David finally found the truth that it was not his seed of kingship but the promise made to Abraham that made him holy. From that, David refused to be moved and wrote this Psalm by the necessity of the Spirit as the assurance of faith. The law never made a man holy, not even one as robust as David; yet faith did this great thing without lifting a finger.
Today, the longing for cultural Christianity on both the left and the right hearkens back to an older version of Christendom that was a mixed blessing for the church in the western world. The cultural mediation of Christian views on created order has certainly benefitted the civilization we’ve inherited. But the gospel itself isn’t something that can be reduced to cultural mediation either. Instead, the gospel as a message stands apart from all human accomplishments and achievements, no matter how beneficial they might be.
Josephus does not tell us that Christianity is true, and Christians do not need Josephus to tell them that Christ is risen. But Christianity makes claims about things that happened in public history under identifiable rulers, priests, and governors. For that reason, testimony from outside the church matters.

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When we are hurt, we cry out to God. But sometimes when the hurt gets really intense, our lament turns to complaint. Not only is this normal, but almost every lament in scripture contains a complaint.
Comfort is not a platitude; it is a promise. A promise from our God who left his place of glory and died a sinner’s death for poor sinners.
The people gathered in Jerusalem that day were making a bold statement of faith. They believed Jesus was the New David.
Paul has gone through all this explanation to belabor the point: The incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything.
Jesus did not come to be first. He came to be faithful, faithful to His Father’s mission for you.
The God whom I met without a preacher is neither revealing nor hiding—but now, with a preacher, he has become my hiding place!
Scripture is clear in its main teachings and doctrines. People don’t need any special knowledge or training to understand sin, grace, forgiveness, and salvation.
The kingdom I seek is the lower-case realm ruled over by the almighty upper-case Me.
If your congregation promotes and supports “family values,” you should be prepared to take this text head-on.
St. Paul asserts the baptized have died in Christ but this death then makes them free to live unto Christ. Complicated? Yes, a little. Let us try to clarify things a bit.
As a prophet, Jeremiah only speaks the LORD’s words. Obviously, this is the difference between a true and false prophet.
When it comes to God’s word, our help only obscures his power and grace.