As a teenager, I attended a church youth group called the ‘9:23 Club’. The name came from the words of Jesus in Luke 9:23, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me’. The message was clear enough: being a Christian involves suffering. In…
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In previous articles we have been looking at the importance of balance in the Christian life, following the lead of William Williams, Pantycelyn (1717-91) who wrote a letter at the end of his life in which he said, ‘I have come to see that true religion consists of three parts: first true light respecting…
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A prominent concern of both Old and New Testaments is that men and women should lead holy lives. God said, 'Be holy, for I am holy', a command given to Moses (Leviticus 11:44), and appealed to by Peter as the norm for the New Testament believer (1 Peter 1:16). This, essentially, is the concern…
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During Easter 1985, Thomas Howard - a graduate of Wheaton College and a professor of English at Gordon College, both long-standing bastions of evangelicalism, and himself the product of a staunch evangelical family, whose sister is Elisabeth Eliot, author and widow of the evangelical martyr Jim Eliot - became a Roman Catholic. His conversion…
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In the early years of my ministry in Cardiff I read a book which had been recommended to me, and in my opinion it would leave a lasting impression on anyone who read it. It is the sort of book that, as you lay it aside, causes you to become very thoughtful, because you…
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'Of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption ...' (1 Corinthians 1:30) Growing in grace In Reformed circles it is usual to view sanctification as something progressive; that is, sanctification is seen as a process in which, as time passes, the believer…
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The apostle Paul wrote, 'Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God' (2 Corinthians 7:1). This is a clear call to holiness to all who belong to God. In the previous chapter Paul outlined several wonderful promises that…
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