Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 04022 Paul’s instruction in Galatians 5:16 is not a vague encouragement to be more spiritual. “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” is a precise description of a way of living that has practical content. The question of what it actually means to walk by the Spirit…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 04023 Every Christian has moments of genuine uncertainty about their own spiritual condition. Am I acting out of the Spirit’s leading, or am I following my own desires and calling it God’s will? This is not an abstract theological question; it touches something very practical about self-knowledge, discernment, and honesty before God. Scripture provides…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 04020 The Holy Spirit produces fruit in the believer and distributes gifts to the believer, and while both come from the same Spirit, they are doing entirely different things. Conflating them causes no end of confusion in the church, particularly when spiritual gifts are treated as evidence of spiritual maturity, or when character is…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 04044 Being sensitive to the Spirit’s leading is one of those phrases that Christians use regularly but rarely unpack. It can sound mystical or subjective — as though some believers have a special spiritual sixth sense that others lack. But the New Testament’s teaching on this is more concrete and more accessible than that….
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 04045 There are few more striking statements in the New Testament than Paul’s declaration in 1 Corinthians 6:19: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” That a human body — mortal, material, subject to hunger and tiredness and decay —…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 04042 Most Christians have heard that it is possible to grieve the Holy Spirit. The phrase comes from Ephesians 4:30, where Paul writes: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” But what does grieving the Spirit actually look like in everyday life? And…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 04043 Galatians 5:16-25 contains one of the most practically important passages in Paul’s letters. In a single sustained argument, he sets out two contrasting ways of living: life driven by the flesh, and life shaped by the Spirit. The contrast is not between the irreligious and the religious. It runs through the middle of…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 6007 Once we become Christians, is it possible to reach a point where we no longer sin? Some have taught a doctrine of “entire sanctification” or “Christian perfection,” claiming that believers can achieve sinless perfection in this life. Others seem to think that since we are saved by grace, it does not particularly matter…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 6008 Confession is one of those words that Christians use frequently but do not always understand clearly. We know we are supposed to confess our sins, but what exactly does that mean? Is it merely admitting we did something wrong? Is it a formal ritual to be performed in a certain way? What happens…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 6009 Every genuine Christian wants to overcome sin. We hate the way it dishonours God, damages our relationships, and disrupts our peace. But how? We have tried willpower and failed. We have made resolutions and broken them. We have promised God we would do better, only to fall into the same patterns again. Is…