If Jesus never sinned, why did He step into the waters of baptism? At first glance it seems unnecessary. Baptism in the days of John the Baptist was a sign of repentance (Mark 1:4). People were confessing their sins and turning back to God. Yet when Jesus arrived at the Jordan River, John was shocked. He said, “I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?” (Matthew 3:14). John understood something important. Jesus had nothing to repent of. He had never sinned (Hebrews

Of all the things we could speak about, pain and suffering is the one that makes us feel the smallest. It stands in front of us like a great wall. No one gets around it. It touches philosophy, psychology, culture, family life, and certainly our faith. At some point, every one of us must face it. Some of us wrestle with suffering as a question. We look at evil and injustice in the world and ask, “Why?” Others are not asking as thinkers, but as wounded people. They are sufferin

We are naturally inclined to read success as a sign of God’s approval and failure as a sign of His disapproval. Most people are deeply shaped by this way of thinking. On one level, it reflects a right instinct — we rightly believe that God governs all things and that He is the author of truth. But the mistake comes when we assume that success must always be the test of truth. Scripture does not allow that conclusion. In the sovereign wisdom of God, it may serve His purposes t