Ponder with me the lesson of Pilate’s authority over Jesus.

Pilate said to Jesus, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.” (John 19:10–11)

Pilate's authority to crucify Jesus did not intimidate Jesus.

Why not?

Not because Pilate was lying. Not because he didn’t have authority to crucify Jesus. He did.

Rather this authority did not intimidate Jesus because it was derivative. Jesus said, “It was given to you from above.” Which means it is really authoritative. Not less. But more.

So how is this not intim…

Continue Reading →

When Paul says to put to death the deeds of the body “by the Spirit” (Romans 8:13), I take him to mean that we should use the one weapon in the Spirit’s armor that is used to kill. Namely, the sword. Which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

So when the body is about to be led into a sinful action by some fear or craving, we are to take the sword of the Spirit and kill that fear and that craving. In my experience that means mainly severing the root of sin’s promise by the power of a superior promise.

So, for example, when I begin to crave some illicit sexual pleasure, the sword-swing that has often severed the root of this promised pleasure is: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they …

Continue Reading →

When I preached on the implications of the legalizing of so-called same sex marriage I said, “Pretending that [marriage] can exist between people of the same sex will send ripple effects of dysfunction and destruction in every direction, most of which are now unforeseen.”

Here is an example you may not have foreseen. There are hundreds of others on the way.

It has been reported that in the case of Elane Photography v. Willock (NM Ct. App., May 31, 2012) a New Mexico state appeals court held that a photography firm's refusal to provide its services to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony violates the New Mexico Human Rights Act's prohibition on discrimination in public accommodation…

Continue Reading →

Two of the passages of Scripture that express the unending nature of hell most clearly point to seemingly opposite reasons it will be terrible. One speaks of being “away from the presence of the Lord.” The other speaks of suffering “in the presence of the Lamb.”

“They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

“If anyone worships the beast . . . he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever” (Revelation 14:9–11).

These are not contradictory descriptions.

The first text …

Continue Reading →

This fall the Desiring God National Conference will wrestle with paradoxes. Not contradictions. Things like Philippians 2:12–13, “You work . . . for God is at work in you to will and work.” And 1 Corinthians 15:10, “I worked hard . . . but not I but the grace of God.”

We are commanded to repent (Acts 3:19), and God is said to grant repentance (2 Timothy 2:25). We are commanded to believe (Mark 1:15; John 14:1), and belief is said to be God’s gift (Philippians 1:29; Ephesians 2:8).

I saw another one in my daily Bible reading this morning. “I incline my heart to perform your statutes” (Psalm 119:100). “Incline my heart to your testimonies” (Psalm 119:36). I must incline my heart. I must …

Continue Reading →

Dear Friends,

This is my public thanks to our gracious God for the way our fiscal year ended at Desiring God on June 30. We announced on June 13 that we needed $300,000 of our $5,089,810 annual budget in order to close the fiscal year with a balanced budget. Mercifully, God put it in hundreds of hearts to give a total of $354,720 (as of my writing this letter).

Please know we do not take this lightly. We are humbled and sobered. We feel a huge trust has been given to us, and we are aware that “it is required of stewards that they be found faithful” (1 Cor 4:2). Please pray for us to that end.

This surplus was especially helpful in this transition year, as we sharpened our vision …

Continue Reading →

Crossway just republished my 1974 doctoral dissertation from the University of Munich. In re-reading parts of Love Your Enemies, I am struck at how solidifying those early days were.

For example, a significant focus of the dissertation was on the nature of motivation for loving our enemies and the role of God’s Spirit in bringing about enemy-love. In one section I asked, If we are born again by the Spirit, and led by the Spirit, and transformed by the Spirit, and sanctified by the Spirit, and empowered by the Spirit, and taught by the Spirit, what would be the necessity and function of human words, like “Love your enemies”?

If, as Paul says, we have been “God-taught to love one another” …

Continue Reading →

Isaiah prophesies:

The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

“Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.”

• Upon their heads as a crown — because joy is the mark by which we share the rule of God.
• Upon their heads as a wreath — to signify the reward of victory over every sorrow in this life.
• Upon their heads as a helmet — because the joyful mind is unassailable with Satan’s dark thoughts.
• Upon their heads as oil — because of God’s anointing, his consecration, his approval.
• Upon their heads as a hood — to protect from the searing heat and the s…

Continue Reading →

“The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious.” (Isaiah 42:21).

1. God’s righteousness inclines him to make his own instruction great and glorious. “For his righteousness’ sake he magnifies and glorifies his instruction.”
2. So we learn something crucial about divine righteousness. It is the consistent and compelling inclination to do what is right, which in God’s case is defined by his own infinite worth. No one outside God dictates what is right for him. What is right for God is what agrees with his infinite greatness and infinite value. Therefore, it is right (righteous) that his perfect instruction be magnified and glorified.
3. We also learn s…

Continue Reading →

All the participants of the panel on homosexuality at The Gospel Coalition Council meetings agreed that we have entered one of the most difficult challenges to a gospel-centered approach to evangelism. The reason is not that the center of the Christian gospel has changed, but the center of the cultural gospel has changed. That center for many is the freedom to be GLBT and to be approved.

Which means that whether we want to make this a frontline issue or not, increasingly it is. As one of the panelists said, “There is no demilitarized zone in the homosexual debate.” Pastors must address it. In fact, virtually everyone who communicates with mainstream cultural folk must address it.

The a…

Continue Reading →