Monthly Archives: October 2016

Quite the Project!

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Introducing the ‘ESV Reader’s Bible, Six-Volume Set’

Six-Volume Set' from Six-Volume Set’ stems from the conviction that the Bible is of immeasurable value and should therefore be treasured and read in the most seamless way possible. Constructed with materials carefully selected to reflect the beauty of God’s Word, the ‘ESV Reader’s Bible, Six-Volume Set’ is designed for those desiring a cleaner, simpler Bible-reading experience.

Printed on European book paper with a premium cowhide leather cover and packaged in a handcrafted walnut slipcase, this smyth-sewn edition features a single column of Bible text that is free of all verse numbers, chapter numbers, and footnotes, as well as most section headings—resulting in a unique Bible-reading experience that helps readers encounter and delight in the beauty of God’s Word.

Learn more: readersbible.org

https://www.crossway.org/blog/2016/10/introducing-the-esv-readers-bible-six-volume-set-2/

Illustrating Repentance

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uturnArticle: An Illustration of Repentance by Benjamin Shawn, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.”

In the heat of the Christian life, however, that definition may seem more theoretical than practical, not particularly helpful when seeking to live a life of repentance (See the first of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses: When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent” (Mt 4:17), He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.) We recognize that repentance is a grace. That is, it is a gift from God. It is not something we work up for ourselves. It is not turning over a new leaf. It is a turning away from sin and a turning to God that is fueled, as it were, by the Spirit of God at work within us.

We all recognize that the first act of repentance is only the beginning. We recognize that sins must be mortified. We recognize that there is the problem of indwelling sin in the life of the believer. But I suspect that we don’t often attach repentance to these things. In part, this may be because we do not have a sense of what repentance look like when God is working repentance in us.

Perhaps an illustration will help. Imagine repentance as a man walking in one direction who suddenly realizes that he is walking in the opposite direction from which he should be walking. He stops. He turns around. Then he begins walking in the new direction. It is a quick and simple process. He realizes. He stops. He turns. But imagine someone on a bicycle realizing he is going the wrong direction. In one sense, it is still obvious. He stops. He turns around. He begins bicycling in the new direction. But it is a longer process. He has to come to a stop. Depending on his speed, that may take some time. The turning around also takes longer. And it takes longer to get up to full speed in the new direction. The process is the same for a man in a car. But it takes longer than for the man on the bike, and it may require going somewhat out of his way before he gets back on the right track. The process is the same for a man in a speed boat. He has to slow down, enter the turn, and come back. But the time and distance required to do so is much longer than what was required for the man walking. Now imagine that the man is piloting a supertanker. It takes him miles to slow the ship down enough to even begin to make the turn. The turn itself is immense, taking him quite a distance from his intended course. Then again it also takes a large amount of time to get up to full speed in the new direction.

Now apply the images to repentance. Some sins are small and easy. We stop and walk the other way. Some sins, like the bicycle, are a little more difficult. In God’s work in the believer, He takes a little time to bring the believer to an awareness that his course is actually a sinful one. Then there is the process of coming to a stop, the process of the turn itself, and the process of getting up to speed in faithfulness. But some sins are enormous. We may not be aware that they really are sins. Or they may be so deeply ingrained in us that we are not willing, at first, to recognize them as sins. God works patiently with us, carefully slowing us down, as the captain does with the ship, so that He can bring us through the turn and into the new direction, where He can bring us up to full speed.

There are two things that I find helpful about this illustration. First is the fact that God does not work repentance in us instantaneously, but over time. So the awareness of sin and the desire to change come gradually. God brings us, as it were, to a full stop slowly and carefully. So there are going to be many slips and falls on the way to that stopping point. The second thing has to do with the turning itself. In the image of the ship turning, there is a long time when the ship is neither on the old course, nor on the new course but, as it were, dead in the water. So it may well be in the life of the Christian. The sin has been admitted. The slips and falls have gotten fewer. But there seems to be little progress. We seem to be dead in the water. At that point, we are in the turn. Speed will pick up. Godliness will grow. But it will do so slowly, as God patiently works with us.

So if you have prayed for repentance for some particular sin, and there has been no instantaneous change, keep praying. God has promised to work, and He will. And you will be glad in the end that He did it slowly and carefully.

10 Things You Should Know About The Trinity

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and you’ll lose your soul!” With this in mind, let’s examine 10 things we should all know about the Trinity.

(1) We must never forget that our knowledge of God is a gift, not a given. What I mean by this is that we all too often presume that what we know of God is either something we gained by self-exertion, dedication, and study, or it is something we deserve, perhaps something that is our by right or entitlement. We should never treat the knowledge of God as a given. It is something he gives, and he does not give it universally. This is nowhere better seen in our Lord’s words in Matthew 11.

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. (Matthew 11:25-27)

When the Father finally makes sense to us, when we come to know him truly, to the degree that we grasp something of his nature and will and ways, it is because the Son has graciously stooped to reveal him to us. Our knowledge of God does not come naturally. Neither is it ultimately the product of meticulous research or study. It certainly isn’t because we deserve it. It’s a gift from his Son. He and he alone is the mediator of the knowledge of God to mankind. If one is to know the Son the Father must reveal him. If one is to know the Father the Son must reveal him. It takes God to know God!

(2) The concept of the one God as a trinity of co-equal, yet distinct, persons is the most intellectually taxing and baffling doctrine in Scripture. It is a mystery that is beyond reason yet not contrary to it. Probably the most famous definition of the doctrine of the Trinity is that of St. Augustine (4th-5th century a.d.):

“There are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and each is God, and at the same time all are one God; and each of them is a full substance, and at the same time all are one substance. The Father is neither the Son nor the Holy Spirit; the Son is neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son. But the Father is the Father uniquely; the Son is the Son uniquely; and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit uniquely. All three have the same eternity, the same immutability, the same majesty, and the same power” (On Christian Doctrine, transl. By D. W. Robertson, Jr. [Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1958, p. 10]).

(3) Throughout the course of church history, people have asserted that this concept of God is incoherent and logically contradictory. The doctrine of the Trinity, they argue, is irrational, hardly worthy of intelligent belief. As a result, certain heretical concepts of the Godhead have emerged, the two most notable of which are variants of what was known as Monarchianism (also known as Sabellianism after one of their leaders, Sabellius [early 3rd century]). In accordance with their name (monarchy = single principle, Gk.), the monarchians stressed divine unity to the exclusion of any personal distinctions in the Godhead. Some monarchians embraced Dynamic Monarchianism, or more popularly as Adoptionism.

Dynamic Monarchianism conceives of Jesus prior to his baptism as wholly human (the natural born son of Joseph and Mary). As a reward for his exceptional moral virtue, Jesus was adopted as God’s Son and empowered by the Spirit through which he subsequently performed his miracles. Jesus was “divine” not because of any equality in essence with the Father but by virtue of a received power (dunamis). His “divinity”, therefore, is functional or ethical, not ontological.

(4) The other option for some monarchians is known as Modalism. Modalistic Monarchianism believed in both the unity of the Godhead and the deity of Christ. The only viable way to maintain both, so they argued, was to identify the Son (and the Spirit) with the Father. There is only one God who, depending on the circumstances, need, and work in which he is engaged, will variously manifest himself either as Father or Son or Spirit. These names do not stand for eternally distinct persons in the Godhead but were simply different functional expressions for the same God. Jesus is one of several modes or phases or roles whereby the one God reveals himself. Thus “Father, Son and Spirit are distinctions that pertain to God in relation to us. The modalists could affirm the economic trinity (a threefoldness in God in relation to the world) but not the ontological or essential trinity (a threefoldness in the inner being of God)” (Bloesch, God the Almighty, 172).

(5) Although the concept of the Trinity is not explicit in the OT, there are texts in the OT that may allude to the idea of plurality in the Godhead. The standard word for God is elohim (plural). Often a plural verb is used with elohim. See Gen. 20:13; 35:7; 2 Sam. 7:23. There are also texts where plural pronouns are used of God. See Gen. 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isa. 6:8. A few OT texts appear to speak of Yahweh having a “son”. See Prov. 30 and Psalm 2. Also relevant are texts that refer to the Messiah. See Isa. 9:6-7; Jer. 32:5-6; Micah 5:2. There are numerous texts which speak about the “Spirit” of God. See Gen. 1:1-2; 6:3; Exod. 31:2-3; Num. 24:2; 27:18; Ps. 51; 139:7. These are but a few of the countless texts mentioning the Spirit. There are a few passages where either the name of God or the concept of deity is applied to more than one person. See Isa. 48:16; 61:1; 63:7-14; Haggai 2:4-7. Continue reading →

How to Love Your Spouse

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love01(Excerpt from What Did You Expect: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage by Paul David Tripp)

How to Love your Spouse by the Grace of God by Paul David Tripp

Love is willing self-sacrifice for the good of another that does not require reciprocation or that the person being loved is deserving.

What does this look like in a marriage?

Love is being willing to have your life complicated by the needs and struggles of your husband or wife without impatience or anger.
Love is actively fighting the temptation to be critical and judgmental toward your spouse, while looking for ways to encourage and praise.
Love is the daily commitment to resist the needless moments of conflict that come from pointing out and responding to minor offenses.
Love is being lovingly honest and humbly approachable in times of misunderstanding, and being more committed to unity and love than you are to winning, accusing, or being right.
Love is a daily commitment to admit your sin, weakness, and failure and to resist the temptation to offer an excuse or shift the blame.
Love means being willing, when confronted by your spouse, to examine your heart rather than rising to your defense or shifting the focus.
Love is a daily commitment to grow in love so that the love you offer to your husband or wife is increasingly selfless, mature, and patient.
Love is being unwilling to do what is wrong when you have been wronged but to look for concrete and specific ways to overcome evil with good.
Love is being a good student of your spouse, looking for his physical, emotional, and spiritual needs so that in some way you can remove the burden, support him as he carries it, or encourage him along the way.
Love means being willing to invest the time necessary to discuss, examine, and understand the problems that you face as a couple, staying on task until the problem is removed or you have agreed upon a strategy of response.
Love is always being willing to ask for forgiveness and always being committed to grant forgiveness when it is requested.
Love is recognizing the high value of trust in a marriage and being faithful to your promises and true to your word.
Love is speaking kindly and gently, even in moments of disagreement, refusing to attack your spouse’s character or assault his or her intelligence.
Love is being unwilling to flatter, lie, manipulate, or deceive in any way in order to co-opt your spouse into giving you what you want or doing something your way.
Love is being unwilling to ask your spouse to be the source of your identity, meaning and purpose, or inner sense of well-being, while refusing to be the source of his or hers.
Love is the willingness to have less free time, less sleep, and a busier schedule in order to be faithful to what God has called you to be and to do as a husband or a wife.
Love is a commitment to say no to selfish instincts and to do everything that is within your ability to promote real unity, functional understanding, and active love in your marriage.
Love is staying faithful to your commitment to treat your spouse with appreciation, respect, and grace, even in moments when he or she doesn’t seem to deserve it or is unwilling to reciprocate.
Love is the willingness to make regular and costly sacrifices for the sake of your marriage without asking anything in return or using your sacrifices to place your spouse in your debt.
Love is being unwilling to make any personal decision or choice that would harm your marriage, hurt your husband or wife, or weaken the bond of trust between you.
Love is refusing to be self-focused or demanding but instead looking for specific ways to serve, support, and encourage, even when you are busy or tired.
Love is daily admitting to yourself, your spouse, and God that you are not able to love this way without God’s protecting, providing, forgiving, rescuing, and delivering grace.
Love is a specific commitment of the heart to a specific person that causes you to give yourself to a specific lifestyle of care that requires you to be willing to make sacrifices that have that person’s good in view.
This realization should give you pause and then spur you to action: it is impossible for any of us to love as has been described. The bar is simply too high. The requirements are simply too great. None of us has what it takes to reach this standard. This description of love in action has left me humbled and grieved. It has faced me once again with my tendency to name as love things that are not love. It has forced me to admit how self-focused and self-absorbed I actually am. It has reminded me that when it comes to love, I am not an expert. No, I am poor, weak, and needy.

Jesus died not only so that we would have forgiveness for not loving as we should, but also so that we would have the desire, wisdom, and power to love as we should.

Jesus suffered in love so that in your struggle to love you would never, ever be alone. As you give yourself to love, he showers you with his love, so that you would never be without what you need to love.

Theological Triage

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Test: Ephesians 4:4-6

Medical Triage comes into play in the hospital Emergency Room as someone needs to work out who has priority in gaining medical attention. In the same way, some doctrines in the Bible are more important than others, and these form the basis of our unity in Christ, something we are called upon to maintain.

Christian Marriage – The Basis

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sproul-r-c-Article – The Basis of a Christian Marriage by R.C. Sproul (original source I attended an interesting wedding. I was especially struck by the creativity of the ceremony. The bride and the groom had brainstormed with the pastor in order to insert new and exciting elements into the service, and I enjoyed those elements. However, in the middle of the ceremony, they included portions of the traditional, classic wedding ceremony. When I began to hear the words from the traditional ceremony, my attention perked up and I was moved. I remember thinking, “There is no way to improve on this because the words are so beautiful and meaningful.” A great deal of thought and care had been put into those old, familiar words.

Today, of course, many young people not only are saying no to the traditional wedding ceremony, they are rejecting the concept of marriage itself. More and more young people are coming from broken homes, and as a result, they have a fear and suspicion about the value of marriage. So we see couples living together rather than marrying for fear that the cost of that commitment may be too much. They fear it may make them too vulnerable. This means that one of the most stable and, as we once thought, permanent traditions of our culture is being challenged.

One of the things I like most about the traditional wedding ceremony is that it includes an explanation as to why there is such a thing as marriage. We are told in that ceremony that marriage is ordained and instituted by God—that is to say, marriage did not just spring up arbitrarily out of social conventions or human taboos. Marriage was not invented by men but by God.

We see this in the earliest chapters of the Old Testament, where we find the creation account. We find that God creates in stages, beginning with the light (Gen. 1:3) and capping the process with the creation of man (v. 27). At every stage, He utters a benediction, a “good word.” God repeatedly looks at what He has made and says, “That’s good” (vv. 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).

But then God notices something that provokes not a benediction but what we call a malediction, that is, a “bad word.” What was this thing that God saw in His creation that He judged to be “not good”? We find it in Genesis 2:18, where God declares, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” That prompts Him to create Eve and bring her to Adam. God instituted marriage, and He did it, in the first instance, as an answer to human loneliness. For this reason, God inspired Moses to write, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (v. 24).

But while I like and appreciate the words of the traditional wedding ceremony, I believe the form of the ceremony is even more important. This is because the traditional ceremony involves the making of a covenant. The whole idea of covenant is deeply rooted in biblical Christianity. The Bible teaches that our very redemption is based on a covenant. Much could be said here about the character of the biblical covenants, but one vital facet is that none of them is a private matter. Every covenant is undertaken in the presence of witnesses. This is why we invite guests to our weddings. It is so they will witness our vows—and hold us accountable to keep them. It is one thing for a man to whisper expressions of love to a woman when no one will hear, but it is quite another thing for him to stand up in a church, in front of parents, friends, ecclesiastical or civil authorities, and God Himself, and there make promises to love and cherish her. Wedding vows are sacred promises made in the presence of witnesses who will remember them.

I believe marriage is the most precious of all human institutions. It’s also the most dangerous. Into our marriages we pour our greatest and deepest expectations. We put our emotions on the line. There we can achieve the greatest happiness, but we also can experience the greatest disappointment, the most frustration, and the most pain. With that much at stake, we need something more solemn than a casual promise.

Even with formal wedding ceremonies, even with the involvement of authority structures, roughly fifty percent of marriages fail. Sadly, among the men and women who stay together as husband and wife, many would not marry the same spouse again, but they stay together for various reasons. Something has been lost regarding the sacred and holy character of the marriage covenant. In order to strengthen the institution of marriage, we might want to consider strengthening the wedding ceremony, with a clear, biblical reminder that marriage is instituted by God and forged in His sight.

Arizona Monsoon

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Monsoon III (4K) from which was less than the 48 in 2015. We had an early start in late June, and then it was dead for almost three weeks. When I looked back and realized I chased 12 less days…yeah, it definitely had less action than normal.

But to a storm chaser, none of this really means anything. Sure there were days when nothing was remotely possible to chase, but most of the time the monsoon can be found in the far corners of the state even when Phoenix and Tucson are dry as a bone.

For me personally, I loved this season. Maybe because as a filmmaker, having put out a few of these films now, I’m beginning to focus and hone in more on what I really love to time-lapse. My early scenes years ago had a lot of average clouds and distant rain that didn’t have a lot of excitement or energy. But as the years go on, and I learn more and more about chasing storms here in Arizona…I’ve found myself in better spots to capture the stuff I really enjoy. Strong downbursts of rain, building clouds, lightning…and yes, dust storms.

The one thing I was hoping for in 2016 that the previous years have lacked: Haboobs. Dust storms. Rolling walls of dirt and sand engulfing the deserts and even Phoenix itself. And my wish came true in that regard. Even a very late season, September 27th haboob that I captured right at sunset with glorious colors.

Coming off the heels of filming Vorticity in the spring, with monster supercells and tornadoes, the monsoon is a totally different beast and you’d think it would be less exciting. I don’t know. I find them both amazing and inspiring. Weather to me is weather. No matter how mind-blowing it was to witness the Wynnewood tornado this past spring, standing in front of a rolling wall of dust, or a distant lightning storm under the stars…it’s all a blast to me and I never get tired of it.

So Monsoon III…the credits will say it, but it was around 36 days of filming, I shot over 85,000 frames and am not sure how much made it into the final cut. The song I used was “Revenge” and “Revenge: Epilogue” by Kerry Muzzey, and I took both of them and sliced and diced until I actually had a six-minute version to fit in with all the footage I captured. I love it.

As always…THANK YOU to Kerry Muzzey for supporting my work by letting me use his music once again. I don’t even have enough words for this man for doing this for me. It means more than anything! Please buy his work!

I started editing this film mid-summer once I figured out the song I was using. And as days went by and more clips were rendered, I kept adding them and re-arranging them all the time, trying to get every clip to match the tone and feeling of the music. And then I’d think I was done and more storms would come and I’d have to move things around again, and even drop stuff. I have a lot of fun scenes that are not in this film because I only wanted the very best.

Special thanks to Bryan Snider and Dustin Farrell for some tips this summer on editing out dust spots and birds better than I had been doing. Appreciate it fellas!
My wife takes the brunt of what I do, especially when I’m gone for days at a time. Filming in Arizona is easier because I’m usually home at some point in the evening and at least around in the mornings. But it’s a lot of work and a lot of time being away. She supports me like no other and I can’t believe how lucky I am to have someone with that much faith in what I do.

And a lot of these clips will forever hold memories for me because my two oldest kiddos were there for them, and at times even all three were nearby. My littlest guy who just turned three, sits on my lap a lot when I edit, listens to the music and loves watching the final product. And he wants to keep watching it…over, and over and over.
Makes a daddy proud.

I hope you enjoy this latest installment. I’m not sure how it compares to years past, but for better or worse, this was Monsoon 2016 for me!
Please let me know if you have any questions about anything! Most of these clips were shot in 8K with some 4K stuff thrown in there as well.
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Captured with a Canon 5DSR, two 5D3’s, 11-24mm, 16-35, 35mm, 50mm and 135mm.
Processed using Lightroom, LR Timelapse, After Effects and Premiere Pro

Strategies for Church Growth

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john-piperAs a Pastor, Did You Use Church Growth Strategies? – Interview with John Piper (original source in your time as a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, over all those 30+ years, did you ever use strategies aimed at church growth? How would you counsel pastors and churches who seek to grow numerically and reach more people, while doing so in the most biblical and faithful way possible?”

I am really happy for this question, because I don’t think we have tackled this in any of all the 900, plus. I tried to communicate to our people continually that, in view of the glory of Christ, his purpose is to be magnified in the world through believing people, the vast lostness of millions and millions of people near and far, the horrors of hell, the beauties and the power of the gospel, the nature of love, the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive. I tried to communicate in view of all that, not rescuing perishing people is not an option for us. It is also not possible for us since only God can raise the dead and open the eyes of the blind and take out stony hearts of unbelief.

So, our first strategy of growth was prayer. I tried to create a culture of desperation for all the things that matter most, which are the ones that only God can do. Parents can’t do it. Evangelists can’t do it. Pastors can’t do it. Friends can’t do it. We scatter prayer meetings all through the week, besides encouraging families and small groups to pray and individuals, of course, to pray for the impossible goal of getting sinners through the eye of a needle, which only God can do that miracle.

We also knew, however, that faith comes by hearing. So, not sharing the gospel with a view to seeing people believe and be saved and be part of God’s family forever was not an option for us. The term “church growth,” however, had connotations for us that were not so good. At least in the circles in which I function and my people, so much depends on where the accent falls when you talk about church growth. Abuses of pragmatism, minimization of theology, dilution of the gospel, dumbing down of serious, joyful worship in a way that came to be known as seeker-sensitive, all these things were associated in our language with the church growth movement. Which is sad because there is nothing wrong with growing. In fact, I wanted to say: We must pursue growth.

But in that context, my suggestion to pastors is that you use biblical language constantly to permeate your people’s minds with something other than catchphrases that are in seminars like “church growth.” The great challenge is not to become a bigger and bigger church, but to see more and more people escape the wrath of God. Ask your people that. If they say: Oh, I don’t know if that church growth stuff is biblical, say: How about escaping wrath? Is that good? So, you put in categories like that.

Once our people believed in that, ultimately it didn’t matter whether the people who escaped wrath through faith in Jesus went to our church or not. That is quite secondary. What ultimately mattered was: In every community, are people hearing the gospel? Are they believing? Are they escaping the wrath of God? Are they getting full of the Holy Spirit? Are they participating in biblical churches? It is not about our particular church getting bigger and bigger. And when the people understand church growth in those categories, then, I think, a pastor can say, which I did: Not growing is not an option for us. They knew what I meant when I said that, at least if you live in a metropolitan area with several hundred thousand unbelievers, that is true. You might live in a small town where everybody is lined up somewhere, and growth is not a very big possibility. But if you live in the Twin Cities or in any place where you have a few thousand unbelievers, you can talk like that.

This can be, however — and here is a great obstacle — this can be very unsettling for a church. There are a lot of people, shame on them, for whom they are just happy with these 50 people. And they are happy with these 150. And they are happy with these 350. Or they are happy with these 500 and, frankly, they don’t like all these strange faces around here. It is just not as comfortable here as it used to be when we all knew each other. Continue reading →

12 Things the Apostles’ Creed Teaches Us

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Big-Ben-3Article by Nicholas Davis – 12 Things the Apostles’ Creed Teaches Us (original source here)

The Apostles’ Creed has been used by Christians around the world since the fourth century. Even though it was not written by the original twelve apostles, every single line in the creed was taught by the apostles and earliest disciples of Jesus. The twelve things the Apostles’ Creed emphasizes are twelve important things we learn about Christianity in the New Testament:

1. God is not only our powerful Creator but is also our caring Father.
The first article gives us confidence in the power of God because all creatures are dependent on him for existence. It also gives us confidence in the love of God: no creature can separate us from our faithful Father.

2. Jesus Christ is our Lord.
The second article reminds us that we are not our own but belong to Jesus who has made us his own. “My Lord and my God!” is the proper confession of a Christian (John 20:28–29). Whether we acknowledge his lordship or not, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10–11). What this confession means for us is that Christ’s reign and rule over us topples every other idol and god—he has saved us from bondage to the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are not our own but belong to Jesus.

3. Jesus was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit through Mary.
This third article is important because Jesus’ innocence from conception to the end of his life is what covers all of our sins. Since he was conceived, was born, and lived like us in every respect, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15; 7:26, 27), he is able to redeem us from the curse of God’s holy law. Unlike you and me, and every other person born after the Fall (Gen. 3), Jesus was sinless from conception and birth.

4. Jesus suffered, was crucified by the Romans in the first century, and died.
In this fourth article, we confess that Jesus lived the perfect life and died the death that we deserved in order to save us from the wrath of God. In addition, we are reminded that the Christian faith is a historic faith—Jesus lived and died at the same time that Pontius Pilate, an obscure Roman governor, was ruling. This is not myth or fairytale—Christianity is a faith founded on facts.

5. Jesus rose from the dead.
This fifth article teaches us that by his resurrection Jesus overcame death so that he could make us partakers in his death and resurrection. His resurrection from the dead is a pledge to us that we too will be raised from the dead as he was.

6. Jesus ascended into heaven and is exalted.
In this sixth article, we affirm that Jesus is now our Advocate in heaven before our Father, pleading and interceding on our behalf and for our sake. When he ascended, Jesus also poured out his Spirit upon us, his church, gifting us with a down payment of what is to come.

7. Jesus will return in judgment.
This seventh article is an especially great comfort to those who are suffering and who face persecution. We affirm that Jesus will come to make every wrong right and that his war will be the war to end all wars. All of his people will then enter into glory and have everlasting joy and life.

8. The Holy Spirit is a person of the Holy Trinity.
The eighth article reminds us that the Holy Spirit is a person in the Godhead, just as the Son is God and the Father is God. We are also comforted by the fact that the Holy Spirit unites us to Jesus Christ who is in heaven, and makes us more and more like him each day, and especially on Sunday as we gather to hear the Word preached and partake in the Lord’s Supper.

9. The church is universal.
This ninth article reminds us that since the beginning of time, God has always gathered, defended, and preserved for himself his church. It spans across all ages and in many different places, and it is in this church that all Christians belong.

10. There is a fellowship of Christians across all times and places.
The tenth article concerns the communion of saints. We do not only belong to Jesus Christ, but we belong to one another—to all who share the name of the Triune God and call on the name of Jesus. Since we belong to one another, we should readily share our gifts and any abundance we have with those in need to bless and further Christ’s church on this earth.

11. Our sins are truly and really forgiven in Christ.
The eleventh article is perhaps the sweetest of them all. Because of what Jesus has done for us in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, God will no longer remember our sins. To all of you who believe in Jesus Christ alone, you are no longer under condemnation.

12. Our bodies will be resurrected. Heaven is real.
The twelfth article finishes with a strong emphasis on the reality of our bodily resurrection. Too often we tend to think of the spiritual life as exclusively soul-related, but it also includes the body. Further, there is no greater comfort than to know that in Christ we soon will be in total possession of perfect blessedness—such that no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined. Heaven is for real, and we will be with the Triune God.