(The following is the September 9 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read Colossians 2 and pay close attention to verses 6-15.) One reason Paul wrote to the Colossian church was to counter a heresy regarding the sufficiency of Christ for salvation. False teachers promoted visions and ascetic self-denial as components of …
Tag: Works
Our Motive for Good Works
(The following is the September 10 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read Colossians 2 and pay close attention to verses 20-23.) Each religion has practices it encourages for different reasons. Christians act in ways because of our faith, but we must be clear and biblically sound about the …
Created for Good Works
(The following is the August 26 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read Ephesians 2 and pay close attention to verses 1-10.) Paul teaches that God saves us by grace through faith in Christ and not by good works (vv. 8-9). However, this doesn’t mean Christians have no connection …
Is Your Life Evidence of Your Faith?
(The following is the June 10 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read Acts 26 and pay close attention to verses 19-20.) Paul summarized for King Agrippa a proper response to the gospel: “that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance” (v. 20). Unbelievers must turn …
Faith and Works
(The following is the November 3 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read James 2 and pay close attention to verses 14-26.) What James and Paul write regarding the relationship between faith and works is complementary, not contradictory, as some claim. James writes, “What good is it, my brothers and …
