The crass references to hell we hear in everyday conversation shouldn’t dull the agonizing awareness all believers should have of the pains of hell.
Articles by Dane Ortlund
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It Doesn’t Matter What Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh Was
The thorn’s purpose is to deflate the certainty that Paul would quietly become puffed up over his indescribable experience of heaven. And who wouldn’t, without a thorn to burst that bubble?
For all his resplendent glory and dazzling holiness, his supreme uniqueness and otherness, no one in human history has ever been more approachable than Jesus Christ.
God gave his own Son as the final sacrifice so that your brokenness could be the only prerequisite to receiving God’s abundant mercy.
It takes a lot of sermons and a lot of suffering to believe that God’s deepest heart is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger.”
The atoning work of the Son, decreed by the Father and applied by the Spirit, ensures that we are safe eternally.
Do not minimize your sin or excuse it away. Raise no defense. Simply take it to the one who is already at the right hand of the Father, advocating for you on the basis of his own wounds.
Reflections on Christian Publishing
Dane Ortlund reflects on what Christian publishing is.
If God sent his own Son to walk through the valley of condemnation, rejection, and hell, you can trust him as you walk through your own valleys on your way to heaven.
The doctrine of the atonement reassures us with what Christ has done in the past, the doctrine of his intercession reassures us with what he is doing in the present.
Scripture: The Treasure of the Christian Life
When we immerse ourselves in Edwards's writings, we do not find him speaking of Scripture so much as speaking from it.
Short Studies in Biblical Theology
One of the great advances in evangelical biblical scholarship over the past few generations has been the recovery of biblical theology.
The Amazing Truth at the Heart of the Psalms
The Psalms have an important message: God loves you.
The whole reason we care about sound doctrine is for the sake of preserving God’s beauty,
Are we swimming in the mental and emotional universe of what God has told us our future is?
People are rebellious, even God’s people, but God himself insists on doing his people eternal good anyway.
The Hidden Value of Pastoral Gentleness
As leaders of God’s people, we all long to make a difference for Christ. We don’t want to be unfruitful. The main reason to nurture gentleness is neither pragmatic nor historical, but biblical.
The Most Accessible Person in the Universe
Jesus is lowly, he's accessible. You don't have to go through security to get to him. You just have to humble yourself.
The Reason We Don't Feel the Weight of Our Sin
Just as we can hardly fathom the divine ferocity awaiting those out of Christ, it is equally true that we can hardly fathom the divine tenderness already resting now on those in Christ.
When Jesus, the Clean One, touched an unclean sinner, Christ did not become unclean. The sinner became clean.
We need to look to Christ. We need to draw our strength from him. The way we grow is simply by looking to Christ.
Understanding the Role of Justification
Theologically understood, justification is the moment—the event—that God declares a sinner righteous in his sight.
What Bible Reading and Eating Have in Common
Devotional Bible reading is vital for every believer in the same way that eating is vital for every human—it's just the way you're nourished. It's what you do to get stronger and grow.
What Does Perfect Anger Look Like?
Christ got angry and still gets angry, for he is the perfect human, who loves too much to remain indifferent. And this righteous anger reflects his heart, his tender compassion.
What Is Distinct about the Theology of 2 Corinthians?
If otherwise vital Pauline notions such as “grace” and “law” are nowhere near the heart of Paul’s concerns in 2 Corinthians, what is the heart or center or core burden of this letter?
What’s All This ‘Gospel-Centered’ Talk About?
A gospel-centered life is the only life that can truly be enjoyed, no matter your circumstances.
What the Puritans Understood about the Human Heart
The genius of the Puritans was that they knew how to build bridges between Scripture and the human heart.
What Was Paul's Thorn in the Flesh? (2 Corinthians 12)
This passage gives every indication that the thorn in Paul's flesh is still a present reality and thus represents a prolonged, sustained pain. But what was the thorn?
Why Devotional Bible Reading Is Good Bible Reading
The purpose of reading the Bible devotionally is to commune with God and grow closer to him.
Why Do We Need So Many Books on the Gospel?
This post by Dane C. Ortlund was originally published on May 25, 2011. We're reposting it as we celebrate Crossway's 75th anniversary.