Resources on Sanctification

God’s Law: The Believer’s Friend

By Charlie Wingard · December 6, 2013 · 0 Comments
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“. . . apart from the gospel and outside of Christ the law is my enemy and condemns me.  Why? Because  God is my enemy  and condemns me.  But with the gospel and in Christ, united to him by faith, the law is no longer my enemy but my friend. Why? Because now God is no longer my enemy  but my friend, and the law, his will, the law in its moral core, as reflective of his character and of concerns eternally inherent in his own person and so of what pleases him, is now my friendly guide for life in fellowship with God.” – Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. in Mark Jones’ Antinomianism: Reformed Theology’s Unwelcome  Guest, 54.

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Various & Sundry: November 1

By Charlie Wingard · November 1, 2013 · 0 Comments
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Is sanctification monergistic or  synergistic? Read Kevin DeYoung’s answer. Is math ability genetic?  Yes, to some extent, say the authors.   But “for high school math, inborn talent is just much less important than hard work, preparation, and self-confidence.” Micheal Kruger writes, “Preaching is a stunningly simple solution to a complex and daunting problem (postmodernity). But, the solution has been there all along.  Paul said it plainly when he laid out our mission, But we preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1:23).” Read his “How the Scandal of  Preaching Will Reach Our Postmodern World.”

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Imitating Christ’s Courage

By Charlie Wingard · October 26, 2013 · 0 Comments
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One of the virtues almost universally associated with heroism has been courage. For example, it is almost impossible for most of us to consider its opposite, cowardice, as heroic. Although Christian heroism is far broader than courage alone, certainly courage is an indispensable part of it. The writer of Hebrews tells us to look to Jesus, who ‘endured the cross’ (Hebrews 12:2), and to ‘consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted’ (12:3). The endurance described here is courage over time. This is not the single-act heroism of a daring exploit that might be over in a few seconds. This is the long-term refusal to give in to fear,…

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Disappointed by Those We Love

By Charlie Wingard · October 10, 2013 · 0 Comments
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If there is one trial greater than another, it is the trial of being disappointed in those we love. It is a bitter cup, which all true Christians have frequently to drink. Ministers fail them. Relationships fail them. Friends fail them. . . . But let them take comfort in the thought, that there is one unfailing Friend, even Jesus, who can be touched with the feelings of their infirmities, and has tasted of all their sorrows. Jesus knows what it is to see friends and disciples failing Him in the hour of need. Yet He bore it patiently, and love them notwithstanding all. He is never weary of forgiving. Let us strive to do likewise. J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts…

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Bless and Do Not Curse (1)

By Charlie Wingard · September 19, 2013 · 0 Comments
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“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them” (Romans 12:14). Love is the preeminent Christian virtue. Justice, self-control, courage, and wisdom may mark our lives, but without love we are nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2). Our obligation to love is all encompassing. We Christians must love our brothers and sisters in Christ. With all of our family sins and failures and shortcomings, that looms a monumental challenge, and without God’s help, proves insurmountable. But loving our dear Christian brothers and sisters is only the starting line. To finish our lives well our enemies too must be loved and prayed for, and for them, God’s blessings sought. It’s at this point that character faces its severest test. “Bless those…

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The School of Experience

By Charlie Wingard · September 16, 2013 · 0 Comments
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Effective prayer and compassionate care for others emerges from our own intimate acquaintance with suffering. Only as we face adversity and learn to “rely not on ourselves  but on God  who raises the dead” will we learn to pray with understanding and care with sympathy. When Paul wrote the Corinthians, he does not praise God “who enables us to escape from every affliction.” Instead, he assures a broken church: “Blessed be the  God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and  God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by…

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