At the risk of being too general, most Christians agree it’s good and wise to keep the intention of the Sabbath by taking a day off every week and resting.1 We don’t do this because we’re under the law of the Sabbath, for Jesus has fulfilled that law for us. We don’t have to have it on a certain day of the week, and it’s not done to win God’s favour. Instead, we observe these Sabbath-type days because we trust the God who loves us in Christ and who rules all things; taking a day off once a week is “an expression of this commitment”.2 (more…)
Tag Archives: Good works
Doing good: The shape of the Christian life (Part 1): Why we don’t
Life
Stuart Heath argues that the Christian life is more than just having faith, it’s about doing good.
This is Part 1 of a three-part series. Read Part 2 and Part 3.
“Being Christian is not about doing good things”, quoth the preacher. “It’s about trusting in Jesus.” Here is the uniqueness of the Christian story: God in Christ has acted on our behalf. We could never be good enough to satisfy God’s requirements—we deserve to be condemned. But Jesus took our punishment for us, rescuing us from God’s right anger. God calls us not to earn our salvation, but to trust that he can save us. This is a beautiful, soul-satisfying truth. But when we talk about being Christian, if we only ever speak about ‘believing in Jesus’, we are dangerously out of step with the New Testament. (more…)
Doing good: The shape of the Christian life (Part 2): Why we can
Doing good: The shape of the Christian life (Part 3): What it looks like
Justification under threat
The scandalous gospel
The Wright Stuff
Couldn't Help Noticing
RCs in Hot Water over Hell
Heaven is for sinners
Thought
I was talking to a group of students. “Good people go to hell”, I said. “The only people who go to Heaven are bad people.”