A Brief Response to John Piper’s Article on Salvation by Faith Alone.

On September 25th 2017 I began to hyperventilate. This was because of a statement made by one of the most influential Christian pastor/theologians in my life, John Piper. I have read almost everything he has written and listened to hours upon hours of sermons, conference messages and seminars that he has produced. I always knew there were…

Assurance, Justification & Sanctification

How do you know that you are really a Christian? The trouble with Christians is that they tend to look at themselves too much. The trouble with looking at yourself too much is that you will eventually freak out. Why? The longer you look at yourself, and I mean truly look at yourself, you will be…

Assurance & Justification

Why do Christians struggle with assurance of their salvation? In the last post I explored the Bible’s teaching about salvation generally. In this post I want us to go a little further and think about how that salvation works. At the heart of the Gospel, at the heart of salvation, is the doctrine of justification. What…

Assurance & Faith

Saved by “Faith”? Faith is a fairly important concept in the Bible. True faith is amongst the highest of virtues and false faith among the most dangerous of pitfalls. It seems prudent, therefore, to make sure that we understand what “faith” means. How can we discern the difference between true faith and false faith? It…

Assurance and Habitual Sin.

One of the greatest reasons why so many Christians today do not experience the peace that comes through the assurance of salvation can be summarised in one simple question. Can I truly be a Christian even if I fall to the same sin over and over again? The answer to this is “yes”.  It is possible…

When you doubt your salvation.

We all doubt our salvation. Sometimes people ask me what pastoral issues I’ve most often encountered in ministry. It is not a difficult question to answer. By far, the greatest concern for most people in the church is the question as to whether or not they are truly saved. Assurance of salvation has trumped all…

Psalm 13: Waiting for God

Psalm 13 New International Version - UK (NIVUK) For the director of music. A psalm of David. When my brother moved to London from South Africa a few years back, we were forced to communicate via letter. For those of you who don't know what that is... well, lets just say that it was revolutionary at…

Psalm 3: Save me from my enemies?

Psalm 3 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK) A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. 1 O Lord, how many are my foes!     Many are rising against me; 2 many are saying of my soul,     there is no salvation for him in God. Selah 3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,     my glory, and the lifter of my head. 4 I cried aloud to…