Understand the Bible

Join me to read John Owen’s classic book “The Mortification of Sin in Believers”. This book is one of the best that have ever been written about how to live a holy life. This chapter is about how we need to get to know God better so we can have a right understanding of his majesty.

Topics covered in this chapter:

* How we should consider the excellence and majesty of God

* How it is that we do not know God as we should or could

* How our knowledge of God should lead us to humility

Find out more about my book, Confused by Grace.

You can download a copy of John Owen’s book (for free) from this website.

How much difference is it possible for one person to make? We tend to think that only a few, exceptional, people can really make a difference. But this passage teaches us that anyone can make a difference, even to the point of changing the course of a war. What does it mean for us today?

Understand the Bible is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Join me to read John Owen’s classic book “The Mortification of Sin in Believers”. This book is one of the best that have ever been written about how to live a holy life. This chapter is about how we can use the Law to help us grow in understanding our own guilt and need for God to help us.

Topics covered in this chapter:

* Why Christians do not outgrow the Law. The Law helps us to understand the depths of our own guilt

* How the grace of God should teach us to say ‘no’ to sin

* The grace of longing for deliverance from the power of sin.

Find out more about my book, Confused by Grace.

You can download a copy of John Owen’s book (for free) from this website.

‘Actions have consequences’ — words which are often said to children. But it applies to adults as well: things we do wrong will affect us — both in terms of natural consequences, and possible punishment. When it comes to God, both of these things are true. We need to learn to repent and to live by faith in God rather than fear.

Understand the Bible is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Join me to read John Owen’s classic book “The Mortification of Sin in Believers”. This book is one of the best that have ever been written about how to live a holy life. This chapter is about the importance and even need of cultivating a true sense of the guilt of sin.

Topics covered in this chapter:

* How we can cultivate a right sense of the guilt for sin and how that helps us as Christians;

* The dangers of not feeling guilty, including being hardened against God; correction in this life; loss of peace and strength; and eternal destruction.

* The evil there is in sin, including grieving the Spirit and taking away our usefulness to God.

You can download a copy of the book (for free) from this website.

Understand the Bible is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

When we are in times of trouble or difficulty, who do we turn to for help? Maybe we trust in friends and family, or money, or the government to save us. This passage helps us to understand that, when it comes to God, we need to get our priorities right. At the end of the day, only he can save us. What does that mean for how we live?

Understand the Bible is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Join me to read John Owen’s classic book “The Mortification of Sin in Believers”. This book is one of the best that have ever been written about how to live a holy life. This chapter is all about the symptoms of particular sins and how to deal with them. In my opinion, if there is one message God wants the church to hear right now, it is within this chapter.Topics covered in this chapter:

* The problem of specific long-standing sins

* When we become comfortable with sins

* Grace must be true grace, not the cheap grace we bestow upon ourselves

* Why we are enticed by sin

* The weakness of the Law to deal with these kind of sins

You can download a copy of the book (for free) from this website.

Understand the Bible is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Do the ends justify the means? If something good as achieved, does it matter how it is accomplished? In this passage, we see once again a nuanced and complex picture of Saul: he may have been what the people asked for, and he may have even given the people victory — but was it really a victory?

Understand the Bible is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Join me to read John Owen’s classic book “The Mortification of Sin in Believers”. This book is one of the best that have ever been written about how to live a holy life. In this chapter we think about how we must take an ‘all or nothing’ approach to mortifying sin. Topics covered in this chapter:

* We cannot be selective about the sins we choose to mortify. We must recognise that every sin is offensive to God.

* Selective mortification is self-focussed.

* If God chooses to allow our sins to continue, it may be because God is using the trouble to help us grow and teach us.

You can download a copy of the book (for free) from this website.

Understand the Bible is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Have you ever wanted something so badly, then got it, and found out that you didn’t want it after all? We need to be careful with what we want — because sometimes it will turn out that it will be bad for us in the end. In this passage we see God giving the Israelites what they want — but perhaps it won’t be a good thing…

Understand the Bible is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.