and awareness of how He is moving in my workplace and help me set my agenda aside to join in His work. My spiritual antennae are up, and I approach each day as an opportunity to show the love of Jesus.

Even if your environment is openly hostile to expressions of Christian belief, trust that God is at work under the surface and be on the lookout for where that might be. Just as pioneering missionaries who proclaim the gospel among unreached people groups will often find evidence of God already moving within the hearts of the people, we are likely to find that He is already stirring in unexpected ways within even the most challenging workplace environments. As you work, keep your antennae up, sensitive to where those opportunities might be.

3. Work with excellence.

In Titus 2:7–10, Paul encourages us to “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” by the way we carry ourselves in the world. As followers of Jesus, we are to be a model of good works, integrity, dignity, and sound speech, living in good faith with a general respect for those around us. In the context of our workplaces, Paul is simply urging us to be good coworkers. We should strive to be excellent in everything we do because it points to the gospel and, ultimately, it shows our underlying motivation: We are working as for the Lord (Col. 3:23). In some sense, our good reputation demonstrates love for God and for the people around us. As an expression of that love, we build good relationships with colleagues and put ourselves in a good position to serve them well (including the ultimate service: pointing them to Christ).

4. Look for the peacemakers.

Sharing your faith at work may seem like a daunting task. You might immediately think of antagonistic colleagues or imagined repercussions. It’s that thought process that so often paralyzes our witness, and understandably so. But even in a setting where many people are known to be hostile to Christianity, not every person is equally so. There are always people who remain open to spiritual conversations, even if they are not followers of Christ. Identify those persons of peace within your workplace circles, begin developing safe relationships with them, and look for opportunities to engage in spiritual conversations. Peaceful, open-minded people can be an open door to gospel conversations in a difficult place.

5. Sew gospel threads.

As you navigate a challenging workplace, having a missions mindset, spiritual sensitivity, occupational excellence, and peaceful relationships will go a long way. They are not the endpoint, though. We should not lose sight of our primary calling as Christ-followers. At some point, gospel-shaped living should lead to actual gospel proclamation. Yes, secular workplaces can present inherent challenges to our witness, but we can still find ways to share the good news of Jesus with boldness and wisdom. If your workplace feels particularly closed off to evangelism opportunities, the prospect of presenting a coworker with a five-minute gospel presentation may not seem realistic. But we cannot choose silence as the alternative. Even in closed settings, trust that God will open gospel doors and be ready to walk through them when you sense them. As you build relationships with those around you, look for ways to intertwine the themes of the gospel in your normal conversations. Sew small threads of gospel truth in your everyday speech and then look for opportune moments to weave those threads together into a larger tapestry of grace.

Every year, Christians around the world celebrate Easter, the holiday that commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. The death of Jesus of Nazareth is not only a religious remembrance but also a historical fact. There are several literary references to Jesus of Nazareth in the first and second centuries outside of the Bible (such as Tacitus, Josephus, Philo, and the Talmud).

While the Bible does not list a date for the crucifixion in the way that we expect in modern times, there is no denying the time and place. Understanding the context of this historical fact, we use the same logic with which we answer the question, “Was Jesus in the grave for three days?” The historical death of Jesus of Nazareth is widely recognized by His crucifixion on Friday, April 3, AD 33, at the ninth hour (3 p.m.), at Golgotha, near the city/outside the city gate of Jerusalem. Golgotha, meaning “Place of a Skull” in Greek, was an ordinary place for the crucifixion of criminals at the hands of the Romans.

The significance of Jesus’ very public death should be considered. The Gospel accounts reveal the plot to kill Jesus and His trade for the prisoner Barabbas, who was pardoned and released at the Passover feast (see Matt. 27; Mark 14–15; Luke 23; John 11; 19). Pontius Pilate, the fifth governor of Judea, whether bullied or in collusion, ordered the immediate execution of Jesus. The execution method was created to allow for no secrecy and no illusions of death, as it included multiple forms of torture until extermination, with crowd participation in humiliation at this open-air spectacle.

Further, the moment of Jesus’ death has been recorded, with the Gospel writers recounting the voiced opinions of the two robbers who were crucified beside Him (see Matt. 27:38–44; Luke 23:32–43). Jesus’ last words are also recorded, including, “It is finished,” offered with a last cry as He “gave up his spirit” (John 19:30; see also Matt. 27:50). Mark records the reaction of a key onlooker, the centurion, who “saw that in this way he breathed his last,” and exclaimed, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39).

Some arguments challenge the timeline of Jesus’ death and resurrection, including the swoon theory, which claims that Jesus did not die on the cross but merely lost consciousness. Even if this were possible, the reality of time tells us that, at some point, Jesus of Nazareth did, in fact, die. The historical and Gospel accounts showcase the significance of the timing and the means of His public death on a cross. Though Jesus’ death was extreme, it was not random or outside God’s sovereign control; rather, “At the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6, emphasis added).

In this, we come to understand that Jesus’ death on the cross not only was a physical event, but it also reveals spiritual reality. His death was unique as a sacrificial and covenantal death. This is the gospel. Jesus is not simply a good man or a wise teacher; He is the last Adam. The Apostle Paul explains, “For as by the one man’s disobedience [Adam] the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience [Jesus] the many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). Because Jesus is the God-man—just as the centurion recognized—the offering He makes in His flesh is eternal for those who are united to Him.

The death of Jesus of Nazareth should bring up many other questions: Who is Jesus? Why does the world still talk about His death? Why are all living things subjected to death at all? The Bible answers all these questions and helps us contemplate our own death. The picture of the cross forces us to recognize that though we may never be convicted of a crime in a court of law, we are still sentenced to death. Though we may do our best to deny our mortality, there is nothing like an unexpected threat of death to make us confess the frailty of life and our inability to be completely prepared for its end. We must be honest with ourselves as God our Maker has been honest with us: “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). In this, we rejoice at the death of Christ because it was “for our sake [that God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).¹

Close readers of the Gospels understand that John’s timeline of the Last Supper seems to differ from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). The Synoptics indicate that the disciples prepared the Passover meal “on the first day of Unleavened Bread,” or Thursday night (Mark 14:12; see also Matt. 26:17; Luke 22:7). Judas went out to betray Him that evening, and Jesus was arrested in the night. He was then crucified on Friday. He was in the grave until Sunday morning, on which day He was raised from the dead.

Yet John says this after the Last Supper had occurred, when the Jews went to Pilate’s headquarters: “They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover” (John 18:28). He then later says, after Jesus was crucified, that “it was the day of Preparation of the Passover” (John 19:14). This means that Jesus’ arrest and trial would have happened before Passover, unlike in the Synoptics, where Jesus’ arrest and trial happened after Passover.

Is this a contradiction? It seems that way on first reading. Various solutions have been offered to resolve this seeming contradiction. Some have argued that Jesus celebrated the Passover according to a different calendar in use at this time, such as according to a special Pharisaic calendar. Yet there is little evidence in the Gospels or historical records to validate such a view. Others have argued that Jesus wasn’t celebrating a Passover meal, but rather a different but related festival meal. The trouble with this argument is that one is left with the opposite problem—John’s chronology makes sense, but the Synoptics’ chronology doesn’t. The plain meaning of the synoptic Gospels indicates that Jesus was celebrating the Passover meal.

There is a final view that seems most biblically justified and understandable to me, but it requires some explanation. The first thing to understand is that Passover was simply a meal that began on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which went for several days. Western Christians don’t often celebrate multiday holidays, but many in other cultures do. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a week-long feast. It was one of several national celebrations for the Jews. It reminded them of their liberation from Egypt and God’s preservation of His people in the wilderness years. Passover kicked it all off, just like the original Passover kicked off Israel’s liberation from Egypt and led to the wilderness years and the promised land.

The second thing to understand is that because Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were so closely related—both in time and theme—their titles were sometimes used interchangeably. For example, Luke says that “the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover” (Luke 22:1). Though technically Passover was a single meal, Luke here refers to the Passover as the whole feast or festival. Mark does something similar, but in reverse. He says that on “the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, ‘Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?’ ”(Mark 14:12). Technically speaking, Mark was referring to the first day of Unleavened Bread a day early here, because Passover lambs were actually slaughtered before the Passover meal, which marked the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Did Mark commit an error by saying that the Feast of Unleavened Bread began earlier than it did? No. Again, in their context, there was some equivocation between the day on which the Passover lambs were slaughtered, Passover itself, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Even Josephus, an ancient historian of this period, exhibits some of this same ambiguity when he describes the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover.¹

Based on the two points above, there is a third thing we should understand: John sometimes uses the word “Passover” to refer to other events occurring during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. When he refers to the Jews not wanting to be defiled to “eat the Passover” in John 18:28, it’s likely that he is referring to festival offerings and meals that the Jews would have eaten on Saturday—the Sabbath—as part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He was referring more broadly to what we might call the “Passover festival,” not simply the Passover meal. That Saturday would have been a “high Sabbath,” or a Sabbath that occurred on a festival day. This made the Sabbath very special indeed, and it would have been understandable that the Jews didn’t want to defile themselves so they could continue participating in further Passover festivities and rituals. Those activities, by the way, involved important meals that the chief priests and rulers would have had to eat and oversee.

This interchangeability regarding John’s use of the word “Passover” also resolves the apparent contradiction in John 19:14, where John says it was the “day of Preparation of the Passover.” This “day of Preparation” language is indicative of preparation for a Sabbath. For example, Mark 15:42 explains that the “day of Preparation” was “the day before the Sabbath” so that readers will understand what he means. If John is using the word “Passover” to mean the “Passover Festival” or the “Feast of Unleavened Bread,” then this verse is easily understood to mean that it was the day during this celebration on which the Jews would prepare for the Sabbath. John is not contradicting the Synoptics here; rather, he is affirming them. He is saying that Jesus died on Friday—the day of Preparation—and was in the grave Friday night until Sunday morning.

It’s likely the case that John’s original audience saw no contradiction between John’s Last Supper chronology and the chronology of the other Gospels because they understood the way terms were used interchangeably in their day. Unfortunately, for modern readers who are unaware of the context, John’s language can sometimes be misunderstood to represent a different chronology than the Synoptics. This misunderstanding can be cleared up quickly when we examine the historical context and other biblical passages both in John and in the other Gospels. It does require some explanation, but sometimes texts require us to dig deeper to really understand what they’re saying. That’s not just true of the Bible, but of any form of literature or communication.²

We must surely add to that famous couplet of certainty—“death and taxes”—the inevitability of change. In contrast to our immense, immutable, and impassible God, to be human is to be subject to change in ourselves and in our world. We wish it were not so, but no one is exempt. All around us people are looking for an answer to the inevitable. For some it is surgery, for others therapy, but the only refuge that truly drives out anxiety is our changeless God who holds all change in His hands. This is one of the lessons that Solomon learned, and passes to us, through the wisdom of Ecclesiastes.

Solomon starts the book of Ecclesiastes by reminding the audience of the unstoppable cycles of change in nature and through generations (Eccl. 1:4). Then, in chapter 3, he connects this change to the sovereignty of God: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Eccl. 3:1).

God is Lord over the times—for everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. Solomon uses a literary technique that places opposites side by side as a way of saying, “These, and everything in between.” For example, “a time to be born and a time to die” is a way of describing the whole of life with all its changes, from conception to the moment our heart stops beating (Eccl. 3:2). Every activity, every emotion, every experience, every matter under heaven, is determined by God. He is absolutely sovereign over absolutely everything. His plan, His timing, and His rule extend to birth and death, sickness and health, destruction and repair, love and hate, war and peace.

God’s rule even extends to those things that appear to be in our own hands:

A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down and a time to build up. (Eccl. 3:3)

These may feel like decisions that humans make, but Solomon puts them alongside laughing and weeping to show that God decides ultimately when they happen (Eccl. 3:4). Indeed, the way the poem is constructed is designed to show our lack of control. There is no pattern or order to casting away possessions, tearing a garment, or keeping silent (Eccl. 3:5–7). It is deliberately random because that is how life often feels. One moment you are mourning a loss, the next you are embracing a friend, the next you are dancing with your spouse, all the while you feel hatred at the injustices you see around you, and war rumbles on around the world.

To be clear, where there is sin, God is not the author. Sin is the responsibility of the sinner, while God remains sovereign, superintending all things. God is the author of every change and He has a time for us to be promoted and to be fired, to be criticized and to be praised, to receive the cancer diagnosis and to get the all clear, to conceive and to miscarry, to be betrayed and to be shown loyalty, to have our investments grow and to have them crash, to be honored and to be dishonored, to be at war and to be at peace. God has set the times of them all. He has given these things to us from His hand; we are not in charge.

So much of our anxiety and distress in the changing seasons of life is due to the fact that we are not in control. And yet, trying to control these times and seasons, and even trying to understand why God sends them, is too great and marvelous a thing for anyone but Him (Ps. 131:1). Change is inevitable. We can’t leverage things for our gain. We are, quite simply, caught up in an adventure without the map. But faithful, wise living means we embrace this rather than resist it.

In the face of change, we must take our anxious hearts to the cross of Christ. It is there we see that God had a time for His Son to be crucified. As Jesus hung in shame and disgrace, no one looking on would have said that this looked like a winning idea, and yet it was in this greatest evil in history that God was accomplishing the greatest good the world has ever seen—the salvation of His people. And just as there was a time for His Son to die, there was also a time for Him to be raised.

In God’s time, every death in His kingdom is followed by a resurrection. This means that we can say with Solomon,

There is nothing better . . . than to be joyful and to do good as long as [we] live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. (Eccl. 3:12–13)

We can trust that in whatever changes come our way, “God has done it, so that people fear before him” (Eccl. 3:14). We follow Solomon’s lead and by faith say that God is Lord of the times and these things are all beyond our control, so we will not worry because He has made everything fitting.

Who is like the Lord our God?

Out of His infinite fullness and perfection, He gives us life. To enjoy Him in endless wonder is the crowning gift of our salvation. Therefore, we have no higher calling than to know who God is. Understanding His character clarifies the purpose of our life in this world and the glory that awaits us in Christ.

Join us next year in Orlando for Ligonier’s 2027 National Conference, The Glorious Attributes of God.

When you register today, you’ll secure your spot for $219 and save 45% with the pre-registration rate. Don’t delay—this special rate is only available until Saturday, April 25.

Other Discounted Registration Rates:

• Full-time students: $89
• Youth (4–17): $18
• Children (0–3): FREE

This conference invites you to marvel at God’s holy character. Gather with Christians from around the world to hear biblical teaching on His divine attributes, sing His praises, and draw strength from His promises.

Conference Sessions in 2027 Include:

• The Power of God
• The Love of God
• The Beauty of God
• The Faithfulness of God
• The Goodness of God
• The Justice, Mercy, and Grace of God
• The Sovereignty of God
• The Wisdom of God
• The Holiness of God

Next year’s event also includes a variety of breakout seminars. Join our conference speakers in exploring how understanding the character God equips us to serve Him faithfully and pursue His glory in every sphere of life.

Seminars Include:

• Marriage Shaped by God’s Character
• Serving God Faithfully in the Workplace
• Walking with God Through Suffering
• Raising Children in the Knowledge of God
• Cultivating Prayer and Dependence on God
• Discernment in a Digital Age

This conference will be held on April 1–3, 2027, at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel in Orlando. Lodging is available for you directly at the venue. Mention Ligonier Ministries when you make your reservation.

Never Experienced the Conference Before?

Watch messages from our 2026 National Conference in the free Ligonier app or online. Additionally, you can still browse the online bookstore for special discounts on trusted biblical resources while supplies last.

The messages from our 2026 National Conference are now available to watch and share on Ligonier.org and in the Ligonier app.

Conference Sessions:

• What Is Truth? by Derek Thomas
• Does God Control Everything? by H.B. Charles Jr.
• What Is My Purpose? by Ken Jones
• How Should I Endure Suffering? by Sinclair Ferguson
• How Can I Know God’s Will? by David Strain
• How Can I Overcome Anxiety? by Eric Bancroft
• Does Prayer Change Things? by W. Robert Godfrey
• Can I Be Sure I’m Saved? by Derek Thomas
• Who Is God? by Joel Kim
• What Is My Identity? by Michael Reeves
• Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? by David Garner
• How Do I Grow in Holiness? by Sinclair Ferguson

Q&A Sessions:

• Questions & Answers with Bancroft, Charles, Godfrey, and Jones
• Questions & Answers with Garner, Reeves, Strain, and Thomas
• Questions & Answers with Ferguson, Godfrey, Kim, and Thomas

Seminars:

• Lights In a Dark World with Eric Bancroft and H.B. Charles Jr.
• Training Leaders in the Church with Sinclair Ferguson, David Garner, and Joel Kim

Register today before April 25 to get 45% off for our 2027 National Conference, The Glorious Attributes of God.

The question is evocative. That’s by design.

The way this question gets asked matters. Words like “need” and “kill” carry emotional freight. In popular usage, “kill” evokes a sense of arbitrariness, motivated by anger, revenge, or irrational emotion. We must understand that our theological language requires distinction from everyday language, or we may accidentally paint a picture of God the Father acting against the will of God the Son at the cross, which is certainly not true. But the emotional power of the language can shut down careful thinking before it starts.

That’s often the point. Critics of penal substitutionary atonement prefer stark language because it is provocative. For example, the phrase “cosmic child abuse” is designed to strike disgust, not to illuminate. We need to resist the emotional setup and think carefully. We need to be as precise as the Bible.

Let’s slow down and make some distinctions. Was the cross of Christ necessary—and necessary for what? Is God free to give His only begotten Son? Is He free not to? Can we even speak of God having a “need”? What force could require God to do anything? And is it right to say God “killed” His own Son at all?

So, let’s look at our question from multiple angles, like examining a diamond.

Does God need?

No. God has no needs.

By that, I mean God isn’t constrained by any external agent. There is no abstract moral law hovering outside Him like a Platonic form. God is utterly free—free to be who He is. He is eternal, unchanging, impassible, not composed of parts. He needs nothing to survive. He is free to create or not to create; free to give His only begotten Son or not.

God doesn’t save us because sinners demand it or because some cosmic law requires it. The cross flows from His loving nature as pure gift. He has, from eternity, determined to save sinners.

Could God save in another way than the cross?

Here’s where it gets tricky.

God’s gift of grace through the cross isn’t grounded in external constraint. But it is grounded in the reality of His own nature. While God is free not to save, because He chooses to save, He acts consistently with His eternally just and holy being.

Could God forgive sins without substitutionary justice? We have a desire to say “yes” because God, we surmise, can do anything. But God cannot lie. True freedom isn’t doing whatever you want willy-nilly. True freedom is being able to do consistently and perfectly what is true, good, and beautiful according to your nature and purpose.

God is free. Therefore, He does and must act according to His nature. He pursues justice. He lavishes love. In the cross, He lavishes love on sinners by enacting substitutionary justice upon His Son. The alternative—just forgiving without addressing justice—would be morally arbitrary. It would contradict who God is.

So, did God need to give His only begotten Son? No—not in any sense of an external constraint to save. And yes—because once He decided to save, He acted according to His holy nature.

The only “need” is that God must act according to His own righteous character. He needed to give His Son unto death so that He could satisfy His desire to save sinners while remaining just.

In brief, since God has determined in His free love to save sinners, He must meet the demands of His justice through the substitutionary death of a sinless sacrifice if He is to offer forgiveness to the unjust.

Did God “kill” His Son?

This is where the emotional setup reaches its peak. Claims of “cosmic child abuse” depend on emphasizing God the Father as the aggressive agent killing the passive Son. But that misconstrues what the Bible teaches.

First, notice that the Bible doesn’t use this language: “God the Father killed God the Son.” Instead, Scripture holds together two truths: (1) Christ freely offered Himself, and (2) God the Father gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes might not perish.

“He . . . did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all” (Rom. 8:32). But this is a complex question. Who killed Jesus Christ?

Of course, the Roman state did. The high priest did. The crowd that yelled, “Crucify Him!” did. And Peter says to the assembly at Pentecost, shockingly, “You crucified him” (Acts 2:36). By extension, all sinners who hear the gospel with saving faith realize that we crucified Him.

But did God? Yes. God poured His wrath upon the Son—a death even beyond what eyes can see. God the Father gave Jesus over to death and punished Him fully with divine wrath. And the Son willingly, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross and received the wrath of the triune God (Heb. 12:2). Let’s say it in Scripture’s own language:

We esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities. (Isa. 53:4–5)

God put [him] forward as a propitiation by his blood. (Rom. 3:25)

This Jesus [was] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. (Acts 2:23)

To deny that God punished Jesus according to the wrath our sins deserve or to ignore that the Son of God gave Himself voluntarily is to ignore the plain teaching of Scripture.

Why isn’t this “cosmic child abuse”?

Let me offer three reasons: First, the death of Jesus is voluntary. The Son chose this in love for us. Second, the cross is the historical fulfillment of Trinitarian agency according to the one will of the one God (the pactum salutis). The Father, Son, and Spirit are not at odds in their purposes. Third, the resurrection vindicates Jesus Christ, confirming that He deserved to be freed from death. God’s justice was satisfied, so Jesus must rise from the dead.

The Father did not “kill” the Son against the Son’s will. God poured out the wrath we deserved upon the Son, and the Son chose to give Himself for us. That’s an altogether different picture than cosmic child abuse. It is divine love, amazing love. We can only say, “How can it be?”

God satisfied His own justice at His own cost. It is not vindictiveness but love that motivated the whole plan. With all those distinctions in place: Yes, God gave His Son over to death. God poured out His wrath on His Son. God did not spare Him. Thus, justice and love met at the cross for our sake.¹

William Tyndale’s New Testament stands at the headwaters of the English Reformation and the reception of Protestant ideas into England. The year 2026 marks the five hundredth anniversary of William Tyndale’s (1494–1536) English translation of the New Testament first being smuggled into England and distributed to both commoners and nobles, clergy and laity alike.

Who was William Tyndale?

Tyndale was a humanist scholar trained at Oxford, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts. In 1515, he was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in London. He agreed in the main with Erasmus of Rotterdam’s critique of church abuses and impieties. He also agreed specifically with Martin Luther’s theological insights on faith and justification, as well as Luther’s objections to papal authority. In the roaring twenties of the sixteenth century, Tyndale wanted to see the reformation of church and society in England from ploughman to priest according to the Word of God, resonating with early Lutheran Protestantism. Convinced that reformation starts by divine grace through faith with the spiritual transformation of the individual in reading, knowing, and believing the Scriptures, Tyndale set about his work.

Why was William Tyndale in exile from England?

In 1523, a year after Luther had published his German translation of the New Testament directly from Greek, Tyndale wanted to do the same thing for English-speaking lands that Luther had done for Germany, articulating similar reasoning. The episcopal authorities in London flatly forbade the project. By even suggesting the endeavor, Tyndale signaled to English authorities in the kingdom, church, and universities that he harbored Lutheran sympathies. The act of translating Scripture into English had been strictly regulated, if not totally forbidden, in England for over one hundred years. In 1400, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Henry IV promulgated a statute on the punishment and burning of heretics stemming from ecclesiastical condemnations of John Wycliffe (c. 1330–1384) and the Lollards for their stance on Scripture, field preaching, and private Bible study meetings (known as conventicles). In 1408, the Constitutions of Oxford, under the same Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Arundel, promulgated this specific prohibition with life-threatening force that was still in effect in Tyndale’s day:

Therefore, we have established and ordained that no one hereafter may translate any text of Holy Scripture on his own authority into the English language or any other by way of book, treatise, or tract, nor shall any book, tract, or treatise of this kind, already recently composed in the time of the said John Wycliffe (c. 1384), or since then composed, or hereafter to be composed, be read, whether in part or in whole, publicly or privately, under penalty of major excommunication until that translation shall have been approved [by bishop or perhaps by a regional council] . . . whoever acts contrary to this shall be punished similarly as a promoter of heresy and error.

This English canon law threatened death for heresy as well as the loss of all property for oneself and one’s heirs. Taken together, translating Scripture without ecclesiastical and royal permission was dangerous. On October 24, 1526, the Bishop of London, Cuthbert Tunstall, denounced English Lutherans, and commanded under pain of excommunication and suspicion of heresy all people to “bring in and really deliver” all books containing these translations. As a result of this denunciation, Tyndale’s Bible was publicly burned by the hangman of London.

After he was forbidden by his bishop to translate and publish his English New Testament, Tyndale went into exile in May 1524. He likely made for the Continent—perhaps Wittenberg, and certainly the printing centers of Germany and the Low Countries—where his books could be published abroad and sent back into England, legally or not. From outside of England, Tyndale was a vocal and timely commentator on Scripture and early Protestant concerns. For example, in The Practice of Prelates (1530), Tyndale argued from the Scriptures against the abuses of the Roman Catholic prelacy, as well as against Henry VIII’s divorce from Queen Catherine I of Aragon. Despite the best efforts of the English court of Henry VIII to extradite Tyndale back to England as a heretic for his Protestant beliefs, translation project, and Bible-smuggling endeavors, Tyndale never saw the inside of an English court.

In 1535, the imperial and ecclesiastical authorities in the Holy Roman Empire arrested Tyndale in Antwerp—a major printing center, travel port, and hive of Protestant expatriate activity. He was brought to trial in August of 1536, not for translating and publishing Scripture (which was tolerated somewhat more than in England), but for his expressed and published Protestant views. Tyndale was condemned as a heretic for believing and promulgating that faith alone justifies, that forgiveness of sins and embracing gospel mercy was sufficient for salvation, that human traditions—especially Roman Catholic Church tradition—cannot bind the conscience except where neglect might cause scandal, and that the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints should not be invoked for intercession in prayer or public worship. After being defrocked of his priesthood, he was executed.

In Tyndale’s A Pathway into the Holy Scripture, a summary of how to read the Scriptures, he remarked upon the condemnation and suppression of vernacular translations and the persecution of Bible translators in his day:

I do marvel greatly, dearly beloved in Christ, that ever any man should repugn or speak against the Scripture to be had in every language, and that of every man. For I thought that no man had been so blind to ask why light should be shown to them that walk in darkness, where they cannot but stumble, and where to stumble, is the danger of eternal damnation; other so despiteful that he would envy any man . . . so necessary a thing; or so bedlam mad to affirm that good is the natural cause of evil, and darkness to proceed out of light, that lying should be grounded in truth and verity, and not rather clean contrary, that light destroys darkness, and verity reproves all manner of lying.

What was the impact of Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament?

It is estimated that over eighteen thousand copies of Tyndale’s New Testament were printed and distributed. The impact of this translation upon English Christians in that period of time and upon every translation of the English Bible since are profound and far ranging. It was Tyndale who gave us the distinctive phrasing of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world,” which is now commonplace. Also, many English theological terms trace back to Tyndale. For example, the use of the term “atonement” (literally “at-one-ment”) in Romans 5:11 marks a development instead of the Latin word reconciliatio. It is also a Tyndalian emphasis in 2 Corinthians 5:18 to say, “preaching of the atonement” (compare to the King James Version, “ministry of reconciliation”). Next, there is in Tyndale’s 1534 translation his usage of the term “elder” throughout 1 Timothy. It was distinctive in the era for replacing the word “priest.” While the 1526 first edition of the New Testament lacked marginal notes and glosses, the 1534 second edition was replete with them. Understandably, these were more ardently and fiery Protestant after the 1526 edition was burned. Over the past five hundred years, Tyndale’s work of translating the Bible into vernacular English has had a lasting impact on every English translation of Scripture.

The lasting witness of Tyndale the man, however, is perhaps more profound and weighty, representing a generation of Reformation-era Christians willing to sacrifice everything for the promulgation of the Bible. More than ten years later, while in exile from England, Tyndale reflected on his experience in The Obedience of a Christian Man (Antwerp, 1535) and exhorted his readers:

Let it not make thee despair, never let discourage thee, O Reader, that it is forbidden thee in pain of life and goods or that it is made breaking of the King’s peace or treason unto his highness to read the Word of thy soul’s health. But much rather be bold in the Lord and comfort thy soule. For as much as thou art sure and hast an evident token through such persecution that it is the true Word of God; which Word is ever hated of the World, nor was it ever without persecution (as thou seest in all the stories of the Bible both of the New Testament also of the Old) nor can be no more than the sun can be without its light.

May the Lord grant us grace to be found daily and often in His Word, and like Tyndale, may we labor and support its promulgation and reception in faith.

The wise teacher of Ecclesiastes speaks about a place that grows godliness, and the location may surprise you. He says,

It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting. (Eccl. 7:2)

Again, he reminds, “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning” (Eccl. 7:4).

You might know what he means. Attending a funeral or visiting a cemetery can do a soul good as eternal realities press ever nearer.

John 11 brings the reader to a house of mourning. The Spirit brings us here so that we might learn something about death’s despair and defeat. The eleventh chapter of John “is one of the most remarkable in the New Testament,” writes J. C. Ryle, “for grandeur and simplicity, for pathos and solemnity, nothing was ever written like it.”¹

The Situation

The text opens with Jesus receiving a report that his friend Lazarus is sick (John 11:3). Mary and Martha had surely heard about, and maybe even seen, Jesus’ power over sickness. They believe if Jesus hurries, He can save Lazarus.

Jesus’ response is not one anyone would have expected.

John reports: “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was” (John 11:5–6). The little word “so” is the word ordinarily translated as “therefore.” Thus, the text more literally says, “Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, therefore . . . He stayed two days longer.” Interestingly, His love led Him to wait. His delight in His disciples caused Him to delay. He stayed so that the suffering and sickness would take its full course.

We are always learning this great lesson in Christ’s school. How many times have you asked the Lord to do something, and He doesn’t answer immediately? Or He doesn’t answer in time? See that the lack of action may be nothing more than His love at work, His plan and purpose to do immeasurably more than all you can ask for or imagine.

The Statement

Four days after Lazarus died, Jesus finally arrives at the mournful house. Martha races to Jesus, and upon meeting Him says: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you” (John 11:21–22). The seed of faith is clearly present in Martha. Jesus assures her that “your brother will rise again” (John 11:22).

“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day,” Martha replies (John 11:24). A great debate over the resurrection raged between the Pharisees and the Sadducees during Jesus’ day. The question was whether there would be a resurrection at the end of history. Martha was on the Pharisees’ side theologically when it came to resurrection. She believed Lazarus would rise again—then, at the end of the age. But Jesus is talking about now. Thus, He says: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25–26).

This is the fifth “I am” statement in John—and it is stunning. Jesus is saying: “I don’t just teach the resurrection; I am the resurrection. I don’t just preach God’s power for life; I am God’s power for life. Don’t merely believe it; believe in Me.” True faith is not mere trust in information and facts about Jesus. Rather, it is belief in Him—the One in whom all truth resides.

The Certainty

When Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out,” the dead-man-come-to-life becomes a walking parable of salvation. He is a living monument to Jesus who is resurrection and life. After Lazarus rises, Jesus commands, “Unbind him, and let him go” (John 11:43–44).

What a portrait of the gospel! The Bible says we are dead in our sin. Rags of unbelief ensnare us and garments of sin cover us. There is nothing we can do, as it was with Lazarus, to make ourselves alive. But God makes dead sinners alive when they believe in Jesus. The Savior died in the place of sinners, rose again, and so holds the keys to death and hell. He calls to us, “Come out. Turn from your sin and trust in Me. I will loose you from the bonds of sin and set you free.”

May we see the sign, hear the statement, and respond like Martha to the fifth “I am” saying: “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God” (John 11:27).²

The celebrated church father, Augustine of Hippo, wrote, “What then is time? Provided that no one asks me, I know. If I want to explain to an inquirer, I do not know.”¹ He made this observation after a lengthy discussion on the nature of time and eternity. While his discussion was more abstract than the question at hand, Augustine’s statement reminds us that the concept of time is complex. Still, we all operate with a pretty straightforward understanding of minutes, hours, days, weeks, and years.

But our way of counting time is not the only way. The Bible was written by authors from a variety of backgrounds, in a period and culture far different from ours. To be sure, none of these factors undermine the overall divine authorship of the Scriptures. On the other hand, recognizing these differences helps us understand what the authors meant—and did not mean—when they used everyday language to record when an event happened.

In fact, the New Testament is eager for the reader to understand that it is documenting events that occurred in space-time history, as we understand it in an everyday sense. Time markers abound in its pages, from when Jesus met the terrified disciples on the turbulent sea (Mark 6:48), to the time He was crucified (Matt. 27:45), to how long He was in the grave (Luke 9:22; 24:7; 1 Cor. 15:4).

As the texts above indicate, the biblical authors taught that Jesus was in the grave for three days. The Gospels tell us He was crucified on Friday and rose from the grave on Sunday (Mark 15:42–47; 16:1; Matt. 27:57–61; 28:1; Luke 23:50–56; 24:1; John 19:38–42; 20:1). But there seems to be a difficulty which surfaces when we compare these accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection and our Lord’s words in Matthew 12:40: “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Critics allege that we cannot reconcile Jesus’ words with the Gospel accounts of His death, which place it at the “ninth hour” (Mark 15:34), or 3 p.m. in modern terms. If Jesus died at 3 p.m. on Friday and was raised early Sunday morning, how can we square those facts with Jesus’ statement in Matthew 12:40? The Scriptures seem inconsistent here. Skeptics have long seized on this seeming contradiction to discredit the doctrine of biblical inerrancy.

The difficulty is apparent, not real. Returning to our earlier discussion on the nature of time, we need to step back and recognize that the Jews of the first century counted days differently than we do today. According to their understanding of days, part of any day counted as a full day. Again, most of us do not mark time like this. If, for example, a newspaper report describes a certain person doing something for three days, we immediately think of three, twenty-four-hour days.

But once we understand how Jesus and the majority of Jewish people around Him understood days, the seeming contradiction vanishes. Jesus’ death at 3 p.m. on Good Friday counted as one day, His entombment all day Saturday counted as the second day, and His resurrection on Sunday morning counted as the third day. Therefore, Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 12:40 and the facts of His crucifixion, burial, and resurrection are not at odds, but simply reflect the common way of understanding days in the first century.

As with many other so-called Bible contradictions, a bit of reflection and some understanding of cultural differences help us see that there is no inconsistency at all. We are once again reminded that the Bible is truth (John 17:17). We can trust it. The facts it records really happened, even if they were detailed in a way foreign to our modern sensibilities.

The more pressing question is, “Do we believe the Bible?” The futile search by critics to find Bible discrepancies like the one discussed here reveals an unbelieving heart. We must make sure such skepticism does not characterize our own hearts. Instead, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23).²

In John’s gospel, we read these familiar words:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16–17)

These two verses are filled with optimism and encouragement. But John goes on to record Jesus’ next words:

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:18–21)

Churches around the world observe Maundy Thursday each year. Many also conduct what is called a Tenebrae service, a service of darkness, because of the events that occurred that Thursday evening in Jerusalem. It was a full moon that night before the Passover. And yet that was the darkest night in the history of the world.

As Jesus was meeting in the upper room with His disciples to celebrate the Passover one last time, two of the men at that table would betray Him in the coming hours: one by selling Him to His enemies for thirty pieces of silver (Judas), and the other by blaspheming and denying publicly that he even knew Jesus (Peter).

Many significant events occurred that night. First, Jesus delivered the longest discourse that we find in Scripture regarding the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Second, He instituted foot-washing for His disciples. Third, he announced His last will and testament, saying to them before His departure:

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:1–3)

Fourth, he reassured them: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). And fifth, Jesus prayed what has been called His High Priestly Prayer, praying that He might enter again into the glory He had with His Father from before the foundation of the world. But principally, He focused the prayer on intercession for His disciples (ch. 17).

When all this was finished, the meeting ended with the singing of a hymn, and they left the upper room to go to the garden of Gethsemane. Keep in mind that all these things started that evening after the sun had set. Twenty-four hours later, Jesus would be dead and buried. In anguish in Gethsemane, He prayed alone to His Father, saying: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

The disciples couldn’t stay awake with Him for even one hour. They fell asleep while He was wrestling with the Father in prayer. And the Father obviously gave the answer to His Son, saying, in effect: “No, I’ve set this cup before You. This is Your destiny, and You must drink it to its bitter dregs.”

Then there was a sound of a tumult as a huge contingent of armed soldiers arrived, led by Judas. Judas kissed Jesus with the kiss of death, identifying Him for the soldiers, that they might arrest Him. So dark was that night.

The soldiers had a job to do. It was a matter of urgency that they arrest Jesus and bring Him bound to the Sanhedrin so that He might be subjected to trial by the Jewish authorities. Why the hurry? It was inappropriate, improper, and illegal for a capital trial to be carried out at night. It was also illegal to have a capital trial that did not last at least two days, since it was incumbent on the prosecution to interrogate several witnesses.

But this was a kangaroo court. It took place in the dead of night. The Jewish leaders had to get their decision finalized because they could not execute a criminal on the Sabbath, which would begin at dusk the next day. Since the Jews were not permitted under the law of their Roman occupiers to carry out the death penalty, they first had to convict Jesus among the Jewish Sanhedrin and then take Him to Pontius Pilate for the secular judgment. Pilate would hold court only in the mornings, so all their business had to be done that night.

John 3:19 says, “This is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” One of the things we read in Revelation about the new heaven and new earth is that there will be no night there. There will be no sun, moon, or stars, or any artificial light, because the Lamb’s radiance and refulgent glory will supply the light for heaven. There is no darkness in heaven because darkness is the context preferred by the wicked.

Think for a moment how many diabolical acts in the world today take place after sundown and before sunup. We, in our fallen condition, are by nature children of darkness. We prefer the darkness so that we can do those evil deeds that can’t stand the scrutiny of daytime. To have a kangaroo court driven by expediency to convict the perfect, sinless Son of God is not something that could possibly have taken place in the light of day.

And so they dragged Jesus first to Annas. Annas had formerly been the high priest, but he had been deposed by Pontius Pilate’s predecessor, even though the high priest normally maintained that position for his entire life. But in the minds of the Jews, Annas was still the leading authority, and they went to him first. Annas interrogated Jesus regarding His claims to be the Messiah.

When Jesus asked Annas for the testimony against Him, He said:

I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said. (John 18:20–21)

In other words, Jesus was saying: “I teach where there are a multitude of witnesses. Where are your witnesses?”

The only “witnesses” they had were false witnesses who had been hired to tell lies about Jesus. The witnesses for the defense were not allowed to speak. When Jesus raised that question, one of the officials slapped Him across the face and snarled, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” (John 18:22). Jesus responded, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” (John 18:23).

Annas had had enough. He had heard all that he wanted to hear, so he directed that Jesus be sent to Caiaphas, who was his son-in-law and the reigning high priest. Jesus then had a second trial that night with the Jewish authorities, who accused Jesus of blasphemy because He claimed to be the Son of God. Yet even that accusation was a violation of Jewish law. Blasphemy required that a person use the name of God in a profane way, and Jesus had never done that.

The Jewish leaders were convinced that Jesus was guilty of a capital offense, but they also knew that Rome would never execute Him for blasphemy because Rome didn’t care about that. So they sent Him to Pilate with the charge that Jesus claimed to be king: “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king” (Luke 23:2).

Pilate immediately understood that this was a Jewish problem, so he sent Jesus to Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee. After that encounter, Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate, and during that trial, Pilate proclaimed, “I find no guilt in him” (John 18:38). Nevertheless, to appease the Jews, Pilate delivered Jesus over to be flogged. After the crown of thorns had been placed on Jesus’ head, after He been whipped and spit upon, Pilate announced, “Behold the man!” (John 19:5). The night was over, and dawn had broken. And in the light of day, they took Jesus away to be crucified.

What do you do when you struggle to pray?

Every Christian knows this struggle. We recognize our staggering privilege to address our holy God and to approach His throne of grace. Yet we struggle to remain consistent. Other priorities crowd in, our minds wander, and we do not know what to pray for (Rom. 8:26).

Even the disciples, who walked with the Lord Jesus Christ throughout His public ministry, needed to ask, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

When I need to regain focus in my prayer life, I find renewed direction by remembering the purpose and significance of prayer.

Ligonier’s founder, Dr. R.C. Sproul, emphasized the importance of prayer because he emphasized the character of God. He reminded us that prayer is more than a spiritual habit. It is worship. It is communion. And, in God’s providence, prayer is one of the primary means that the Lord uses to accomplish His purposes in the world.

R.C. said: “If we want to reach the world with the gospel, we must recover a vital understanding of the place and importance of prayer. If we are to live transformed lives and seek reformation in the church, we must begin with prayer.” This conviction drove Dr. Sproul’s teaching ministry, and it shapes the discipleship outreach of Ligonier today.

Your prayers and generosity are vital to the spread of the gospel and the support of the church. Thank you for extending a theological lifeline to help Christians know God deeply and live in grateful dependence upon Him. This month, when you give a donation to Ligonier, we’ll send you The Valley of Vision.

Dr. Sproul identified this book as a great aid to his own prayer life. I received a copy in my college years and return to it often. It is a treasured collection of written prayers from various Puritans, wise pastors and theologians who excelled at praying with both doctrinal precision and soul-penetrating depth.

These devotional prayers help us keep our eyes fixed on who God is. He is faithful. He is sovereign. He is holy. He is glorious. They model a way to approach the Lord with reverence and humility, resting our confidence in His steadfast grace. It is crucial for us to regain our focus in prayer, because the church’s vitality—as well as yours and mine—has always been tied to dependence on God.

By God’s grace, Ligonier strengthens the church’s reliance on the Lord by providing faithful Bible teaching that calls Christians to earnest prayer. Every day, we strive to advance the kingdom of God by proclaiming who He is—and He is worthy of our endless adoration. Everything we are and all we have depends on the Lord’s gracious provision. Thanks be to God, we can always draw near to His throne of grace with confidence because of Christ (Heb. 4:16).

Day by day, the Lord is using your support of Ligonier to equip His people and further His kingdom. As you serve alongside us through your generous giving, you make it possible to:

• Proclaim the holy character of God clearly on Renewing Your Mind, YouTube, the free Ligonier app, and many other digital platforms.
• Strengthen Christian discipleship by publishing new books, releasing video teaching series, and holding in-person teaching and training events​.
• Equip Christian leaders worldwide by providing pastors, prison chaplains, and military chaplains​ with the teaching resources they need.
• Expand global church support and release additional teaching every week in the world’s 20 most-spoken languages.
• Mobilize Christians to pray for awakening and the spread of the gospel until Christ is glorified among every tribe, people, and nation.

None of this happens apart from prayer. Unless the Lord builds the house, we labor in vain (Ps. 127:1). Every outreach we undertake depends upon His blessing. Every door He opens is an answer to prayer (Col. 4:3). Every mind renewed and life transformed is the work of His grace alone.

That is why your partnership in the gospel matters so much. Our sovereign God uses means to accomplish His purposes. And in His providence, your prayers sustain the work of Ligonier, and your financial support extends it—placing trusted Bible teaching into the hands of Christians hungry to know God.

Give today to accelerate outreach, and you’ll receive a special gift edition of The Valley of Vision in the mail. I hope these biblically rich, God-centered prayers from our forefathers in the faith will encourage you to pray with worshipful reverence.

Additionally, we would be honored to pray for you. If you would like us to bring your request before the Lord, please contact the Ligonier team. You can email your prayer request to service@ligonier.org or call us at 800-435-4343.

Thank you for committing to pray for Ligonier and its kingdom work so that the church may be strengthened and the nations may rejoice in the Lord.

Can we trust the Bible? Are these the last days? How should we approach suffering?

Get concise answers to the most common and difficult questions about the Christian faith with Dr. R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series.

From parables to predestination to prayer, this collection of 50 booklets communicates core Christian truths in everyday language, equipping you for thoughtful evangelism and discipleship.

With the release of three new titles, How Should I Worship?, Why Is There Conflict in the World?, and What Is Love?, the complete collection of Crucial Questions booklets is now available to help you share clear biblical truth in any setting.

Booklets for Every Setting

• Evangelism 
• Discipleship 
• Personal Study 
• Family Devotions 
• Small Groups 
• Church Outreach 

Equip Your Church

Order copies for your church, small group, or outreach ministry with bulk discounts and church partnership pricing available. Or download all 50 titles as free ebooks to read and share digitally.

Ordering from Canada? Place your order through Reformed Book Services to receive the lowest shipping rate.

Wherever this year takes you, Ligonier’s digital discipleship resources make it easy to incorporate trusted, in-depth Bible teaching into your daily routine.

For a limited time, explore a variety of discounted discipleship materials. Save on ebooks for $1; audiobooks, audio teaching series, and music for $3; and video teaching series for $5. Browse the collection today and save on select digital resources.

With each download, you’ll receive lifetime digital access to faithful Bible teaching that can encourage your Christian growth. Access your purchases any time in your Learning Library.

Stock up today on biblical discipleship resources at a discounted price. This sale ends Saturday, March 21.

By God’s grace, your prayers and support of Ligonier’s global outreaches are bearing fruit worldwide. We are both excited and encouraged by the ministry momentum we’re seeing, and we’re prayerful that the Lord will continue to strengthen His people through this Bible teaching ministry throughout 2026.

Here are some of the notable milestones that the Lord has enabled Ligonier to meet so far this year through your faithful support.

Serving in the Top 20 Languages

• Through Ligonier’s dedicated-language websites, our current global reach has exceeded 158,000,000 people worldwide.
• Chinese editions of The Holiness of God and Lessons from the Upper Room are now available in audiobook format online.
• Dr. R.C. Sproul’s 35-part video teaching series The Consequences of Ideas is now dubbed in Chinese and available on Ligonier’s Chinese website and YouTube channel.
• Two newly translated titles from the Crucial Questions booklet series, What Is the Gospel? and Can I Trust the Bible?, are now available in Hindi and on our dedicated-language website.
• Two timely books have recently been translated into Spanish and will be released on March 17: A Field Guide on Gender and Sexuality and Abortion: A Rational Look at an Emotional Issue.

Furthering Study Bibles for the World

• So far, Ligonier has distributed more than 165,000 Reformation Study Bibles to pastors worldwide.
• Lord willing, we plan to distribute another 5,000 study Bibles this summer in Madagascar. We are also planning a large-scale distribution in Kenya later this year.

Equipping the Next Generation

• Last month, we saw hundreds of young Christians turn out for Ligonier’s recent Always Ready youth conference in Panama City Beach, FL.

As we look out upon the remainder of 2026, I’m struck by the overwhelming demand we’re seeing for sound biblical teaching globally. Please join with us in praying for the following outreach opportunities:

• For new study Bible distribution opportunities around the world and for skilled, godly Bible translators to partner with.
• That pastors receiving the Reformation Study Bible would be equipped to proclaim God’s Word to Christians in their churches.
• For the two additional Always Ready events planned for this year. We pray that God will strengthen young Christians to stand firm in an increasingly hostile culture.
• For new opportunities for conferences and events around the world to serve Christians in every age, stage, and nation.

Thank you again for your prayerful and financial support of Ligonier Ministries. May we continue to see the global church strengthened and God’s people equipped for the work of gospel proclamation.

What difference does theology make in the Christian life?

At first glance, the study of doctrine may seem like an abstract discipline reserved for pastors and scholars. But knowing God is vital for every believer—theology shapes how we think, worship, and live before the One who saved us.

In his new 36-part video teaching series, Theology for All, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson draws on a lifetime of theological study and pastoral ministry to unfold the core doctrines of the Christian faith, demonstrating why they matter for every believer.

Get lifetime digital access to this video teaching series when you order it today.

In Theology for All, Dr. Ferguson explores the whole range of systematic theology, revealing how a deeper knowledge of Scripture strengthens our love for God, enriches our hope in His salvation, and guides us to live according to His will.

36 Messages, Including:

• Why Theology Is Important
• The Doctrine of the Word of God
• The Nature of Sin
• Chosen in Christ
• Christ’s Church
• And More

Watch the first message for free to start your study.

Several Teaching Series Formats Available

• Digital teaching series
• Ligonier Connect course
• Digital study guide

Preorder the DVD Edition and Paperback Study Guide

You can also be among the first to receive the DVD edition and paperback study guide for Theology for All when they become available. Preorder Dr. Ferguson’s DVD teaching series and study guide for yourself or a loved one today.

Watch Now as a Ministry Partner

Did you know that Ligonier’s Ministry Partners enjoy complete streaming access to our teaching series library? If you’d like to stream Theology for All and 230+ other series online and in the Ligonier app, partner with Ligonier today.

Your committed prayers for the ministry and your monthly donation will help fuel gospel outreach so more Christians worldwide can benefit from this biblical teaching. 

Can you imagine a world filled with Christians who know God deeply and live with single-minded devotion to make His glory known?

Men and women would embrace their dignity as people created in God’s image. Families would thrive by reflecting divine love. Nations would prioritize true righteousness.

That is not the world you and I inhabit—not yet, and it won’t come without deliberate, faithful discipleship in the truth.

Ours is a fallen, sinful world plagued by animosity toward God and ignorance of His revelation. Into this darkness, the Lord Jesus Christ sends His church to form disciples in the truth of His Word (Matt. 28:18–20). Ligonier Ministries seeks to strengthen the church for this Great Commission by providing trusted Bible teaching for the whole Christian life and for the whole world.

Dr. R.C. Sproul expressed the comprehensive mission of this teaching fellowship with a stirring statement: “I want to flood the world with knowledgeable and articulate Christians.” By this, he meant Christians whose minds are shaped by Scripture, whose lives are marked by holiness, and whose witness is anchored in truth. This tidal wave of clear, courageous faith requires serious education in the Word of God.

Thank you for your generous support of this movement to strengthen discipleship in the historic Christian faith. Your prayerfully considered donation this month can help Ligonier advance four vital initiatives throughout 2026. I’ll explain those below.

Making disciples of Jesus Christ is the responsibility of the whole church (Eph. 4:15–16). This calling requires every Christian to know the faith deeply and to express it clearly to others. Yet around the world, faithful Christian teaching is lacking:

• Many pastors cannot afford trusted discipleship resources to help them study God’s Word and to feed their congregations with life-giving truth.
• The next generation is inundated with lies about their identity and purpose, often leaving young believers feeling under attack and alone.
• Christians in many countries lack access to study materials in their language to help them understand and apply the whole counsel of God.

With your generous support, we can provide trusted theological instruction for people of every age, at every stage of the Christian life, and in every nation.

Below are Ligonier’s 2026 outreach plans. I’m updating you on these four initiatives so you can know how to pray and where to give as we seek together to strengthen the global church throughout this year and beyond.

INITIATIVE #1: Strengthen the whole Christian life through an unparalleled arsenal of Bible teaching, expanded discipleship resources, and additional in-person training. Your support can help to:

• Develop in-depth Bible studies for all 66 books of sacred Scripture, providing tools for Christians of all ages to be mastered by God’s Word.
• Release more resources for families and children, including the Spanish and Chinese translations of the Growing in God’s Word Bible curriculum for children.
• Produce new focused content and teaching events for teenagers, college students, and young professionals, applying timeless truth to the formative stages of life.
• Extend online courses through Reformation Bible College to provide a rigorous theological education for global students and prison inmates.

INITIATIVE #2: Expand media and digital platforms to give Christians constant access to God’s truth in a noisy, confusing world. Just as R.C. and the early Ligonier staff pioneered the use of emerging technology, we now use digital channels to spread truth and counter the tsunami of lies online. To support strategic outreach improvements, you can help:

• Increase the impact of Renewing Your Mind by making it a full-video daily podcast and holding live online events from the newly built Renewing Your Mind studio.
• Release more short-form video content to enhance Christian discipleship and provide clear, trusted answers to eternal questions on platforms increasingly shaped by distraction, distortion, and falsehood.
• Develop upgrades for RefNet (our free 24/7 radio app) with more teaching to serve the whole family and set a soaring standard for Christian internet radio programming.
• Revolutionize the free Ligonier app to deepen the study of God’s Word through increased personalization, more teaching in more languages, and an intelligent search assistant that delves into our extensive library.

INITIATIVE #3: Equip 500,000 global pastors with the Reformation Study Bible. The Study Bibles for the World campaign has already blessed more than 150,000 pastors who lack formal theological training and have little access to study materials. Every $25 given to this initiative helps place a Reformation Study Bible into the hands of one pastor, furthering Ligonier’s plans in 2026 to:

• Gift 4,000 study Bibles to the Anglican Church of Kenya in the coming months. As this theologically conservative denomination has more than 5 million members, each minister equipped with the Reformation Study Bible can have a wide-reaching influence.
• Furnish 5,000 pastors in Madagascar this summer, serving the largest Presbyterian denomination in this impoverished island nation with study Bibles. We’re eager to help these church leaders further after meeting many of them last year.
• Fuel additional major study Bible distributions around the world throughout 2026, supporting the church where the need is greatest and faithful teaching is least available.

INITIATIVE #4: Unleash a deep theological library for 80% of the world. As Ligonier entered 2026, you helped us cross the starting line to release weekly Bible teaching in the world’s top 20 languages. Now, decades of translation and production lie ahead, with a potential reach of 6.5 billion souls and rising. Your support today can:

• Deepen our library in these 20 most-spoken languages with translated teaching from Dr. Sproul, the Ligonier Teaching Fellows, and other gifted teachers from the global church.
• Form partnerships with native-language publishers to produce additional discipleship materials in the 60+ languages in which Ligonier is already active.
• Establish long-term launchpads for ministry with dedicated Ligonier staff members providing support to the church in Southeast Asia and the United Kingdom.
• Host more international conferences to bring Christians from every nation to the biblical riches of Reformed theology.

Our great God is worthy of great endeavors. This is His work, empowered by His grace and accomplished for His glory alone. Please pray with us for His continued provision.

R.C. outlined a vision for comprehensive discipleship outreach because the need for biblical truth is universal. Everyone needs to know who God is, and every Christian must be deeply anchored in the gospel to bear faithful witness to His glorious grace.

Ligonier presses on to serve the global church because the Lord is blessing our Great Commission outreach. In His astonishing mercy, the Lord has multiplied the reach of Ligonier fivefold in the years since R.C. went to be with Him, using ordinary means—faithful teaching, careful stewardship, and gospel partnership—to serve the global church. As long as God keeps us faithful and opens more doors for ministry, we will trust and follow Him through.

Your prayerful and generous support can help accelerate this work as the Lord provides. Our team is committed to stewarding your generosity to form knowledgeable and articulate Christians worldwide.

The nations await. Thank you for your prayers and thoughtful generosity in service to the Great Commission.

R.C. Sproul devoted his life to helping Christians grow in their knowledge of God and His holiness. **This week only, explore a special collection of more than 100 discounted books, teaching series, and other discipleship resources **from the founder of Ligonier Ministries.

With his signature ability to bring clarity to complex theological subjects, Dr. Sproul’s timeless teaching continues to make the deep truths of the Christian faith accessible to people around the world.

Explore a variety of discounted titles from Dr. Sproul, including:

• Discounted books like The Power of the Gospel: A Year in Romans.
• Commentaries such as Romans: An Expositional Commentary
• Video teaching series like Dust to Glory: An Overview of the Bible
• And More

Explore this collection of discipleship resources before the sale ends on Saturday, February 21, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Shop now, while supplies last.

What do you want your Christian life to look like 12 months from now?

We all desire to grow in the Lord:

• Greater, fruit-bearing love for God and for our neighbor,
• More wisdom to guide our relationships and responsibilities,
• Deeper faith that rests in Christ through every joy and trial.

Spiritual growth requires perseverance. It needs direction. And it happens one day at a time.

Invest in your growth with Tabletalk, the monthly Bible study magazine from Ligonier Ministries. This week only, get 12 months of guided study for only $12.

R.C. Sproul created Tabletalk to help Christians grow in their faith as they read God’s Word, think deeply about its meaning, and apply its teaching to everyday life.

When you subscribe for only $12 with this offer, you’ll receive Tabletalk in the mail each month.

Over the next 12 months, you will:

• Study most of the New Testament General Epistles (from 1 Peter to Jude)
• Explore 12 edifying themes (such as love, the early church, and the English Bible)
• Take in 912 pages of clear, practical theology (2 or 3 pages a day)
• Read the whole Bible (if you follow the Tabletalk Bible reading plan)

What will your Christian life look like in a year? For only $12, devote the next 12 months to pursuing daily growth with Tabletalk. Secure your discount before it ends on February 13.

To be a Christian is to be a citizen of the kingdom of God.

The Lord Jesus taught that His arrival signaled the inauguration of His reign as the heavenly King. Every Christian, therefore, lives as a subject under Christ’s lordship, using their talents and vocations to proclaim the gospel and further God’s kingdom in the world.

Join us on November 6–7 for Ligonier’s 2026 Southern Ontario Conference, Thy Kingdom Come. Register today and save with the early-bird rate.

CONFERENCE SESSIONS:

• The King and His Kingdom
• Preaching the Gospel
• Speaking the Truth in Love
• The World as God’s Mission Field
• Obedience and Rest
• The Kingdom to Come
• Q&A Session

As we gather around the Scriptures at this conference, we’ll explore what it means to live as citizens of God’s kingdom. With speakers like Tom Ascol, Robert M. Godfrey, Derek Thomas, and more, we’ll reflect on the profound significance of both Christ's inaugurated rule in this present age and our hope in the consummation of His rule in the age to come.

We’ll also host a pastors’ pre-conference event, Standing Firm in the Truth, on November 6, 2026. This additional event invites pastors to reflect on Paul’s second letter to Timothy, offering guidance for ministers in Christ’s church as they seek to remain faithful to their calling.

PRE-CONFERENCE SESSIONS:

• Fan into Flame
• Guard the Deposit
• Endure Hardship
• Preach the Word

We look forward to returning to Ontario for this conference, and we hope you can join us in November for a time of mutual edification as we reflect together on how Christians can use their talents and vocations to proclaim the gospel and advance God’s kingdom in the world.

Register today and save with the early-bird rate.

Do you remember when you first came to grips with the sovereignty of God?

Many people come to embrace the truth of our sovereign God through the teaching of Ligonier Ministries and Dr. R.C. Sproul. Request your special edition of R.C.’s cherished book on divine sovereignty in salvation when you support Ligonier’s mission with a donation.

For some Christians, the doctrine of predestination has always been part of their reading of Scripture. For many others, however, it is a truth embraced only after honest struggle. That was certainly my experience.

It was also the experience of Dr. Sproul. As a theology student, R.C. initially resisted the truth of God’s sovereign and unconditional election, fearing that it threatened his personal freedom. But as he labored over the Scriptures—text after text, argument after argument—he wrote a simple but decisive note to himself:

“You are required to believe, to preach, and to teach what the Bible says is true, not what you want the Bible to say is true.”

That resolve proved transformative. R.C. eventually concluded that his objections could not withstand the plain teaching of Scripture. Rather than defeated, he found his heart warmed. For he finally realized, in his own words, that this truth “begins and ends with grace.”

The fruit of that hard-won clarity is Chosen by God, one of the most influential books of R.C.’s ministry. For forty years, the Lord has used this book to awaken countless believers to the reality that our salvation rests not on human initiative but on God’s sovereign mercy. It remains a core resource in Ligonier’s discipleship arsenal and one of the most widely used introductions to the doctrines of grace in the church today.

Ligonier Ministries seeks to be the first to serve Christians worldwide who are growing in their knowledge of our sovereign God. Generous friends like you help to extol the glorious riches of Reformed theology among the nations. To thank you for your gift of any amount this month, we’ll send you the exclusive new 40th-anniversary edition of Dr. Sproul’s classic book.

Why does the doctrine of God’s sovereign grace so often unsettle us? Because it dethrones our pride. It dismantles every form of self-made religion. Salvation that begins and ends with the Lord’s unmerited mercy confronts the world’s obsession with self-exaltation.

Yet opposition to the doctrines of grace is not found only outside the Christian community. Vast swaths of the global church are influenced by false teaching and man-centered theology. We see it in the devastating prosperity “gospel.” We see it in the fusing together of Christianity with demonic animism. The enemy has designed all of this to hide the Lord Jesus Christ.

The beauty of divine grace is too amazing to be left concealed. Praise the Lord that amid widespread error, the true church is striving to be faithful in contending for the gospel (Jude 3). However, many pastors and laypeople around the world lack basic training to help them delve into God’s Word and proclaim it clearly. Ligonier seeks to address that problem with your timely support.

Following our founder’s determination to proclaim the truth of Scripture, Ligonier provides biblical teaching to edify disciples worldwide. In our mission to reach as many people as possible, we’re building a global pipeline of Reformed theology to strengthen the church with God-centered truth.

Your generosity strengthens Ligonier’s stride to be the first to serve people around the world with trusted Bible teaching through our vast discipleship library. With your help:

• Ligonier translated 8.5 million words and 5,700 minutes of dubbed teaching in 2025. Now books, video teaching series, articles, and other resources are available in 63 languages, with more planned as God provides.

• Following the launch of four new dedicated-language websites last year, Ligonier has committed to releasing new teaching every week in the world’s top 20 languages. Decades of translation and partnerships with local churches lie ahead, Lord willing.

• We seek to translate foundational resources widely so books such as Chosen by God are available on every continent. Church leaders are eager to use our children’s curriculum, Growing in God’s Word, once Spanish and Chinese translations are finished.

• And we continue to gather Christians for in-person teaching and training at events around the world. Chosen by God is the theme of our London Conference in September, with additional opportunities in Southeast Asia, Canada, France, and Switzerland.

In all our Great Commission outreach, we want to see the nations glorify our sovereign King. The truth of His reign does not breed complacency; instead, it fuels mission. Understanding that our salvation is all of grace, initiated by God’s electing love for us in Christ, gives clarity and assurance to our faith (Eph. 1:3–14). Divine sovereignty brings comfort in trials, renews hope in the fight against sin, and gives rise to reverent worship.

As R.C. said, “The credit for your redemption is to be given to God. To God alone is the glory.” This truth is transformative and must be proclaimed far and wide. Imagine how the church’s witness would be strengthened if millions more Christians were anchored in this doctrine. In God’s providence, this ministry’s impactful outreach requires substantial financial support to execute. Your donation today can help take the God-exalting truths of Reformed theology to the ends of the earth.

Out of deep gratitude for faithful friends like you, Ligonier has prepared a special anniversary edition of Chosen by God. I hope you will receive it for your own encouragement—or place it in the hands of someone who needs to discover the depths of God’s sovereign grace. We’ll send it to you when you give a gift of any amount to Ligonier.

Thank you for joining Ligonier in proclaiming the truth of God’s sovereignty to the world.

With great joy in the Lord, Ligonier Ministries has appointed two new teaching fellows: Rev. Joel Kim and Dr. Michael Reeves.

This decision, made prayerfully and carefully by Ligonier’s board of directors, reminds us of this ministry’s roots. Dr. R.C. Sproul always envisioned Ligonier not as the ministry of one man but as a movement with a guiding mission.

From the early days of the Ligonier Valley Study Center to today’s global discipleship ministry, this teaching fellowship is united in one focused endeavor: to proclaim the holiness of God, teach Scripture with faithfulness and clarity, and strengthen the church with Reformed theology for generations to come.

Rev. Kim and Dr. Reeves are already familiar names to many of you. In addition to leading pastoral and theological training institutions, both Rev. Kim and Dr. Reeves have proclaimed God’s Word at Ligonier’s conferences, recorded video teaching series, and written articles for Tabletalk magazine. In one sense, their appointment as teaching fellows formally recognizes the service in which they are already engaged.

“The teachings of Dr. R.C. Sproul and the ministry of Ligonier have been constant companions in my pastoral and teaching ministries. I am especially grateful for Ligonier’s focus on supplying the global church with sound theological resources, and I am honored and excited to participate in advancing this mission by serving as a teaching fellow.” —Rev. Joel Kim

“I owe a profound debt of gratitude to Dr. Sproul, who shaped my convictions at a formative time for me. Since then, it has been a pleasure and an encouragement to teach and partner with Ligonier. I am delighted to step into this new role and help Ligonier respond to the increasing global opportunities for the faithful teaching of God’s truth.” —Dr. Michael Reeves

Ligonier’s extensive discipleship library features the teaching of hundreds of gifted theologians, pastors, and Bible teachers. But in various seasons of ministry, the board asks some teachers to take on a more prominent role in advancing the mission.

By God’s grace, we welcome Rev. Kim and Dr. Reeves to help Ligonier respond to its accelerating momentum. Demand for in-person teaching and theological formation has grown steadily, creating opportunities that exceed our current capacity. Adding these teaching fellows enables us to meet that demand with integrity and foresight as Ligonier’s outreach continues to expand.

We must bring God’s truth to every nation and every generation. Ligonier’s teaching fellows serve as ambassadors for the historic Reformed faith, lending their voices and scholarship in service to the church through clear and faithful Bible teaching.

Join us in praying for Rev. Kim, Dr. Reeves, and the teaching fellowship of Ligonier Ministries. We thank the Lord and rely on His providence as we strive alongside you to reach people of every age, every stage of the Christian life, in every nation with the truth of our holy God.

Thank you for joining in this mission and for praying for its faithfulness to the glory of God alone.

As I reflect on the past year, I am astonished to consider the many lives God’s truth is impacting through Ligonier Ministries. The team tells me that our reach exceeded 150 million souls in 2025. We consider it a profound privilege to stand alongside friends and supporters like you to proclaim God’s holiness around the world every hour of the day.

What will 2026 hold for this teaching fellowship? As we look back with gratitude on the gospel’s advancement, we see tremendous opportunity and an overwhelming need for trusted Bible teaching in the year ahead.

Will you join us in praying that God will continue to strengthen His people through Ligonier’s discipleship outreach in 2026? Please lift up these areas of ministry:

Serving in the Top 20 Spoken Languages

• Thank God for the launch of our Hausa and Marathi dedicated-language websites in the final weeks of 2025, achieving our goal to enable Ligonier to begin releasing weekly Bible teaching in the top 20 languages.
• Ask the Lord to guide and strengthen our efforts as we seek to expand our theological library and reach even more people in 2026.

Furthering Study Bibles for the World

• Thank God for allowing us to equip 150,000+ pastors in 75 countries with study Bibles to date.
• Ask the Lord for wisdom, provision, and open doors as we work toward our goal of equipping 500,000 pastors—or 10% of the world’s pastors—over the next ten years.

Equipping the Next Generation

• Thank God for enabling Ligonier to publish our first children’s curriculum, Growing in God’s Word.
• Pray for the wide adoption of this resource among churches and families. Also, please pray for timely translations—Spanish is underway, and Chinese will follow as funding allows.
• Thank God for allowing us to grow our Always Ready youth conferences to help disciple the next generation of Christians.
• Pray that God will enable us to serve 15,000 students worldwide over the next three years through these apologetics training events.

Enhancing the Ligonier App

• Thank the Lord for our free Ligonier app, which provides immediate access to a vast library of trusted teaching.
• With major updates to the app underway, pray that God will grant us to leverage new technology to serve millions more people in the coming years and deepen their engagement with the Word.

Thank you for joining us in prayer for the Lord’s blessing on Ligonier’s outreaches in the coming year. And thank you also for standing with this ministry founded by Dr. R.C. Sproul as we accelerate this work, by God’s grace, seeking to strengthen God’s people in the fight for truth.

If there is any way we can pray for you, please let us know. You can submit prayer requests to service@ligonier.org or forward them to a member of our Advancement Team. We would be honored to pray for you.

Lastly, I wanted to let you know about a devotional resource on awakening that we shared during our online year-end event. You can download Fight the Good Fight: A devotional on Awakening for free. We hope it’s an encouragement to you. Feel free to share this resource with friends and family to encourage them as well.

Even as we pray and give thanks for you, in dependence on the Lord, please pray for His blessing as the Word goes forth through Ligonier. “Unless the  Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1).

My other favorite Reformer, partly because I love his name, is Johannes Oecolampadius. His name literally means “house lamp,” but he was a brilliant language scholar. He wrote a Hebrew grammar. He wrote a commentary on Isaiah that became the model for Luther, for Calvin, and for all the Old Testament work of a whole century of scholars. Every time we pick up our English Bible, we know that a boatload of scholars made that possible. Some of them gave their blood for us to have an English Bible. Oecolampadius was one of those guys. He died young, but he filled his life as much as he could. And what a great name!

This text doesn’t literally mean we should never do anything other than pray. It’s clear the Scriptures call us to all sorts of other things. But prayer should be a regular, recurring part of our whole experience, such that there are not only, perhaps, set times of prayer for us but that we turn to the Lord throughout the day. We don’t have to pray at great length all the time, and I think that’s part of the reminder here. This text calls us to cultivate a sense of the presence of God with us, along with us turning our hearts, minds, and cares to Him regularly throughout the day.

It’s an encouragement to think of ourselves as a prayer-filled people. That’s the call, and it’s a valuable call for us to hear.

To know who you are already in Christ is invaluable. You belong to Him. Any persecution you experience, any demeaning you experience, yes, it will be sore, but you can look up to Him and say: “Lord, I belong to You, I’m Yours, and I know this is about You. You will help me cope with it.”

The other thing I would say is really get to know your Bible. Psalm 119 was written for people your age. That’s why it says, “How can a young man keep his way pure?” (Ps. 119:9). Psalm 119 teaches us that if we hide God’s Word in our hearts, it will not only protect us from sinning, but it will make us wiser even than our teachers. That doesn’t mean you’ll know more than a rocket scientist, but it does mean that you have the clues to the meaning of life and that you learn in Scripture first principles that will enable you to negotiate your way through life. That is such a tremendously stabilizing force.

I would also advise that you really seek to understand Christian doctrine. Understanding Christian doctrine gives you a framework of reference, and most of your peers have no idea of their framework of reference. They don’t have any roots. They don’t have any first principles of which they are conscious. They are awash. They’re blown around, as Paul says, by any teaching that comes along. There is “cool” teaching that you’ll come across—for example, it’s cool to be an atheist today just like it was cool to smoke fifty years ago. But just like it was cool to smoke fifty years ago, being an atheist is going to kill you.

There is a tremendous strength in the Christian gospel, and one of the things our conference time does for youngsters is give them a sense that the gospel has its own intellectual power, and we don’t need to be ashamed of it.

There are people in the visible church—that is, they attend church and may even be members of the church—but they are not members of the invisible church. They may even make a profession of faith, but we don’t know the heart. We can’t see into the heart. In some denominations, in order to be a member, you have to have a credible profession of faith. They are looking for evidences, but even then they don’t know if someone is genuinely saved.

To sum it up, false converts are not converts who then become not converts. They were never converts. This is not something that’s new for us; it’s there in the epistles of John and in the New Testament church.

I started reading the Bible when I was nine. I had read John 5:39–40 before, but I was fourteen when it hit me. That verse applied to me in this way: I thought being a Christian meant reading the Bible, saying prayers, helping old ladies cross the street, and doing good things, but that verse hit me like a hammer. I thought: “This is exactly where I am. I’ve been searching the Scriptures and reading them diligently. In five years, I’ve probably missed only five days of reading the Bible.” It really came to me with great power and awakened me. It didn’t convert me; it awakened me. A number of months afterward, I was brought to a living faith through John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Those are reasons why I love John’s gospel from my mid-teens, but there are many other reasons. One of them is simply because of the sheer wonder of the portrayal of Christ in it. There are also sections of it that I particularly love. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve loved John 13–17 particularly, but there is no part of it I don’t love. Every time I read it or preach on it, I think, “This is absolutely endless.” The early fathers used to say that John’s gospel was like a sea that an elephant could swim in and in which a lamb could bathe—it’s just so rich for all believers. So, I think my favorite book of the Bible is John’s gospel.

I remember when I was converted as a high school student and first found myself worshiping amongst the Dutch Reformed, we always prayed the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” We can debate the translation, and it can go either way, but I think our Lord is reminding us that He withstood temptation for us and overcame the evil one. We pray that He will continue to preserve us so we don’t face temptation as He faced it and that we would be delivered from the evil one to live for Christ. I think that’s at least part of what’s going on in the Lord’s Prayer.

REEDER: I love the translation, “Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” I actually think it’s a better translation because that’s exactly where this is aiming: we are reminded of Christ having endured temptation for us, and therefore, we are delivered through His faithfulness in all of life under the assault of the evil one.

On the other hand, the notion of testing itself is not evil. On the contrary, God uses testing. Further, God can sovereignly take that which the world, the flesh, and the devil would use to ensnare us, and the Lord can use it instead to disciple us and develop us. But we are to flee temptation. I’ll make two comments.

First, Christians make a big mistake in this area by saying that we resist temptation and flee Satan. I think the Bible would have us do the opposite. The Bible does not want us to flee Satan; the Bible wants us to resist Satan, and he will flee from us. But that which is designed to ensnare us into sin, we are to flee that temptation and pursue the environment of holiness and the means of grace that build us up.

Second, having said that, when God brings tests, they are not designed to ensnare us. Rather, they are designed to edify us. A test from the divine hand does three things. It’s kind of like my algebra teacher in the eighth grade. I was convinced she gave me tests to flunk me. I have always told people: “You never have to worry about prayer in school. As long as you’ve got algebra tests, you’ll have prayer in school, I can promise you.” But a test in the hand of the Almighty is there to show us what we know, to show us what we don’t know, and to show us what we need to know. That is from the hand of the Lord. But we flee that which is designed by the world, the flesh, and the devil to bring us down.

PARSONS: I think it is confusing for everyone when we hear that translation. Part of the issue with the way it’s translated into English and the way we understand that portion of the Lord’s Prayer is that it’s a bit of a Hebraism. It’s a way of speaking. It’s a manner of getting a point across to say: “When we are tempted, Lord, lead us away from it. Get us out of it. Help us to flee it.” I know that sounds like the opposite of what it is saying, but that is the way the Hebrews thought and spoke. We see Hebraisms throughout the Gospels, and I think that’s what it’s getting at.

The second thing I would say is that many Christians have been taught to have prejudices against the Reformed faith, but often they don’t know what it is. However, if they are really the Lord’s people, there is one person they are not supposed to have a prejudice against, and that is the Lord Jesus. So, immerse yourself in the teaching of Jesus.

Our late friend, James Montgomery Boice, once preached a sermon on the radio, which I think was called “Was Jesus a Calvinist?” He got more bad press for that sermon than for anything else, but that is actually quite a good question because we can get prejudices about “isms,” but if we are the Lord’s people, we love the Lord Jesus. We know even at the instinctive and emotional level that if He taught it, we should listen, and if He believed it, we need to learn to believe it.

So, a great tool for us in keeping friendships and helping our friends is our own study of the way in which Jesus Himself taught about the grace of God, the depravity of man, the nature of the atonement, and the sovereignty of God. It’s all in the Gospels. I think that will enable you to maintain friendships, or if you lose them, they will be lost because alas, people won’t listen to Christ Himself. That is very sore, but I think it does mean that you have not been the offensive one. That’s one thing that I’ve found helpful.

The Spirit primarily does two things in us, and if you understand these two things, you’ll understand how the Spirit helps us pray. First, the Spirit illumines us. He opens our eyes to see who God is truly, and we then find our minds turned. We have a complete misunderstanding of what God is like, and then the Spirit opens our eyes, and it’s a mighty aha moment that carries on as we carry on being educated by the Spirit. So, the Spirit renews our minds as we think: “Oh, that is what God is like. I did not think God was like that.”

Second, by renewing our minds, the Spirit transforms our hearts. He takes away a heart of stone to give us a heart of flesh. That is an initial work that He does, but it’s also an ongoing work. The Spirit gives us a new mind and a new heart, but He also ongoingly educates us and affects us. In regard to prayer, that means that as the Spirit works in me, my mind is enabled to know what to pray for.

As a young Christian, I naturally tended to have a prayer life like a shopping list of blessings for me, my family, and my friends, and it was pretty self-centered. And then I’d remember that I ought to do some less self-centered prayers. But as the Spirit works in me and transforms my mind, and I see reality differently, as I start seeing the centrality of God and not me, then my prayers start following that change. My prayers start becoming more God-centered and less me-centered. That’s the Spirit’s re-education work.

Further, through the Spirit’s re-education work, He is also transforming my affections and desires. It’s not merely as the Spirit works in me that I know, “Yes, I really ought to be more God-centered and less self-centered.” Rather, the Spirit is doing a deeper work. He’s actually making me want to be and enjoy being God-centered so this just becomes natural to me. I’m not trying to work at it. It just comes out of who the Spirit is making me to be. Therefore, I begin to desire to pray God-centered, God-loving, and God-adoring prayers.

The Spirit educates and affects me such that I begin to desire to pray, to desire long communion with God in a way that I did not think about before. Initially, prayer was just one of those things that I ought to do every now and again. But the Spirit’s work runs so deep that I begin to enjoy communion with God.

So, it’s those two things that the Spirit does. He educates me, transforming my mind, and He transforms my affections so that I enjoy prayer and begin to pray more intelligently and more Christian prayers.

The basic principle is to make sure that you have space in your day, then space in your week, and then space in your month set aside for reading. I remember the late John Stott saying that he tried to read one hour a day, a morning a week, a day a month, and a week a year. If you keep that up, or some such program, even though it seems slow, you will eventually get through a lot of books over a longer period of time.

This is not a matter of setting a pattern or a standard for everyone. Some of us read very quickly, and some of us read more slowly. Some books should be read quickly. Others should be read slowly. I think the thing that helps is breaking the back of our sloth and indifference and saying, “Even if I have to start small, I will do it.” And if you keep going, it’s amazing how much you can get through.

I would also recommend paying attention to the style. If you read something and think, “That is really good,” then don’t just go on to the next thing. Look back and ask yourself: “Why is this really good? How is this person doing this?” Then, see if you can build some of these principles into your own use of language. I think we often forget that we use language in ministry, and the better we can use it, the better it will be. In a sense, the better our language is, the better we will be able to glorify God with words—not just cheap, easy words and slang but words that exalt God and lift the spirits of those who listen to us.

In the ministry of Christ and the seventy, when they came back from their mission, Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). An aspect of Satan’s control over the world was affected by the ministry of Christ, His death and resurrection, and the day of Pentecost, which suggests that now the gospel is to be preached in all the world.

That being said, Satan is still referred to as the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2). He still has power. He does not have as much power as he did under the old covenant, but he is still to be reckoned with: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). In his Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis said something along the lines that you can make too much of the devil, but you can also make too little of him. He hasn’t yet been cast into the bottomless pit that the book of Revelation speaks of in Revelation 20. So, he is very much to be reckoned with, even in the new covenant.

GODFREY: I certainly agree, but we have to be very clear: Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords now. I think Lewis is exactly right: we can’t make too much or too little of Satan. On the “too much” side, sometimes we talk about Satan almost as if he were a minor god. He is a finite creature, which means he can’t be everywhere at once. He can’t be the Holy Spirit, so he has minions who serve him.

Sometimes we talk as if there is the Holy God and then there is the evil god, Satan. Satan is not God. He’s a finite creature. He’s limited by his finitude as well as by God’s sovereignty. He is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, but he is chump change compared to the sovereign God. He has been defeated, and he will be destroyed. Our calling is not to let him destroy us before he is destroyed.

FERGUSON: We all try to answer questions by saying the same thing in different ways, and there are two things I’ve found helpful in this context.

The first is what Bob has alluded to in Matthew 28:18–20. Jesus is saying in Matthew 28:18–20 that as the second man and the last Adam, He has won back the dominion on earth that Adam lost. Adam lost his dominion. He fell to the tempter. Christ has overcome the tempter so that He now says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” We might instinctively think, “He’s the Son of God—of course all authority in heaven and on earth is His.” But Jesus is speaking in a particular context, saying that the dominion Satan won in the garden of Eden has been overthrown, and that authority is now His.

The second is to pick up what Derek said: the limiting context of the expression regarding the binding of Satan is that he would no longer deceive the nations. It isn’t just a general statement, “Satan is bound,” but that Satan is bound in this particular respect: until the resurrection of Christ, the sending of the Holy Spirit, and the coming of the last days, Satan was deceiving all the nations except the one nation God was undeceiving in His mercy. On the day of Pentecost, the crowd that gathered was analogous to the crowd that gathered to build the Tower of Babel in an attempt to pull God down. God judged the nations at Babel and committed them to the deception of Satan. But from the day of Pentecost onwards, the nations are being undeceived by the preaching of the gospel. That is symbolized by the gatherings of the people at Pentecost and has now been experienced for two thousand years.

This is just another way of saying that we always need to look at the context in which phrases are used. We don’t just see a phrase and then make up ourselves what it means. In specific ways, the Scriptures help us to see these statements within a particular grid and context. So, when the Scriptures say that Satan is the god of this age, we realize that those who are not Christians are living in this age. However, the end of the ages has dawned on believers, and the preaching of the gospel continues to invade this age to bring people into the new age, which will continue until the Lord comes. And then, whatever your eschatology, comes the end.

I was seventeen in 1965, a first-year student at university, and I encountered the first reprints of John Owen’s works. They were big—six hundred pages per volume, and there were twenty-four volumes. I was able to buy them for fifteen shillings a volume, which is about eighty cents or something like that. When you are Scottish and young and you can get six hundred pages for under a dollar, you buy it. Of course, I’m being humorous. But when I started to read him, I realized this was a different order of teaching altogether. Owen’s works were so theologically rich and spiritually profound that they made some of the other things I was reading seem very superficial. So, that was how I started reading John Owen, and I have kept reading him ever since.

If somebody asked me, “Which theologian taught you to think?” I would say John Calvin because I bought his Institutes when I was a teenager as well.

BINGHAM: Was it expensive or cheap?

FERGUSON: I got them cheap. However, they were more per volume than John Owen. I probably got my first set of Calvin’s Institutes for about $4.50. But Owen helped me to apply theology and to see the way biblical theology flows out into the experience of the church and the Christian life.

Some of Owen’s books in particular helped me, and the one I have treasured most is his book Communion with God, which focuses on communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are also helpful volumes in his complete works. He talks about Christ in volume one, sin in volume six, and justification in volumes four and five. There are twenty-four volumes. I go back to reading him and sometimes think, “Why do I bother reading anybody else?” It is so rich. He is not an easy read, but it’s worth persevering.

The world takes confidence in all sorts of things. It takes confidence in its own accomplishments. It takes confidence in the various ways it avoids having to think about reality. It’s sometimes prideful. Sometimes it’s just indifferent. Christian confidence, on the other hand, is attuned to the Word of God, the promises of God, and the assurance of what God has said.

Recently, I was talking to some friends about a dear saint in our church who is on her deathbed. They reported that she is full of confidence that Jesus has eternal life for her and that death is not the end. It is critical that we have confidence like hers as we face the struggles, difficulties, and from our limited perspective, uncertainties of life. We can have confidence that God’s promises that will prove true.

Machen was a brilliant scholar. He had a bachelor’s from Johns Hopkins, was Princeton-trained, and then became a Princeton professor. Machen lived during the time of modernism in American culture, as the twentieth century was a time of optimism and growth. Of course, it had World War I, but that influenced Europe far more than it did America because it took place on European soil. France lost 2 million people in World War I, while America lost 170,000 soldiers, which is terrible, but the differences are known. But it was still a time of modernism, and Machen lived during the “Roaring Twenties,” as we call it. It was a culture that was ready to move away from God. That’s modernism: “We don’t need God anymore. We built skyscrapers, and He is holding us back.”

Much of the church didn’t want culture to keep moving past them, so they said: “Hold on, you don’t have to leave just yet. We’ll make our doctrines a little more palatable. If you don’t like sinful man, let’s say that humanity is basically good. If you don’t like the idea that Christ had to die and you must have a substitute, let’s turn Christ’s death into just an example that you are empowered to follow every day. Isn’t that beautiful?” That’s liberalism. It compromised the doctrines that actually define Christianity in order to stay at the “cool table” of culture.

Along came Machen, and he wrote a book, Christianity and Liberalism. He essentially said: “This is not Christianity. This is a Christianity without a cross, which is not Christianity. Christianity without the message of sin is not Christianity. Christianity without an authoritative Bible standing over us that we are accountable to is not Christianity. If you don’t have those things, you don’t have Christianity. You are American. You are free to believe whatever you want to believe. We love liberty, but you can’t believe something that’s the total opposite of Christianity and call it Christianity.” Machen took a bold stand.

I mention all of this because I think it’s true of the story of American Christianity, which is a tale of two cities. We love our culture in America. Sometimes, we want to be a part of it so much so that we’ll compromise our convictions. It has happened. We all saw it. It’s happening right now. Whole denominations are selling their birthright to keep up with culture. That’s one city. Or, we can be a church of conviction that says, “No, we are going to follow God’s Word.” Machen is a good example of being a Christian of conviction.

So, that is one incident I find interesting and informative.

Later on, I used a different pattern and then I started using the kind of “Through the Bible in a Year” type pattern and there are various forms of that. I have used one that was written by Robert Murray M’Cheyne, Scottish minister in the nineteenth century that is very well known. You read four chapters a day from Old Testament, New Testament. You get through the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice in the year. And so, getting through the whole Bible each year I think is a helpful practice.

I’ve also, in addition to that, focused from time to time on certain books and given them more concentrated study. The material I actually recommend, I think I find myself recommending most, is actually Tabletalk, Nathan, for two reasons. One is because it does give you that help of a disciplined program of Bible reading. It gives you help in the notes that help you to expound and understand and apply the text, and there are also some great articles that go along with it. And it’s a terrific bargain. So, product placement is Tabletalk.

I know people who have used the same pattern all their lives. I have tended to vary the patterns I’ve used just because knowing the way I’m wired, that’s what I’ve found most helpful. And then, I have surrounded that with various things. You know sometimes I’ll have used some kind of prayer book just to help me, you know, to get the engine started. Sometimes I would sing.

Last year I did something I had never done before. I’m a speed reader and I felt I was speed reading instead of meditating, and so I started chanting the Psalms to myself, now not quite in the old Anglican way, but what I found in the English Standard Version was I could slow myself down by chanting out loud. And one of the things, I think, both my wife and myself have found is that speaking the Bible out loud is a very good help to Bible study because it was actually written to be heard and not just to be read.

So, those are some of the things that I have found helpful.

For those who want to pretend that God doesn’t exist and want to act as if He doesn’t and claim that He doesn’t, I still say to begin with Him. At the end of the day, people are not converted by the way in which we evangelize but rather by God who works in their hearts. So, objectively, begin with God. Begin with His standard, His character, who He is, and what He demands.

At the same time, I would also say that it depends on the conversation. I am engaged in conversations with non-Christians all the time, whether at restaurants, where I am in the community, at the gym, and so on, and it’s fascinating to me: people are incurably religious. They are religious at the very core of their being. Even people who don’t go to church, who are not a part of any organized religion, are religious. We see it every Sunday: clubs, communities, people coming together, being spiritual, being people of faith, whatever they are. So, start wherever they are. In one sense, you can meet people where they are. If they’re thinking about their children, if they’re thinking about their situation, if they’re worried about things, if they have guilt, if they feel the pressures and the anxieties of life, start there.

I would also say this: engage in conversations with them as human beings in a genuine and authentic way because you actually care about them. Yes, you want to communicate and proclaim the gospel to them—but communicate with them because you care about them.

That’s one of the things we see Jesus doing in His ministry. We see the Apostles doing that in their ministries. They have a love for people and a care for human beings. It’s true that their love for God and their desire to glorify God exceeds all of that, but they actually do care about people. They engage with people because they care about them. They care about their souls.

We evangelize not so that we can tell our Christian friends that we have evangelized; we evangelize for the glory of God and for the sake of the souls of those to whom we speak.