Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

God does not need your book. Your testimony is not anointed in such a way that souls are waiting upon its publication in order to be saved. Your book is not the instrument upon which God depends. The Lord is not restrained, as though He must wait for you to write before He can act. That notion is not humility. It is a subtle elevation of self.

God has already given His Word. He has spoken fully and finally in Scripture, and He has made plain the means by which He saves. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). The Spirit of God works through the faithful proclamation of the Gospel, not through the elevation of personal experiences.

It should be humbling to recognize this, especially in a time when many are continually told how great they are, how significant their calling is, and how many souls are waiting for their step of faith in writing a book. Such language does not magnify God’s sufficiency. It diminishes it. To suggest that souls are dependent upon your testimony being written and published is to undermine both the power of the Word and the sovereignty of the Spirit in regeneration.

This helps explain why so many books are being produced. Many sitting under weak or misguided teaching are led to believe that their experiences must be shared as authoritative or necessary for the salvation of souls. But that claim, in itself, is an attack upon the sufficiency of Scripture and the Gospel. God does not need supplementation. His Word is not lacking. The Gospel is not powerless!

There is nothing inherently wrong with books. Faithful theological works have long served the church well. I gladly commend those that labor to explain and rightly handle Scripture. But that is not what fills many so-called Christian shelves today. What is popular is often subjective rather than objective, rooted in personal encounters, unverifiable claims, and supposed revelations that claim divine origin rather than faithful works that demonstrate a life governed by scripture as one writes in order to help men understand what God has truly said. Men would rather exegete their heart, their experiences, or their claims of what God said to them than going into the text and doing the real work of bringing out of the text what it really says and means.

Why is this so widely embraced? Because Scripture is true. Men are naturally drawn to what appeals to the flesh, what gives immediate gratification and feels personal, what promises insight apart from the hard work of rightly dividing the Word. They prefer what affirms their desires over what confronts their sin. But the faithful teacher does not lead others to himself or to his experiences. He leads them to Scripture and demonstrates its sufficiency.

If you are considering writing a book, it is worth sober self-examination. Many are encouraged to write who are not grounded in sound doctrine, and the result is confusion rather than clarity. Experiences may be sincere, but sincerity does not guarantee truth. Theology that is shallow or unsound will not help the reader. It will mislead.

And if correction comes, as it should when error is made public, the response will reveal much. If you publish a book that you feel like must be written because souls are depending on it, and your claims, teachings, and handling of scripture is shown false, you may get away with it because your book doesn’t sell well. That it does not have men of sound doctrine reading it and calling out its errors is actually not good for you. Such rebuke would have been for your good. Those who prize truth will warn you. Those who do not will applaud you.

As one who has been there, who has repented of it, and no longer endorses the book once written, consider this carefully before proceeding. We will give an account for every careless word. The world will not suffer for lack of your book. If you believe otherwise, that belief itself should give you pause.

Many who write desire to be helpful, yet the issue often lies beneath that desire. When a man begins to think that the church or the lost need his book, or that God has given him something the church cannot do without, he has already stepped beyond what is written. That is not a small error. It strikes at the sufficiency of Scripture and the ordinary means God has ordained. It is pride though deceived he cannot see his own pride.

Those who should write a book are far fewer than those who do. If what is sound were more desired, there would be fewer books, but they would carry greater weight for the soul. As it stands, publishing has become far too easy, and for that very reason, much is produced that ought not to be.

This may sound severe, but it is better to speak plainly now than to contribute to confusion later. Think seriously. Pray rightly. Examine whether what you are offering is rooted in the Word of God or in personal experience. The church does not need more subjective, shallow works filled with theological error.

Friend, you likely should not write a book. Many will. Few should.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

If my life remains familiar with the former weaknesses, knowings, and longings that the old man once loved, then my heart has not yet reckoned with that grace which works not merely in outward conformity, but in depths unseen by man and known only to God. It is there that He transforms the heart, makes it new, and produces new affections, new desires, and even the will to do what pleases Him, that which the old man could never do.

Yet there remains that which every saint longs to put off. Even this longing brings a sober awareness, for the desire itself is the work of God. The longing to cast off what cannot inherit eternal life, and to put on what is good and glorifies God, is not born of the flesh, but given by Him. The desire to glorify Him, this the heart has not known by nature. Known, not as the world claims to know, nor as false professors presume, but in truth.

Oh to know Him. The depths of His love, the riches of His grace, the wisdom, the mercy, the knowledge of God are far too high for me. Yet we taste, we see in part. And there remains in the saint a longing for that day when we shall know Him more fully, when we shall be parted from that which still dwells in our members, that which we no longer desire to be familiar with.

This world is seductive. Only a fool thinks himself beyond its pull. Let no man assume he is incapable of being drawn away by that which tempts his own soul. Be not such a fool, but be wise. Understand that though we are tempted, we are not without help. We are able to overcome, and if we are able to overcome, then we must expect to be tempted. Yet God has provided the way of escape. We are able to recognize temptation, to deny the lingering desire for evil, and to flee. This ability is not of ourselves, but is the gracious and powerful work of God in every saint.

And if we fall, let us not remain. Repent quickly. Rise, and flee to Christ. Do not draw back. The proud man imagines himself secure, supposing nothing can overtake him because of who he is. His fall, if unrestrained, will be great. Yet even such a fall, if God is merciful, may become the means by which he is humbled, brought low, and made to see the corruption of his own heart. In this, he may yet be led to true grace.

How well is our soul acquainted with such grace? Do we walk in it daily, or do we take it for granted? Fellow pilgrim, dear saint, acknowledge the wisdom, the power, the love, the grace, and even the corrective hand of God in your life. Let His discipline not be prolonged, that we may learn swiftly and walk in the strength of His might, in the grace that works in truth, guiding us in the way that is best. It will cost us much, yet it will be worth it. Today, dear saint, do you recognize His grace at work within you?

Sing, dear saint. God is at work in you, even now. It is He who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure. And He is at work in the world. All things are under His sovereign hand. His providence cannot be thwarted.

Remember, ‘tis all of grace.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

If salvation is not by the exertion, will, or work of man, many struggle to understand how man can be held responsible for his sin, his rejection of Christ, or even how he can be saved at all. Yet they fail to see that these very questions point to the beauty, glory, sovereignty, power, wisdom, and mercy of God.

Man, born in sin under the federal headship of the first Adam, is without the will, desire, power, or ability to change his nature, either to put off sin or to put on righteousness. He is born in sin, and the curse of death abides upon him. Even his righteousness is vile before a holy God.

What man, born in Adam, can save his own soul? None. Not one. It is through the second Adam that any man may be saved.

Christ, truly God, took on flesh, adding humanity to His deity, and is truly man, born of a virgin, without sin. As the second Adam, He lived the righteous life we could not live and willingly went to the cross, dying the death we deserve, bearing the full wrath of God for His people. On the third day, He rose from the grave, conquering sin and death, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again.

Through the power of the Gospel, God takes the external call and makes it effectual, calling His own out of darkness into truth. He gives a new heart that responds in repentance and faith. The Father planned it, the Son accomplished it, and the Holy Spirit applies it. (Seeing the glory of the triune God at work in salvation still sets my heart to singing; I hope you see it and don’t miss it. The Holy Spirit gets blamed for a lot of false manifestations and His true work is so often missed because it’s not what sinful men want).

Man is responsible for his sin before a holy God. We have sinned against His perfect holiness, righteousness, and authority.

Yet God, in undeserved grace, has chosen to glorify Himself by showing mercy to an undeserving people. He sent His Son, who willingly bore the just and holy wrath of God for sinners and lived the perfect life we could not live, so that His righteousness might be imputed to us and our sin imputed to Him.

Do not let these truths become mere words we learn and rehearse, but realities that penetrate the heart. Many have heard that Jesus died for sins, yet have not been confronted with the truth of man’s depravity, nor taught the necessity of the imputed righteousness of Christ. Too many have turned the pulpit into a marketplace, appealing to the desires of men and drawing them by whatever means seem effective. The result is devastating, both to true evangelism in the pew and to the power of the pulpit, which rests upon the faithful preaching of the Word.

Man thinks far too highly of himself. Only when we understand our depravity do we see that our will, desires, and all our faculties are bound. Scripture testifies truly that there is none who does good. That any are saved is entirely of grace, grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Any who add to or take away from this do not understand grace.

We are all born in Adam, under sin and its curse, deserving of God’s wrath. We must be born again.

Many hear the external call of the Gospel, yet are deceived by shallow appeals to their desires, promises God has not made, and calls to merely ask Jesus into their heart. They remain ignorant of their depravity. They do not understand that unless they are born again in Christ, they will die in their sin and face the just wrath of God.

Our only hope is Christ. He is Sovereign, He is Lord and King, and He commands all men everywhere to repent and believe in Him. This is not a call to mere relief from guilt or suffering, nor a shallow assurance of heaven. True repentance and faith flow from a heart transformed by God, a heart that sees its own sin, trembles before His holiness, and flees to Christ alone for mercy.

Many sit under preaching that does not proclaim the whole counsel of God. They hear of love, yet do not know God, because His holiness, justice, and truth are not faithfully declared.

Unless you repent and trust in Christ alone, you will die in your sins. There is no hope beyond the grave, only the righteous judgment of God.

Repent. Flee to Christ.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Faith healers and those who teach that it is always God’s will to heal expose the emptiness of their doctrine when they themselves experience the same sickness, suffering, tragedy, and death common to all men.

We see this not only among well-known figures like Kenneth Copeland who has a pacemaker, Bill Johnson who wears glasses and whose wife sadly passed away from cancer, and Todd White who reportedly suffered from a serious heart condition, but across the movement as a whole and evident among many who aspire to such fame. Those who insist that healing is guaranteed now, and that its absence is due to a lack of faith or some personal failure, contradict their own teaching when they suffer just as others do. Their lives bear witness against their doctrine.

And yet, they continue. Why? Because men love the lie. They desire to be told that if they only believe enough, do enough, or give enough, they will receive their miracle, their healing, their breakthrough.

It is my sincere prayer that those who are deceived may hear the truth, as only God in His grace can reveal it, to the eyes of the blind, the hearts of the hardened, and the minds of the darkened.

I hold no ill will toward those who believe these things and suffer as we all do. But I warn those who walk in the truth to exercise discernment. Many who are given over to these teachings do not desire to test their beliefs by Scripture, nor to be corrected by it, but instead to draw others into the same error.

I know many who are fully persuaded of these doctrines. I know I cannot change their hearts or minds. No argument, however clear, can accomplish what only God can do. Yet this I also know, God saves His own, even out of false and dangerous systems such as these. His Word is sufficient. His Gospel is powerful.

Many will hear and remain unmoved, confident in themselves, convinced they serve God, and yet without truth, without life, and without hope.

My heart is grieved when I see such widespread deception, when falsehood is celebrated, and the Gospel, Christ, and His church are misrepresented. And yet, I rejoice in what God is doing. His work is often unseen, while error is amplified, dominating social media, “Christian” television, “Christian” bookstores, and “Christian” radio.

You may know a false teacher personally, and because of that, you may be inclined to defend them. But truth is not determined by relationship. There are times when speaking the truth feels like casting pearls before swine. Few will hear. Fewer still will test what they believe, and, if found false, forsake it.

Not many. For many will be deceived. Many will walk the broad path, convinced they are on the narrow way, only to hear the words of Christ that He never knew them (Matt. 7:22–23). Savingly. He did not know them. They did much in His name, and yet they were strangers to Him. This is a grievous reality.

Some will compromise conviction for the sake of relationships, choosing familiarity over truth. But Christ has made it clear, there will be a cost. There will be division. To follow Him is to choose Him above all, even when it severs what is closest to us (Matt. 10:34–37). It is not without pain. But we must choose.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Faith submits, it does not demand. Pray according to God’s will, trust His sovereignty, and find true hope.

Friend, pray and pray fervently in faith to the sovereign God for your need. But friend, faith is not manipulative, and it does not possess the power in itself to move the hand of God in accordance with one’s will. God is not compelled by our words, nor governed by our desires. Prayer changes us. It conforms our hearts to the will of God. We do not bring God’s will into submission to our own. We submit our will to His, our desires to His. So then, when we pray, we can ask anything in His name, according to His will, and we will have it. But we must ask ourselves, can we honestly pray, “Thy will be done”? Or do we cringe at those words and seek instead to take matters into our own hands, claiming an authority we do not possess, attempting to obtain outcomes we demand, and manipulating Scripture to make the will of God conform to our desires?

If we follow the error of those who manipulate God’s Word to say what they desire, turning it into promises He has not made, we deceive ourselves, we deceive others, we lead men according to their sinful desires, and we bring destructive doctrines into the church. Many are following the destructive doctrines of false teachers and are building upon them new and even more dangerous errors.

If our love is truly for God and is shaped according to sound doctrine, then our faith is not that He will do what we desire, nor that Scripture will conform to our expectations, nor that we can usurp an authority He has not given us in order to claim the outcome we seek. No. Faith trusts God. It trusts His sovereignty, even over our sufferings. It rests in the truth that He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. That is not a promise that He will work all things according to our will or our desires. We are not sovereign. Our words do not have creative power. We are not masters of our own destiny. God is sovereign, even over our suffering. We can trust Him. But we must ask, do we trust Him? Or do we only trust Him insofar as He does what we desire? That is not faith.

It is grievous how many are deceived by doctrines that prove false, and yet they still cling to them. Their faith is not in the sovereign God, but in their words, their declarations, and their twisting of God’s Word to make promises He has not made. The results reveal the falsehood, and yet they go on to deceive the minds of the willing.

We are not guaranteed physical healing now in the atonement. That is a mishandling of Scripture and an overrealized eschatology. And yet, the truth is far more beautiful. We who are being saved find a healing that we could not obtain for ourselves, that He has borne our sins in His body, and that by His stripes we are healed. Sadly, many quote that verse in part and exclusively in the context of claiming physical healing now. That is not what it promises. We shall one day have glorified bodies. That is not now. Now we suffer physically like others, but with hope. Our promise is greater. When we say, “By His stripes we are healed,” it speaks of His efficacious work on the cross, His power over the grave, and that He is seated at the right hand of the Father. We are healed. By His stripes we are healed. We who are in Christ.

And friend, to use 3 John 2 as Oral Roberts has led many deceived souls to do, claiming that verse as a promise that it is always God’s will for you to prosper and be in good health, is a gross abuse of the text. It has led many to claim healing and wealth that never comes, because God did not promise it. Some have even suffered greatly, and died, under such false teachings.

The world mocks because of these abuses, not knowing that they do not represent Christ, His Kingdom, His bride, or the inauguration or consummation of His Kingdom.

Pray always, but pray according to God’s will. It is not always God’s will to heal. It is not always God’s will to act in accordance with the desires of our hearts. Therefore, let us pray that God would change our hearts to desire what is in accordance with His perfect will.

Does God heal? Yes. Is it always His will? No. Can we trust Him with whatever it is His will to do? Yes. Can we trust Him in our sufferings? Yes. There is none other better than the sovereign God to trust in all things. We can trust Him.

Dear saint, grace be with you.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

The truth on men’s lips is often most offensive, not because it is untrue, but because it is men who are appointed to speak it. In response, some place women in the pulpit in direct rebellion to the clear commands of Scripture (1 Tim. 2:12; 1 Cor. 14:34–35). They reason that she is the better communicator, more capable of delivering hard truths with a gentler spirit. In doing so, they assume that they know better than God.

They look to real and imagined abuses in history, and to the failures of many men in the pulpit today, and conclude that the solution is to place women into those positions. But if you believe this, you are not rebelling against men, institutions, or some perceived cultural structure. You show yourself in rebellion against God. He is the One who has issued the command, and He has not changed it (Num. 23:19).

Men fail. They have failed, and they will fail. Women fail as well. But the failure of men is not a warrant to overturn the order God has established. We are not permitted to correct His design as though it were flawed. To do so is to say, whether openly or not, that His wisdom is insufficient and that we can improve upon it (Rom. 9:20).

There is not one sound argument for women preaching. Not one. Why? Because Scripture speaks plainly on the matter. Those who argue otherwise must go outside the text, appealing to experience, abuse, or cultural reasoning, and then return to Scripture only to misuse passages that do not address the question. The meaning of those texts is clear, yet they are bent to justify what Scripture does not permit.

Recently, I saw where a young woman was encouraged to preach to the gathered church, with the full support of her parents, one of whom has served, or may still be serving, in the office of a pastor. This was met with praise from many. Some show themselves to be biblically illiterate. Others know the Scriptures and yet choose to disobey them, claiming that God speaks outside of His Word, apparently speaking something new that nullifies what He has already spoken with clarity and authority.

This is not a small matter. It is arrogant, prideful, divisive, and destructive. Scripture makes clear that it is those who bring in different doctrines that are divisive (Romans 16:17).

Many women are deceived, and their hearts are set against the order God has established. Many churches are in disorder and, by that disorder, show themselves to be in rebellion against Him. Women lead other women further into that rebellion, often encouraged and affirmed by men who refuse to uphold the truth. There are consequences.

Many young men are reacting to this disorder, yet not in submission to Scripture. Instead of being led by the Spirit, they answer error with error, abandoning biblical fidelity in their response rather than restoring it.

Many are quick to say that this is a secondary issue, something to be set aside under the banner of unity. To each their own, they say. No. It is not to each their own. This is not a matter of preference. It is open rebellion against God. It strikes at the authority of Scripture, the sufficiency of Scripture, the God-ordained order of the church, and even the practice of church discipline (Titus 1:9). It redefines the church and supplants authority that God has not given.

You cannot reject God’s clear commands, hear the truth, be called to repentance, continue in disobedience, and encourage others to do the same, and then suppose that there will be no consequences.

Women have been given many gifts by God, good and beautiful gifts for the building up of the body (Titus 2:3–5). But the office of pastor, and the authoritative preaching that belongs to it, is not among them (1 Tim. 3:1–2; Titus 1:6).

If a pastor or a husband encourages you to step outside of what God has commanded, appealing to your natural ability or desire to communicate truth, you must submit to God rather than man (Acts 5:29). Use your gifts in the way God has prescribed. Honor Him in obedience, not in self-expression.

From the beginning, there has been a temptation toward disorder. The fall itself testifies to it (Gen. 3:16). That this inclination exists is not surprising. What is grievous is when men encourage women in that very rebellion, calling it empowerment, affirming it as good, and celebrating what God forbids.

Do not be persuaded by it. Do not be flattered into disobedience. Submit to God, even when obedience is costly, even when it is despised by the world and by those within the visible church who have abandoned His Word (Rom. 12:2).

Not every man in the pulpit is qualified. Not every man is faithful. Not every man handles the Word rightly. But this does not justify abandoning God’s design. We are commanded to test everything (1 Thess. 5:21). We are called to discernment. The answer to unqualified men is not disobedience, but reformation according to Scripture.

The problem is not with God’s order. If we find ourselves resisting it, the problem lies within us. And when that resistance is exposed, the proper response is not to justify it, but to repent, to submit ourselves to God’s Word, His authority, His wisdom, and His rule (James 1:22).

You may believe that you are resisting men. You are not. You are resisting God (1 Sam. 15:23).

You may step onto a platform with confidence, with excitement, even with a sense of sincerity, believing you are sharing something true and helpful. You may even speak words that are, in themselves, true. But the very act communicates something else. It communicates rebellion against God’s established order. That is the message being proclaimed, regardless of the content of the words.

And when others support and encourage this, calling it women supporting women, what is truly being supported is not faithfulness, but rebellion.

We will either submit in faith, trusting that God does all things well, even when men fail, or we will take matters into our own hands and follow our hearts into disobedience (Prov. 3:5–6).

You may twist Scripture, or claim that God has spoken to you apart from His Word, granting you authority He has explicitly withheld. You may be praised. You may be affirmed. You may be told that your words were needed. But none of these things justify disobedience.

And once Scripture is set aside here, it will not remain intact elsewhere. You have opened the door. Others will walk through it. Authority shifts from God’s Word to the heart of man, whatever seems right (Judg. 21:25).

Scripture is not a prop. It is not there to support what you already desire. It is authoritative. It stands over you, not beneath you.

The issue is not with the Word of God. The issue is with our hearts.

The question is simple:
Will we submit to what God has said?
Or will we reshape it to accommodate what we want?

Written by: April J. Buchanan

The dear Christian who looks back on his life and cannot sing, “Grace, grace, oh amazing grace,” yet sees any reason to boast in his own wisdom or strength, is one to mark his wisdom as foolishness, his might as that which goes before a fall, and his strength as that which has led many men to ruin.

For wisdom is not an enemy, but to boast of one’s own wisdom, one’s strength, one’s power, is but the fool’s temptation, to adorn his folly with spiritual language and know nothing of that beautiful grace wrought within that adorns all and boasts in the wisdom of God, the power of God, that beautiful, efficacious work of Christ. The believer knows nothing to boast in but Christ. It is Christ. Only Christ. It is grace. All of grace. It is God and His attributes worthy of boasting: His nature. His wisdom. His power. His love. His sovereignty. His providence, working all things out according to His perfect wisdom and power.

To look back is to sing God’s praises; to look forward is to trust in that same grace, power, and wisdom of God, to cling to His promises, and to press on in faith toward the glory that awaits every precious saint of the Lord.

Go forth, dear saint. His power is at work in you. His promises are true. His grace is sufficient. That which awaits you is worth every trial, and that which seeks to destroy you has no power over what is in you. It is not you, your weakness is known, but He who is in you.

Do not be foolish to think yourself wise when you are not, or strong when you are weak. Remember who has saved you, who has promised, who is faithful, and who has given you grace sufficient. Trust Him. Walk by faith in that grace, confident that He will complete what He has begun in you.

Ah, dear pilgrim, dear Christian, it is all grace. Look to Him. Set your mind on Him. Find strength and encouragement for your soul. Remember who He is. Christ. Remember the Lord.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Precious saint, you who grow weary, often more than you yourself can discern, yet are upheld by that gracious work of God which never fails to attend to your every need:

There are times in which you know this grace well, and your heart recalls its benefits while you find its supply abundant and sufficient. Yet even in those times, you long for the day when you shall know it perfectly and behold Him to whom you owe all things, the One who chose you, redeemed you, bore the righteous wrath of God in your place, and has clothed you in His own perfect righteousness. Think much on that. Let your heart delight in it. What a precious gift, and what a glorious Savior this is.

Let this truth not remain merely external and objective, but let it be wrought deeply within the heart and continually meditated upon in the mind, being ever precious, ever delightful, and ever conforming those who are purchased by it, sustained by it, and brought to know it, even as they are known by God. Let the riches of scripture continue to testify to the beauty and power of God, the grace and kindness of God, the sovereignty of God and His providence worked out. Seek Him in scripture and let its beauty and truth have its sanctifying effect on your heart, your mind, and soul.

There is an objective truth that stands and calls all men, yet many profess to know it while they do not truly know it. They hear and do not hear. There are also dear saints who truly know it, and yet they grieve when they see how little their hearts have delighted in its beauty, its power, and its gracious work within them. When they proclaim its riches to others, they are often made aware of how little they themselves have delighted in what is most worthy. This sorrow is not without purpose. Fellow pilgrim, it is a means by which the Lord humbles us, refines us, and draws His people again to Himself.

These truths are not mere facts, but living realities that are powerful to shape and sanctify. Take heart, for your Lord is working in you even when you do not feel it. Neglect not His gracious means by which He graciously works in you, sanctifying you.

Dear saint, fellowship is not merely the sharing of common life in worldly matters, but the mutual encouragement of believers, stirring one another up to love and good deeds as the Scriptures command.

Even sickness is not without purpose for every dear saint, reminding us that our time here is brief and that our strength is not our own, while both are gifts to be spent for the glory of God. It bears witness to the fall, and yet it also testifies to the greater reality that even the frailest saint is being sustained by a grace that secures an imperishable inheritance.

Therefore, remember the goodness and kindness of the Lord and set your mind upon Him and upon that which is true, for such meditation is a means God uses to sanctify the heart.

If our obedience becomes merely mechanical, we do harm to our own souls, since men may hear the truth from our lips while not seeing its beauty, its power, or its worth in our lives.

Attend carefully to your soul even as you abound in good works, and do not neglect the inward life while laboring in the outward.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and may it be that men not only hear the truth from those who belong to Christ, but also behold its beauty reflected in them.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Many men will entice and invite you into their sin, or into the approval and acceptance of their sin, urging you to agree with them in their offense against a holy God. Christian, you will not only be tempted by your own fleshly desires, but often by those you love who ask you to affirm what God hates.

In such moments, your love will be questioned, your loyalty will be challenged, and you will be forced to choose.

Many comfort themselves with delusions, imagining that they can claim salvation for their loved ones while ignoring the clear necessity of repentance and faith and that salvation is the work of God. They attempt to suppress reality, not by submitting to the truth of Scripture, but by reshaping it according to their desires. Where the Gospel is needed, it is often replaced with a powerless message, and reduced to “Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” while sin is left unaddressed and the call to repentance is absent. In this way, consciences are soothed and false converts are made. This has consequences for your own soul, for truth cannot be compromised without consequence.

Likewise, there are those who do not see danger coming from another direction, as some men appear sound in doctrine. Their teaching, when examined, seems faithful, and their lives outwardly appear ordered and upright, yet they fall and when they do it reveals what was hidden.

False teachers lead many astray because they speak what men desire to hear, and Scripture exposes them plainly. Their teaching does not withstand the test of the Word, and when they fall in their private lives it is not surprising because it is the inevitable fruit of error. Yet many in the pews love them and love what they say, and they love the lies they have embraced as truth, so they restore such men to positions for which they were never qualified because they have accumulated for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires as written in 2 Timothy 4:3.

It is not so among those who are governed by the authority of Scripture, for when a man who is truly sound in doctrine falls he is not protected by sentiment nor excused by reputation. He is treated as a fallen brother, he is removed from office, and he is placed under church discipline, while the care of his soul becomes the priority along with the care of his family, the church, and any affected by his sin, and this is love as it is defined by God.

And yet, dear saint, when those you love who remain outside of Christ go so far in their sin as to call it good and invite you to do the same, the matter becomes deeply personal, and they may say that if you do not affirm them then you do not love them.

You must choose in that moment whether you will obey God and love them with the truth, whether you will call sin what God calls it and proclaim the Gospel, or whether you will compromise where God does not.

Love is not defined by affirmation, but love is obedience to God, and it is expressed in truth rather than in the denial of it.

What are you being pressured to call good that God calls evil, and how can you proclaim the Gospel to someone whose conscience you have helped to quiet in their rebellion? If sin is no longer sin, then what gospel remains for you to proclaim? What are you doing to your own soul when you suppress the truth and seek to win them by means you call love but God calls rebellion? You do not want them to walk out of your life, so you quiet their conscience by affirming their sin and seek to win them by pragmatic means that God finds offensive. You seek to bring an enemy in without calling their sin sin and declaring the command of the holy and righteous God that they must repent and believe on the Lord Jesus. You wrestle with this in your mind and your heart is rent. You cannot compromise or distort truth without consequence.

Dear saint, a brother recently recounted a question he asked a dying brother who was a faithful pastor and a fellow pilgrim, and he asked him, “How is it with your soul?”

That question is full of love because it searches without accusation, presses beyond appearances, and reaches into the inner man, calling him to consider his standing before God, and it is not a legal demand but a gracious summons to self-examination as Scripture commands in 2 Corinthians 13:5.

For the faithful saint it stirs praise and turns the heart toward the kindness of God, His providence, His sustaining grace, and His sovereign power at work within, and for the struggling saint it opens the door to speak honestly, to bring hidden burdens into the light, and to find that grace is indeed sufficient.

It is a question that does not condemn but clarifies, and it does not wound without purpose but exposes in order to heal, directing the soul back to the ordinary means of grace, to the Word, to prayer, and to the fellowship of the saints where God strengthens and sustains His people.

Dear saint, do not let men, even those you love, draw you into calling evil good or good evil, and while you may love them, pray for them, and speak truth to them, you must not join them in their rebellion against God because to do so harms your own soul and weakens your testimony of the Gospel before them.

Compromise is never without consequence, and love for the brethren is not mere sentiment but is walking in the truth as written in 3 John 1:4, and it is a concern for their souls which may at times be expressed in something as simple and as profound as asking, “How is it with their soul?”

You need not ask it of every man nor use it carelessly, yet the question itself is full of love and searches the heart, and you must consider whether you are willing to let it search your own.

May it lead you again to the beauty and glory of God in salvation, and may it return your heart to His grace and power at work within you, and where neglect of His appointed means is revealed, may it stir you to return to them faithfully and with joy. And if in any way you have compromised and it is not well with your soul, dear saint, repent and find grace for your soul.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

There are many things we might imagine when we say, “I cannot imagine anything worse than…” yet it can be said with confidence that nothing is worse than living, grieving, and dying without hope. When men live without hope they make perilous and erratic choices. When they grieve without hope they search for comfort in places that cannot sustain them. When they face death without hope they cling desperately to whatever promise might quiet the fear that rises within them.

Many attempt to soothe their own hearts with false hope. They look for comfort in bottomless pleasure, in distraction, or in the vanity of their own thoughts. Yet these are only futile attempts to silence a truth that continually confronts them. Man grasps for anything that will quiet the knowledge that death stands before him and that he cannot overcome it.

There is hope in life, in grief, and even in death, but there is only one true hope. That hope is not found in a bottle, in a sunset, or in one final attempt at romance that promises meaning but cannot sustain it. Hope is found in a Person and in the work that only He could accomplish on behalf of sinners such as you and me. Christ alone is the hope of the world. Christ alone is the hope of every lost soul.

Hope is not that men will avoid death. Hope is not that they will grow old beside those they love. Hope is not that they will gain success, security, or promotion. A man may obtain all these things and still die without hope. Hope is Christ.

Some men live surrounded by pleasure and never experience the grief that others carry daily. Yet such a man may die without hope. Another man may live his entire life under the heavy weight of sorrow and also die without hope. Yet there are those who live with hope even in the midst of grief. By the grace of God they carry a sorrow that is real and often deep, especially when they remember those who died without Christ. At the same time they cling to the promise that all who die in Christ will be raised to life in Him.

Our hope is not that all who die will be raised to life in Christ. When men speak this way they comfort themselves with false assurances and proclaim a false and fatal gospel. The resurrection unto life belongs only to those who are united to Christ. Yet when truth prevails even over our deepest grief, love compels us to proclaim the Gospel that alone has the power to save.

Our greatest concern is not that men feel comfortable or live happily for a time. Our greatest concern is that they know Christ. He alone is the true hope of every man who hears the Gospel and responds in repentance and faith through the regenerating work of God. Once dead in sin, the sinner is made alive in Christ and given the hope that death itself cannot destroy.

There is no hope in life or death apart from Christ alone. You may comfort a man with lies for a moment, but only Christ can give him true hope. If you would give men hope then proclaim Christ and pray to the God who is sovereign in salvation. Ask Him to grant grace, life, and salvation to those who hear.

Their grief may not disappear entirely, yet those who know Christ are able to live truly when He is their hope and salvation. Many men grieve. Many men live. Many live, grieve, and die without hope. The grave itself does not grant eternal life. The Gospel is for today because men who live today will soon die just as they have lived, either with Christ or without Him.

Tell them the truth and leave the results to God. Do not be cold, callous, or indifferent. We cannot save anyone, but we must examine ourselves if our hearts grow silent in the proclamation of the Gospel. A man who truly knows the hope that is in Christ cannot remain unmoved when others live without it.

The man who believes he must compromise the Gospel in order to win someone reveals that he has little confidence in the power of God to save. He has forgotten the efficacy of Christ’s work, the power of the Spirit who applies it, and the sufficiency of the message God has entrusted to His people. Obedience requires faith in the God who saves and faithfulness in proclaiming the Gospel He has given.

Sometimes a believer’s love grows cold because he has looked too long at the wickedness of men and too little at the glory of God. When this happens his faith weakens and his hope grows dim. The problem is not with God and it is not with His Gospel. The problem lies within the one who has lost sight of Him.

Look again to Christ and fix your gaze upon Him. Do not allow your love to grow cold, your faith to wither, or your hope to sink in discouragement. When we lose sight of Christ we place ourselves in a far more dangerous condition than those who simply reject the message we proclaim.

Return and look again to Him. In Christ alone are found your hope, your love, your strength, and your life. Go forward not in your own strength but in the strength that He provides, trusting the God who saves and proclaiming the Gospel He has entrusted to you.

Grace be with you.