Wyatt Graham

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Why God’s Unchangeability Is So Important

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Christians confess God to be unchangeable. He does not change or mutate. He is immutable. For many today, however, this doctrine seems archaic and odd.

Archaic because the doctrine is called “the immutability of God” and odd because God seems to change. After all, he creates the world, is sometimes angry, and at other times generous. Most of all, God entered into the world of change when he became man, when he became incarnate. The apostle John asserts, “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14).

But despite our perception of God changing, God does not change. Instead, we change and God consistently (read: changelessly) expresses himself towards us. (I wrote on this here). Even if all this is persuasive, you might still think, “So What? Why Does it Matter?” Here’s my answer: a changing god is not perfectly compassionate, comforting, or (conceivably) faithful. In other words, a changing god is not God. [Read more…] about Why God’s Unchangeability Is So Important

Why Did Jesus Live (and not just Die on the Cross)?

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Christians celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His death atones for our sins; his resurrection raises us to new life. In Christ, we’ve come from sin and death to righteousness and glory. And yet: in this paradigm, it almost seems as if Christ’s life (the years that he lived) only prepared him to die.

So, why didn’t he just come into the world and die? Why live for 33 years? Here’s why. [Read more…] about Why Did Jesus Live (and not just Die on the Cross)?

Did John Calvin Believe That Some Spiritual Gifts Ceased?

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Protestants today find themselves polarized over the issue of the spiritual gifts. The charismatic movement has made inroads within the Protestant church, affirming that God pours out a full range of spiritual gifts that include speaking in tongues (a heavenly language), healing, and the offices of apostle and prophet.

Other Protestants have declined to believe that all spiritual gifts continue today, arguing that the spirit gave certain gifts during the early church to establish it (namely, apostles, prophets, tongues, and healing). Still others believe in the continuation of all gifts but in less potent forms.

So what should we think about these matters? Well, it’s impossible to provide a thorough discussion here. But I would like to highlight the argument of John Calvin, the sixteenth century genevan Reformer. [Read more…] about Did John Calvin Believe That Some Spiritual Gifts Ceased?

Fearing Death And Death’s Death

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Yahweh of armies will make for all peoples on this mountain a banquet of oils, a banquet of aged wine, of marrow, and of fine wine. On this mount, he will consume the veil that shrouds all peoples and the covering that cover all nations. He will consume death forever. Yahweh Adonai will wipe tears away from every face. So, he will remove the shame of his people from all the earth. Indeed, Yahweh has spoken.

(Isaiah 25:6-8)

Isaiah’s twenty-fifth chapter profoundly meditates on the central problem of death. Death veils all peoples and covers all nations. But, on Zion, God consumes the veil and the covering. He consumes death forever, the power of our ancient foe (Isa 25:6-7).  [Read more…] about Fearing Death And Death’s Death

Three Ways to Respond When You Suffer Because of Wrongdoing

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One of the great themes of Christianity is suffering for doing what is right. But what happens when we suffering for doing what is wrong?

You already know what I mean (or you will shortly). You’ve cheated, stolen, or something worse. Your conscience threatens you, external law threatens you, and, most importantly, broken relationships threaten you.

You suffer. And when you turn to Scripture, all you see is how believers respond to unjust suffering. But your suffering is just, and it crushes, consumes, and kills your soul.

God knows how you feel. And he wrote a book to heal you despite your deserved suffering. It’s called Lamentations. In it, we discover three ways to respond to deserved suffering, the pain of our wrongdoing. [Read more…] about Three Ways to Respond When You Suffer Because of Wrongdoing

How Growing in Godliness Works

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And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.

– Paul

Sometimes we feel like we make no progress. We take one step forward one day and then take two steps back the next. We feel deflated in our pursuit of godliness, of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23).

So how do we make the jump from plateauing in our Christian walk to growing in our walk? The answer is that we pursue the one thing that promises dramatic growth in our Christian life, namely, God.

Here’s what we need to know: Eternal life means knowing God. The way to know God (or to access eternal life) is by looking into the face of Christ to see the Father by the Spirit. And if you do this, you will move from one level of glory to another. Consider the following paragraphs where I discuss these matters. [Read more…] about How Growing in Godliness Works