“This doctrine is under reevaluation by a group of pastors and scholars concerned about the resurgence of Calvinism in the Southern Baptist Convention and broader evangelical community….
Mental Health Problem or Sin Problem? Wait—Can’t It Be Both?
Problems in our behavior can be both mental health problems and “sin problems.” Part of the confusion on the topic of mental health among conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists is the assumption that a life problem has to be one or the other.
How Could a Loving God Send Anyone to Hell?
“To understand the doctrine, we first need to ask if we believe in retributive justice. In other words, do we, as people who claim to be loving, believe that people guilty of horrifying, sickening acts of evil need to face punishment for what they have done? Or should Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot simply have been sent to reformatories to improve their behaviour?” - David de Bruyn
Finding Yourself Is Not the Solution to Life’s Problems
“I do need to go to God’s Word. It will act as a mirror to show me my true reflection, one very different than what I would like to see. Scripture tells me that I’m a sinner, and that sin brings death. Sin, the original killer of happiness, is not my solution; it’s my problem.” - Randy Alcorn
“What has happened — not just in America — but in America’s churches that sin receives such little attention?”
“Frankly, most churches have little to say on Sunday mornings about the holiness of God. I invite you to make this consideration very personal and think about your own church services. Is the holiness of God a recurring theme? Is sin lifted up as an affront to this holy God and the dangers of continuing in sin made plain?” - P&D
The Holiness of God and the Sinfulness of Man
“If we understand who God is, and catch a glimpse of His majesty, purity and holiness, then we are instantly aware of the extent of our own corruption. When that happens, we fly to grace.” - R.C. Sproul
Sin Makes Us Stupid
“So, the king who couldn’t keep a secret from God was now demanding that his soldier go and arrest this prophet…Do you see the hole in his logic? Would they sneak up on him? Perhaps wear camouflage? Ninja-style?” - Richard Bargas
What It Cost to Redeem Us Is the Clearest Indication of Our Evil’s Depth
“We grasp the horror of human evil only when we focus on God’s standards and on the atonement necessary to satisfy them.” - Randy Alcorn
The Supremacy of Christ in Repentance: Understanding True Sorrow vs. Worldly Regret
“Peter and Judas. While their lives ran parallel for much of the time we see them with Christ, their responses to sinful failure were vastly different. They both betrayed Christ, but what we see in their responses reveals a core difference between these men.” - P&D
How Do I Know I'm in Trouble?
This is a series of brief devotional articles on The Orthodox Catechism (“OC”), a Particular Baptist document written by Baptist pastor Hercules Collins in 1680. Read the series.
No matter who you are, who your parents are, how much education you have (or don’t have), this one thing is true—God’s law tells us that we’re each in very great trouble (see Answer 3). The obvious thing is to figure out how to fix this problem.