7 Things You Should Know About Repentance

I grew up in a church-going family, for which I am grateful. But if memory serves me well, what I often heard from the pulpit was only a “half gospel.” Yes, I heard a lot about “believing in Jesus” but little about sin and repentance and the righteousness of God. I don’t think I am alone in this. I recently had the opportunity to speak to around 100 youth at a Christian school in our area. I began by asking the question, “what is repentance?” After waiting for some time, only one student mustered the courage to respond. I can’t...

Dan Stegeman

Christianity Unity: It’s the Gospel All the Way Down

Wyatt Graham

Hold Together, Vaccinated And Unvaccinated Christians

Wyatt Graham

Satan Is Our Enemy. The Gospel Is Our Cause.

Wyatt Graham

The First Implication of the Gospel

Darryl Dash

Does Matthew Get Isaiah’s Prophecy of the Virgin Birth Wrong?

George Sinclair

Another classic, skeptical challenge to the biblical stories of the birth of Jesus goes something like this. “You cannot trust Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus because he gets the key Old Testament text wrong (Matthew 1:23). He quotes Isaiah 7:14, saying it is a prophecy that one day a virgin will give birth. There are two problems with this. First, in the original language, Isaiah is referring to a “young maiden” not a virgin. Second, the text is really about the birth of King Hezekiah, not Jesus. So Matthew misreads the verse and quotes the verse out of context...

Does Matthew Get Isaiah’s Prophecy of the Virgin Birth Wrong?

George Sinclair

Why Does Matthew Skip Three Names in the Genealogy of Jesus?

Wyatt Graham

Matthew writes that “from David to the deportation to Babylon” there were “fourteen generations” (Matt 1:17). Yet First Chronicles lists seventeen generations between David and the deportation (1 Chron 3:10–15). Was Matthew wrong? Three generations removed Before answering that question, we should define what the problem is (or appears to be). In his genealogy, Matthew skips the three offspring that follow Joram (Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah; 1 Chron 3:11–12). The Gospel writer simply says: “Joram fathered Uzziah” (Matt 1:8). Uzziah is another name for Azariah, the fourth generation from Joram (1 Chron 3:12; 2 Kgs 15:30). Matthew skips three names...

Why Does Matthew Skip Three Names in the Genealogy of Jesus?

Wyatt Graham

In Or Out? (Or Who Is a Real Christian And Who Is Not?)

Paul Carter

It matters whether you are in or out. It matters for you and it matters for the rest of us. No one wants to be one of those people who presumed themselves in when in fact they were out. Those people – despite their sincere protestations – will hear from Jesus the scariest words in all the Bible: ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:23 ESV) The Bible takes this matter very seriously. The entire book of 1 John in the New Testament was written to address the confusion and concern that was generated...

In Or Out? (Or Who Is a Real Christian And Who Is Not?)

Paul Carter

How to Become a Christian

George Sinclair

When a couple exchanges their marriage vows, what is said is short and to the point, but the consequence is life changing. Before the words are said in the marriage ceremony, the couple has met, fallen in love, and considered what it means to be married – among other things. But saying the vows is important. The Gospel If you have come to Messiah (the church I pastor) for awhile, you will have heard me preach on texts like Ephesians 2:1-10. This makes clear that we are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Being made right...