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?
Articles on The Gospel
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What Your Marriage Desperately Needs
Here is what you have to understand: forgiveness is a vertical commitment that is followed by a horizontal transaction.
As we savor the good news of the sin-bearing servant of the Lord, we learn to enthuse. The gospel of a surprising salvation can only make us laugh, sing, and cheer.
When the Gospel Transforms Your Christmas Expectations
Stephen Altrogge reflects on how he can be content at Christmastime.
When the Sun Rose, the Son Rose
In some ways the exodus is a death and resurrection story, but in many other ways the death and resurrection of Jesus is an exodus story.
Where Christ Isn’t Being Treasured, He’s Being Used
Christ as a treasure is not a slice of Christ. It is every dimension of Christ—all of Christ—making up the totality of his infinite value.
Who Are the 144,000? (Revelation 7)
Who will escape the wrath of God at the final judgment? Only those who belong to God, those who are sealed by him, who are numbered by him.
According to Jesus, the people who are ashamed of him are those who refuse to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. They’ve considered Jesus unworthy of their devotion and obedience.
Who Were the Magi, and Why Did They Worship Jesus? (Matthew 2)
Popular Christian images of the magi clash with Matthew’s account. The magi were counselors, not kings, and while they bore three gifts, their number (unstated) was large enough to cause a stir in Jerusalem.
Why All Christians Can (and Should) Share the Gospel
Opportunities abound for sharing our faith. Things are happening all around us that cause people to ask religious questions.
Why Are We Baptized in Jesus’s Name?
For Jesus’s name carries Jesus’s claim, and undergoing baptism is, for those who have reached years of discretion, a sign that the claim is being accepted.
Why Church Planting Can’t Be Church Franchising
I have seen empires come and go, but never have I seen anything so radical and pervasive as the gospel of the kingdom.
Why Did God’s Beautiful Plan of Redemption Involve Something So Ugly?
When we consider carefully what Jesus was doing on that old, rugged cross, we can understand why it was so ugly. To atone for our transgressions, Jesus had to shoulder our guilty sins.
Developing doctrine in the church is one more in a series of improvisations.
Why Does the Apostle’s Creed Say That Jesus Descended into Hell?
Death has been called “the new obscenity,” the nasty thing which no polite person nowadays will talk about in public. But death, even when unmentionable, remains inescapable.
Why Do Pastors Need the Gospel?
We need to know the message so we can live it, speak it, communicate it.
Many passages in Scripture speak to the missionary task, but at the foundation we need to remember that we do missions because Jesus commissioned his people to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth.
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.
God saves people for a purpose. Salvation in Christ begins a life spent growing into being like him and serving him faithfully.
Why Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry Is Important
When we’re so concerned with keeping the youth entertained or promoting a moral lifestyle, we can easily forget the message of first importance.
Why Healing Requires More Than Self Help
We seek healing as if we have the power (and right) to obtain it, whereas it is our very weakness and lack of valid claim to such a cure which are defining characteristics of our illness.
Why It Matters That Jesus Is Better Than Everything
Introducing people to Jesus involves showing them how Jesus meets their needs better than anything else.
Why It's Dangerous to Misrepresent the Gospel
It is rare to find an individual who can give a well-rounded and comprehensive declaration of the gospel message.
Why I Wrote a Book about the Marrow Controversy
What is Jesus really like, truly like—deep down, through and through?
The reason God became man was to die. As God pure and simple, he could not die for sinners. But as man he could. His aim was to die.
Why Men Need to Be Transparent with Each Other
One of the best ways men can encourage each other with the gospel is simply with honesty and transparency.
Why Mourning Can Be Good for Us
Mourning sin—past, present, and future—is the first step in seeking and celebrating the hope of divine grace.
Why Romans Is the Greatest Letter Ever Written
Paul’s letter to the Romans is relatively short (it takes about sixty minutes to read aloud), and it is profound. It explains and exults in and applies the greatest news we could hear.
Why Sanctification Is Not Passive
Sanctification is absolutely essential to the life of faith—so much so that Scripture frequently treats holiness as the identifying mark of a true believer.
Serial offers us insights into our culture’s longings, revealing God’s truth in the world around us.