Maturity isn’t measured by how much Christian information we’ve accumulated or how confidently we can defend our preferences. The Holy Spirit forms a people whose lives increasingly resemble Jesus—humble, holy, loving, and committed to one another.   Read More

The world looked at the cross and saw defeat. God revealed victory. The world saw weakness. God revealed self-giving love powerful enough to redeem creation. The world measured wisdom by status, rhetoric, influence, and power. God revealed wisdom through a crucified Messiah. And the same Spirit who revealed Christ to the Corinthians continues forming the Church today. This is one reason discipleship can't simply be the accumulation of Christian information.   Read More

The Corinthians had many issues Paul needed to address. But before dealing with any of them, he brought them back to the center. We probably need the same reminder. Jesus is not one loyalty among many. Jesus is the center from which every other part of our lives must find its proper place.   Read More

We need enough humility to listen and enough wisdom to recognize error. We need enough grace to distinguish between disagreements Christians can faithfully live with and teachings that actually pull us away from Jesus and the gospel. And notice where Paul's confidence finally rests. Not in the church becoming clever enough to identify every danger. “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” The church must remain watchful, but victory belongs to God.   Read More

Faithfulness doesn't require us to know exactly how the whole story will unfold. Sometimes God places a destination on our hearts that gets us moving, while the work God accomplishes along the way becomes far more important than we could have anticipated.   Read More

God’s promise through Israel was always moving toward blessing the nations. Jesus, the Messiah from David’s family, has fulfilled those promises, risen from the dead, and opened the family of God to people from every nation. The church in Rome was living evidence that God keeps promises. So are we.   Read More