Scripture is essential to all true faith. Listen today to hear how God reveals Himself through creation and through the Bible, and why it matters.

Why does justification by faith alone matter? Because if we discard or downplay it, we are of necessity also discarding and downplaying grace. If our works are necessary to complete our salvation, then God’s grace isn’t sufficient to save. If o...

Jesus does not require anything of us poor wretched sinners except that we come to Him in faith. His love is offered freely to all who are willing to receive it. This grace compels us to obey. As Isaac Watts expressed, “Love so amazing, so divi...

What is the relationship between faith and works? The apostle Paul taught that we are saved by grace through faith apart from works. If we are justified by faith alone, why does James say that Abraham was “justified by works when he offered Isa...

Scripture speaks consistently of salvation coming to those who believe, those who have faith. That much is clear, but the bigger question is, “What is faith?” This episode answers that very question.

The work of Christ by which He accomplished our justification is the linchpin of the gospel. Until our sin problem is dealt with—that sinful nature which we exercise in rebellion against God—the rest of the blessing of the gospel remain aloof. ...

To appreciate justification we must first realize who we are and where we are headed apart from Christ. Without God’s grace, we are: justly condemned to eternal judgment, under divine wrath, alienated from God, in bondage to sin and Satan, and ...

 J.C. Wenger said it is a “queer notion that because the Anabaptists were vigorous in their demands for a life of earnest Christian discipleship, they were therefore unclear on grace and justification.” In the same context he references Me...

Did the Anabaptists believe in justification by faith alone or were the Reformers alone in that view? While we often associate justification with Reformed doctrine, many early Anabaptists accepted justification as an essential gospel doctrine t...

In our efforts to emphasize the importance of obedience, we sometimes hesitate to teach that justification is experienced apart from our works. We fear that, if people realize that they contribute nothing to their standing before God, they will...

The nature of Christ’s atonement is becoming a common discussion. It’s an important one, since the atonement is a foundational tenet of Christian doctrine. The atonement is no secondary or tertiary issue. Christ's atoning work is essential to t...

The authority of Scripture is unquestionably one of the fundamental issues of our time. Other presenting issues (such as the atonement, hell, sin, etc.) reveal the underlying issue. We don’t think of ourselves as operating under the authority o...

Persevering faith is not oriented inward, where we dig in, work harder, and do better. Rather, it is oriented outward. Our faith—our confidence—is in Christ. We are to hold fast our confession that Christ has accomplished salvation for us and t...

Scripture reveals who we really are. It cuts through our facades, exposing our true selves. When it works on us, we are laid bare before God. Though we may be able to maintain a veneer of righteousness in our own efforts, Scripture peels it bac...

In Christ we can rest from the toil of self-righteousness—our striving to be good enough, our attempts to atone for our own sins. True rest, gospel rest, is experienced when we come to Christ, believing in Him, trusting in Him, and receiving th...

Christians ought to be confident people. Not in ourselves and not in our works, that's self-righteousness and self-centeredness. Our confidence is never in ourselves; we are those who "put no confidence in the flesh." Our confidence is in Chris...

In his call to faithfulness the author of Hebrews is careful to point us to Christ. We are to “give heed to the things we have learned,” not neglecting the salvation God offers us. But the all-important question is: where is that salvation foun...

What we believe about the gospel is important. Actually, important is an understatement. The gospel is the very core of the Christian faith. What we believe about the gospel is one of the single defining realities of Christianity. In fact, what...

God does not save because He has to; He saves because He wants to. And it is His joy. He does not save begrudgingly; God loves to save sinners. Hebrews says Christ went willingly to the cross. In fact, He rejoiced despite the shame. He wanted t...

So then, does it matter what be believe about the inspiration of Scripture? I hope you see with me that it absolutely does. Our faithfulness in the gospel rests on whether or not we continue to live in faithful submission to Scripture. Whether ...

The Bible is not another book we leave to collect dust on the shelf. It is categorically distinct, a level above every other book written since it is the only one written by God. When we read the Bible, we hear directly from the Lord of the uni...

Does inspiration apply to every part of Scripture? Just the “spiritual” parts? Just the New Testament? Just the gospels? The biblical view says that all of Scripture is inspired.

We believe that when Scripture speaks, God speaks. Scripture is not a lesser revelation than if God were to show up tonight and speak directly to you or me. Scripture comes from the mouth of God.

As Anabaptists, we typically think of the conservative/liberal paradigm in terms of outward appearance; we need a paradigm adjustment. Liberals look just like the rest of us.

We must be stalwart in our defense of the biblical view of hell. Not necessarily because we like it, nor because it is the most attractive, but simply because it’s what God has said in His word.