The Purpose and Power of Spiritual Disciplines

Posted on by under Bryan Chapell

The true efficacy of spiritual disciplines is not their power to bribe God but their usefulness in opening hearts to the perception and exercise of His power. Spiritual disciplines enable those made righteous by Christ’s work to breathe more deeply the resources that God freely and lovingly provides for the wisdom, joy, and strength of Christian living. Through disciplines, we inhale more deeply the air God provides for the Christian race, but such disciplines do not produce or maintain the oxygen of God’s love…. Disciplines become regular refreshment for those who hunger and thirst for ever deeper fellowship with the God they love (Ps. 19:10). The same disciplines, however, will become distasteful duty or bitter pride for those who think that their devotion keeps them on the good side of a God whose measure of love is determined by the grade of their performance.

Brian Chapell, Christ-centered Preaching (Grand Rapids; Baker Academic, 2005), 293.

The Way We See Ourselves; The Way We See Others

Posted on by under Jerry Bridges

Having experienced God’s grace, we are called on to extend that grace to others. The evidence of whether we are living by His grace is to be found in the way we treat other people. If we see ourselves as sinners and totally unworthy in ourselves of God’s compassion, patience and forgiveness, then we will want to be gracious to others.

Jerry Bridges, Transforming Grace (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1991), 196.

Satan Could Be the Greatest Disciple Ever If…

Posted on by under Greg Dutcher

While all true disciples are theologians, not all theologians are true disciples. If knowing the Bible and understanding theology were reliable measures of discipleship, Satan would be the greatest disciple ever. After all, his knowledge of Scripture is exceptional and he’s been observing the spiritual realm for quite a long time.

Greg Dutcher, Killing Calvinism

Don’t Dig up What Christ Buried

Posted on by under Donald Grey Barnhouse

A person who has a ‘guilt complex’ can perhaps get relief by unburdening his soul to someone else. For a true believer, of course, no such process is necessary. We go to the Lord, confess our sins, and leave them there. To go back to our sins again and again is to act like a dog who digs a bone which he has buried. The Savior never nags His children; it is Satan who nags the conscience. The God of all grace fully cleanses His child, whom He delights to lead into higher ways, teaching him day by day to walk worthily of the calling wherewith he has been called. Do not, then, play dog, and dig up what was buried by our Lord in His burial.

Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans Vol 3 (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1961), 67.