Daily Archives: December 23, 2025

Pray for the Universal Church

Matthew Henry’s “Method For Prayer”

Intercession 5.3 | ESV

For the universal church, wherever dispersed, and for all the interests of it.

My heart’s desire and prayer to God for the gospel-Israel is that it may be saved. Romans 10:1(ESV)

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem. Psalm 51:18(ESV) Peace be within her walls and security within her towers. For my brothers and companions’ sake, I will now say, “Peace be within her.” Psalm 122:7-8(ESV)

O that I may see the prosperity of the gospel-Jerusalem all the days of my life and peace upon Israel. Psalm 128:5-6(ESV) And that, thus, I may have reason to answer the messengers of the nations, saying, “The LORD has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.” Isaiah 14:32(ESV)

Save your people, O Lord, and bless your heritage; be their shepherd and carry them forever. Psalm 28:9(ESV) Give strength to your people, and bless your people with peace; Psalm 29:11(ESV) cover them with favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:12(ESV)

Grace be with all who love the Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible; Ephesians 6:24(ESV) for you know those who are yours, and give to all who name the name of Christ to depart from iniquity. 2 Timothy 2:19(ESV)

I pray for all who believe in Christ, that they may all be one; John 17:20-21(ESV) and since there is one body and one Spirit and one hope that belongs to our call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, Ephesians 4:4-6(ESV) give to all Christians to be of one heart and one way. Jeremiah 32:39(ESV)

Let the word of the Lord in all places speed ahead, and let it be honored. 2 Thessalonians 3:1(ESV)

Pray for the Universal Church

Devotional for December 23, 2025 | Tuesday: The Birth of the Savior

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Luke 2:10-12 In this week’s studies, we see that the divine Messiah, the Lord and Savior of the world, has come.

Theme

The Birth of the Savior

Now there were several reasons why this message was a message of joy to the shepherds and why, in exactly the same way, it must be a message of joy to us. And the first is that it had to do with the Savior. The ancient world wasn’t unaware of the births of saviors or even of certain so-called miraculous signs that were supposed to accompany their birth. In the ancient world, whenever a Roman emperor was born, or sometimes when an emperor succeeded to the throne after another one had been laid aside, there were supposed supernatural events that went with it. Sometimes it had to do with priestly omens, or stars falling from the sky, or a comet or some such thing. When Alexander the Great was born, it was said that he was conceived by the god, Zeus, who appeared in the form of a dragon to his mother, Olympias. Those things were well known to the ancient world. But those things always had to do with human saviors. There were people who appeared and who, in one way or another, did something that was significant. They would, for example, achieve a great military victory and bring a measure of peace in their day. Or they would extend the prosperity of their nation by their military conquests—significant, yes, but always on the human level.

Here, in the birth of Jesus, we have One who was not merely a human savior, not merely one who brings peace in human terms, but a divine Savior who, because He is divine, is able to bring the peace that all of us desire and our hearts need. It’s a funny thing in our day how we’ve gone after different techniques to provide the salvation that we think we need. In very recent times, I suppose most people have focused on political programs as the solution to this world’s problems. We’ve thought that the way to solve the ills that confront us as a people or a nation is by electing to office people who can bring about a change and who can pass legislation which will somehow make everything alright.

So if one politician fails to do what we think should be done, well, the solution to that is to elect another one—a new president who will bring a new program, or a new congressman or senator who will pass the kind of governmental legislation that will somehow make the problems of our cities, or the problems of our economy, or the problems of the poor go away.

The interesting thing about that is that there is a large measure of disillusionment with politics today and, above all, among the politicians themselves. Sometime ago, I was in Washington, D.C. And a man who works in the Senate, who knows the senators on an intimate basis, was saying to me, “You know, there is a great deal of disillusionment with legislation as a solution today in the United States Senate.” He said, “One senator said to me just this last week, ‘You know, as we pass these laws, not only does it not solve the problems, our legislation actually seems to make the problems worse.’”

So we’ve had a turning away from that in recent times. A generation or so before, people were looking to science and technology to be the savior. And it’s true that science has brought a certain measure of prosperity, raised the standard of living for some people, at least in some nations of the world. But it’s wrong to look to science as a savior. It’s significant, I think, that when people in America are polled today—that is, people in the country that have been most blessed by scientific advance—the number one fear of people in our country in our time is that technology is some day going to blow us all off the face of the planet. People are afraid of the very thing that is supposed to provide blessing.

The most recent of these fascinations is the Human Potential Movement. People in past years have looked outward to see a solution in politics, on the one hand, or science, on the other. They’re disillusioned with that. So they’ve begun to look inward. They’ve said, “Well, the solution to our problems must be found somehow by rediscovering ourselves.” So we have Mind Dynamics, and EST, and Life Spring. And we have books, and all those organizations. We have the whole health movement, video tapes, and audio tapes, and seminars, and all the things that are supposed to help us find ourselves, and be healthy, and well-adjusted, and peaceful, and saved.

And yet, there’s a tremendous amount of disillusionment even there. The reason, of course, is that our problems can’t be solved, humanly speaking. Our problem is sin. Sin is something that permeates everything that we are and everything that we do. And so when we try to solve things humanly, what we do inevitably is bring our problem with us. You see, the problem with the “me-first” philosophy is that “me” is the problem. We remember the wise words of that great comic strip sage, Pogo, who said on one occasion, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Study Questions

How did the ancient world sometimes conceive of the appearance of saviors?
What saviors do people look to in our modern world?

Application

Key Point: Here, in the birth of Jesus, we have One who was not merely a human savior, not merely one who brings peace in human terms, but a divine Savior who, because He is divine, is able to bring the peace that all of us desire and our hearts need.

Prayer: We live in a world that is marked by upheaval, tension, uncertainty, and fear. And as a result, some people are more interested in Christianity than they otherwise would be. Pray for opportunities to talk with people about the need for a Savior.

For Further Study: Download and listen for free to James Boice’s message, “The Most Joyful of the Carols.” (Discount will be applied at checkout.)

https://www.thinkandactbiblically.org/tuesday-the-birth-of-the-savior/

The Marytdom of the Scottish Covenanter Hugh M’Kail | Place for Truth

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On December 22^nd, 1666, the Market-Cross of Edinburgh was filled with a crowd of teary-eyed spectators. The cause of their lament was the young man of twenty-six-years-of-age who was being hung from the gallows before them. His name was Hugh M’Kail, a minister of the gospel, and Scottish Covenanter.

Hugh M’Kail bore all the markings of a promising ministry. In 1661, he was ordained at age twenty to gospel ministry, and licensed by the Presbytery of Edinburgh. He was, evidently, well-respected, well-learned, and well-loved by the people of Scotland. He was known to be a man of great prayer, who would spend one day each week fasting as he prayed for the Church at large, and God’s Kirk in Scotland especially.

As a Presbyterian and Covenanter, his public ministry coincided with a time of great persecution for those who practiced such things. With their adoption of Presbyterian church government, alongside a simplified worship holding to what is known as the Regulative Principle (the belief that we must worship God only as He has explicitly commanded within His Word), and their practice of extemporaneous prayers (a practice at odds with the Church of England’s own practice of having ministers pray from the Book of Common Prayer), men like M’Kail not only watched their own brothers in ministry persecuted and martyred for practicing their faith, but felt the very real cross-hairs of their enemies aimed at their heads.

M’Kail felt the very real burden of ministering faithfully in an age where faithfulness could get one quickly ejected from their pulpits, or worse. In fact, in 1640, Hugh’s father, Matthew, was forced out of his own pulpit in Bothwell. Persecution was not so much a matter of if, but when.

The Boldness of M’Kail

Despite the danger, M’Kail demonstrated that gospel boldness peculiar to genuine ministers of Christ during times of great persecution. On September 1^st, 1662, he would preach his final public sermon in the High Kirk of Edinburgh on the text of Song of Songs 1:7: “Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?”

Though the text may seem to have had little consequence to the governing authorities of M’Kail’s day, he made several comments in the sermon that would see him accused of rebellion. Concerning the severe persecution that the Covenanters and Scottish Kirk had been experiencing, M’Kail preached “that the Church and people of God had been persecuted, both by a Pharaoh upon the throne, a Haman in the state, and a Judas in the Church.”[1] Though M’Kail did not name any governing authority within this sermon as a Pharaoh, Haman, or Judas, this was nonetheless enough to earn a charge of treason and rebellion.

M’Kail managed to escape immediate arrest and would take shelter first at his father’s home, before eventually traveling away from his homeland to continue the work of his studies. But eventually, he would return home, and he would find his enemies awaiting him with chains.

The Trial of M’Kail

His trial began on December 4^th, 1666. Though he had not actually committed any crime of treason or rebellion, the Council appeared to have determined to have him tortured and hung before he had ever had opportunity to stand before them. In fact, when M’Kail failed to produce any testimony against himself, swearing that he had confessed to the Council all he knew (which was not enough to bring about any sort of truly just conviction), the Council ordered the executioner to bring about a confession by way of “the boot,” which was a form of torture. Charles McCrie described the torture in this way:

the boot… being a cylinder of wood or iron into which the leg was forced, and wooden wedges then driven in with blows from a hammer or mallet. So excruciating were the agonies of the victims and so piercing their shrieks that even hardened officials hastened out of the room when these engines of torture were brought in, and it was found necessary to pass an order of Council that members keep their seats while “the question” was being thus “put.”[2]

Despite the agonizing torture put to M’Kail, his story did not change, and he continued to swear that he had nothing more to share and had hidden no details from the Council. Nonetheless, less than a week later, on December 10^th, he and several others were indicted on charges of treason. He was to appear before the Council and the Justices on December 12^th, but the brutal torture he had endured had thrown him into sickness and a fever, which made his appearance impossible. He requested, on December 11^th, to be given more time, as the fever had incapacitated him—not to mention the fact that his leg had been crushed by the executioner as they attempted to extract a confession of treason that did not exist, and walking was not something that would come easy to him.

Not to be deterred, and despite several doctors attesting to the fact that M’Kail was now quite ill, the Council would delay no longer and ordered M’Kail to appear before them on December 18^th. Perhaps it was to their astonishment that when the young minister did appear, he took the opportunity to defend his beliefs. It was reported that he said:

That he was not ashamed to avow that he was one of that afflicted and persecuted party and persuasion called Presbyterian. Then he spoke of the ties and engagements that were upon the land to God; and having commended the institution, dignity, and blessing of Presbyterian government, he said, that the last words of the National Covenant had always great weight upon his spirit.[3]

The Justices asked him to not speak of his religious persuasions, for he was not being charged for his beliefs, but for treason. M’Kail, knowing better, insisted that he had done so by manner of conviction, knowing that it would be utterly sinful to remain silent and so fail to speak of his Savior now that he was standing beneath the shadow of death.

No real evidence could be produced against him, but the sentence from the Jury came all the same: M’Kail would be hung on December 22^nd.

The young man’s response? “O how good news; to be within four days’ journey to enjoy the sight of Jesus Christ!”[4]

The Martyrdom of M’Kail

Hugh M’Kail’s faith carried him through his trial and subsequent hanging. Not only did he speak of the glory of seeing Christ face to face, but he willingly accepted the will of the Lord, saying: “’The Lord giveth life, and the Lord taketh, blessed be the name of the Lord.’” And, “Though men cut us off, God will receive us; trust in God; trust in God.”[5]

He would spend his remaining hours on earth in both prayer and conversation with other Christians. In fact, on the last evening of his life, it was reported that he spent his time preaching and comforting the saints by answering various questions. Here, we quote from Crookshank’s History at length to see both the questions posed and the young Covenanter’s answers:

As, first, ‘How should he, going from the Tolbooth, through a multitude of gazing people and guards of soldiers, to a scaffold and gibbet, overcome the impression of all these?” To which he answered: 1. ‘By conceiving a deeper impression of a multitude of angels, who are also onlookers; according to that, we are a gazing-stock to the world, angels and men; for the angels, rejoicing at our good confession, are present to con. vey and carry our souls, as the soul of Lazarus, into Abraham’s bosom; not to receive them, for that is Jesus Christ’s work alone, who will welcome them to heaven himself, with the songs of angels and blessed spirits. But the angels are ministering spirits, always ready to serve and strengthen all dying believers. 2. As Stephen saw the heavens opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, who then said, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,’ so, said he, do I believe that Jesus Christ is also ready to receive his dying sufferers.

Second. He inquired, ‘what is the way for us to conceive of heaven, who are hastening to it, since the word says, ‘eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,’ &c. To this he answered,一

‘the Scriptures help us these two ways: 1. By way of similitude, as Rev. xxi. when heaven is held forth by a representation of a glorious city there described; and in the same place it is also termed the bride; but O how unlike are these two, a bride and a city? which shows the insufficiency and vast disproportion of all such similitudes; and therefore he added, 2. That the Scripture furnisheth yet a more excellent way to conceive of heaven, viz., by conceiving the love of Christ to us, even the breadth, and length, the depth, height, and immenseness of that love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, and which is also the highest and sweetest motive of praise, ‘unto him that loved us,’ &c. and by holding forth the love of the saints to Christ, and teaching us to love him in sincerity, which is the very joy and exultation of heaven, Rev. v. 12. ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.’ And no other thing but the soul breathing forth love to Jesus Christ, can rightly apprehend the joys of heaven.’[6]

Entering the gallows and having the noose placed around his neck, it was reported that he was the very image of perfect Christian peace. In those final moments, to the crowd of spectators, he would preach both his dedication to the Lord, and—despite charges of treason—true loyalty to the King, for whom he had been diligent in prayer:

Although I be judged and condemned as a rebel amongst men, yet I hope, even in order to this action, to be accepted as loyal before God. Nay, there can be no greater act of loyality to the king, as the times now go, than for every man to do his utmost for the extirpation of that abominable plant, prelacy, which is the bane of the throne and of the country, which if it be not done, the throne shall never be established in righteousness, until these wicked be removed from before it. Sure I am, these, who are now condemned as rebels against him, are such as have spent much time in prayer for him, and do more sincerely wish his standing, and have endeavoured it more by this late action, so much condemned, than the Prelates by condemning them to death.[7]

Finally, he assured the tearful crowd, “friends and fellow-sufferers, every step of this ladder is a degree nearer heaven.”[8]

Thus, on December 22^nd, 1666, Hugh M’Kail’s body fell from the gallows, his life extinguished with a noose, but his spirit sent to the presence of his Savior, Jesus Christ.

What Can We Learn from M’Kail?

This young martyr teaches us, first, the joy of knowing Christ. With a broken leg and a noose tied around his neck, he went joyfully to his death because he knew that Christ would appear before him as he took his final breath. He knew that his Redeemer lives, and that though he would close his eyes in death that cold December day, he would be embraced warmly by His Savior. Then, one day, he would once more stand upon the earth, physically raised, alongside Christ.

If Christ is our great treasure, as He was (and is) M’Kail’s, we can have this same joy, no matter what trials, hardships, or persecutions we may face.

Second, M’Kail teaches us the importance of facing our adversaries with gospel clarity, theological convictions, and faithful boldness. It is unsurprising when we, as Christians, find ourselves hated and despised by the world. It is no shock to hear slander hurled at us. M’Kail, evidently, had imagined that martyrdom was very much possible when he entered ministry within the Presbyterian Kirk. He did it, anyway. He knew, when he preached on September 1st, 1662, that speaking of the Kirk’s persecution as coming from the hands of Pharaohs, Hamans, and Judases was the sort of thing that could put him on the gallows before a crowd of spectators. He did it anyway. He knew that, standing before a Council in December of 1666, defending his Covenanter convictions would do little to earn favor with the authorities. He did it anyway.

The point here is that M’Kail had courage because he knew Christ and His gospel, and our enemies appear quite small when the sovereign power of God is in view. As Christ said, “fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28).

Third, M’Kail demonstrates the peace and hope that Christ has secured for the Christian, even when facing death. The young man had been threatened, tortured, and stood before a crowd of onlookers who would carefully watch him as he struggled in his final moments with noose around his neck. But his final words were pure gospel, pure hope, and pure peace.

Only God knows what M’Kail may have accomplished if he had been given another forty years of public ministry. But what he did accomplish was nothing short of miraculous, for by facing death with courage and hope, he sowed seeds of the gospel to everyone in the crowd that day. Who is to say what fruit was borne from his martyrdom? Only God knows. So, we recall the words of Jesus once more: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (Jn. 12:24).

[1] The Reformed Presbyterian Vol. 3, ed. by Rev. R. M. Roney, (Newburgh: J.D. Spalding, 1839), 150. According to an editor’s note, this entire section appears to have been taken from another work, Crookshank’s History of the state and sufferings of the Church of Scotland, from the Reformation to the Revolution.

[2] Charles McCrie, The Free Church of Scotland: Her Ancestry, Her Claims, and Her Conflicts (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1893), 50.

[3] The Reformed Presbyterian Vol. 3, ed. by Rev. R. M. Roney, 151.

[4] Ibid., 152.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid., 152-53.

[7] Ibid., 153-54.

[8] Ibid., 154.

The Marytdom of the Scottish Covenanter Hugh M’Kail

Showing and sharing the Messiah | Morning Studies

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Image from https://www.reformationscotland.org/2025/12/18/showing-and-sharing-the-messiah/

Posted at Reformation Scotland:

Although the birth of Jesus was the turning-point of history it was still only an early step on the path He was purposefully taking towards His atoning death and glorious resurrection. With only a few exceptions, people didn’t recognise Him at His birth or throughout His childhood. It was not until His public ministry began, in His adulthood, that the good news started ringing out, “We have found the Messiah!” Two men chatting with John had their attention caught when Jesus was walking away from them. In the following updated extract, George Hutcheson takes us through John’s concern to point out the Lamb of God, the disciples’ longing to know Christ better, and then the impulse in every believer to bring others to know the Lord too.

Preachers must preach Christ

When Christ comes by, John points him out as the true sacrifice for sin, to the two disciples he was with (i.e., those who had embraced his doctrine, and were more than ordinary hearers). “John stood, and two of his disciples. And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God” (vv.35–36).

As Christ does not fail to cast opportunities of well-doing in His servants’ way, so they ought to neglect no occasion of doing good, and of leading people to Christ. John had given testimony to Him the previous day, and today, as He walks by them, now going away, John will preach Him and point Him out, even to only two disciples.

Christ’s faithful servants will make conscience to exalt Him, and to lead people to Him, and not to themselves. Not only in public, where many may observe, but even in their most private conversations, it will be their care that those who respect them most would be led away from them to Christ.

A sight of Christ is not only an opportunity but a notable help to enable ministers to preach and point Him out to others. As John was looking on Jesus as He walked, he is encouraged to commend Him, and likewise a sight and enjoyment of His spiritual presence will notably equip ministers to speak of Him.

It is the duty of faithful ministers to be much in preaching Christ crucified, and pointing Him out as the only propitiatory sacrifice for sin. That is why John again points Him out in this way, “Behold the Lamb of God!” This is both a chief point of Christian knowledge, and a powerful means of conversion.

Continue here…

https://rchstudies.christian-heritage-news.com/2025/12/showing-and-sharing-messiah.html

Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 28, Resurrection of central importance | Elizabeth Prata

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Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 28, Resurrection of central importance

By Elizabeth Prata

We are coming toward the end of our look at the life of Jesus through scripture. The first section of His life was seen through verses focused on prophecy, arrival, and early life.

The next section of verses looked at Him as the Son, second person of the Trinity.

We proceeded into looking at Jesus as the Son’s preeminence, His works, and His ministry. Under ministry & works, I chose verses showing His attributes and aspects of being servant, teacher, shepherd, intercessor, and compassionate healer; and His attributes of omniscience, having all authority and power, and sinlessness.

Now it’s the last section. We’ll look at His resurrection, ascension, and prophesied return. When we finish, we will be looking at the New Year with all that entails, the feeling of freshness, hope, optimism for a new start. And when we finish the last verse, we will be looking through the lens of scripture at the hope and optimism of His return and that all will be made new.

On to today’s picture verse. He came to die. That was the point of His life. Death. He put death to death so those who repent and believe in Him may live. Note Paul’s statement “of first importance”.

December 23 Evening Verse of the Day

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PURSUING THE PRIZE REQUIRES A PROPER MOTIVATION

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (3:14)

As noted earlier, this verse is the heart of the passage. The present tense verb translated I press on denotes Paul’s continuous effort to pursue the “impossible dream” and defeat “the unbeatable foe.” The root meaning of the preposition kata (toward) is “down.” Paul again expressed his single-minded focus, saying, “I continually bear down on the goal (skopos; “a mark on which to fix one’s eyes”).”
That prize was what motivated him to run to win (1 Cor. 9:24). Believers will not receive the prize (Christlikeness, with all its eternal benefits) until the upward (lit. “above,” denoting both the source of the call and to where it leads) call of God in Christ Jesus ushers them into God’s glorious presence in heaven. As noted above, perfection is not attainable in this life. The finish line is the threshold of heaven, where the rewards will be handed out (cf. Matt. 5:12; Luke 6:23; 1 Cor. 3:12–15). It is not until Christ “appears, [that] we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2).
Like a runner triumphantly pumping his fist in the air as he approaches the finish line, Paul declared at the end of his life, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day” (2 Tim. 4:7–8). Only “in the future” in heaven would Paul receive “the crown of righteousness” (Christ’s righteousness perfected in him); only then would he receive the prize which he so diligently pursued.

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2001). Philippians (pp. 248–249). Moody Press.

Striving for the Living Christ

Philippians 3:13–14

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Several years ago an Englishman named C. Northcote Parkinson wrote a humorous book on the functioning of corporations called Parkinson’s Law. One chapter in the book set about to analyze the disease that has affected a corporation in which, according to Parkinson, “the higher officials are plodding and dull, those less senior are active only in intrigue against each other, and the junior men are frustrated or frivolous.” The disease goes through stages, he says, from the point at which a person appears in the organization’s hierarchy who combines in himself “a high concentration of incompetence and jealousy,” to the point at which the whole corporation is characterized by smugness and apathy. At this point little is attempted and nothing is achieved. Parkinson calls the disease injelititis, and he defines it as induced inferiority or paralysis. In our terms it is complacency or the absence of the urge to shoot high.
I wondered as I read the book if something of the sort is not found in the lives of many Christians. In this case, of course, it would be a spiritual smugness or spiritual apathy. It would be seen most clearly in complacency regarding spiritual things. I think spiritual injelititis is found widely. It may be found in you. Have you lost your vision for God’s future blessing on your life? Or have you ceased to work hard in his service? If so, you have caught the disease, and the words of our text would be a rousing challenge to your apathy.
Paul writes about his goals, setting himself as an example: “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13–14). Paul was not complacent, and we shouldn’t be either. Instead of smugness Paul knew a sanctified ambition, and he threw himself eagerly into the race that God had set before him.
Paul says that he had learned to press ahead in three ways. First, he forgets those things that are behind. Second, he looks forward to those things that are ahead. Third, he presses on toward the mark of the prize of God’s calling. In Paul’s mind there was a sanctified forgetting, a sanctified looking ahead, and a sanctified striving for that to which God had called him.

Forgetting the Past

In the first place, Paul says that he forgets those things that are behind. What are they? Well, he certainly did not forget his knowledge of the Bible and Christian doctrine; the letter he had just written proves that. Some of the greatest truths of the Christian faith are given in this very chapter. Moreover, he certainly did not forget God’s grace and God’s great mercies, because he has been talking about them throughout the letter. He knew that all he had to value in his life came through the grace of God manifested in Jesus Christ.
What is the nature of this forgetting then? It is the kind of forgetting that occurs when we cease to let things that are in the past overshadow the present, that lets the past be past, both the good and the bad, and that constantly looks forward to the work that God still has for us.
There is an illustration of the opposite of this attitude in the Old Testament. When God led the people of Israel out of Egypt toward the Promised Land, he provided everything that they needed for their journey. They had shade by day and light by night. They had water to drink and manna to eat. The time came, however, when the people ceased to look forward to the land that God was giving them and instead looked back to their life in Egypt. They said, “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” (Num. 11:5–6). The people of Israel began to hunger for these things, and God taught them a great lesson by giving them the things they asked for. He gave them quail until they grew sick of it. The point of the illustration, however, is that they began to look back and failed to trust God for their present and future blessings.
This does not mean, of course, that we are not to be thankful for past blessings. If we had been among the people of Israel when they were in Egypt and we had been able to buy the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic, it would have been quite proper to thank God for them, especially if we had been slaves. It would have been proper to remember years later how gracious God had been. But it would have been entirely wrong to long for these things after God had begun to lead us into new paths and had set new and greater blessings before us.
Unfortunately there are many leeks-and-garlic Christians among us. You are one if you are constantly looking to the past. If your Christian testimony is entirely taken up with what God did for you thirty or forty years ago, or if you are constantly talking about the good old days when God’s blessing on your life seemed great, then you are looking to the past. You can never do that and move forward. One of my good friends describes old age as the point in life when a person ceases to look forward and always looks backward. If that is accurate, then there are certainly a lot of old Christians—and I do not mean in terms of their years. They are living a leeks-and-garlic type of Christianity, and Paul warns against it. He would say, “Look! Past blessings are fine. We have received them from God’s hands, and we should be thankful for them. We rejoice in everything that he has done in our lives. But now we must let those things lie in the past and move forward.” There can be no progress without this proper forgetting.

Reaching Forward

The second thing that Paul claims to have done is to have fixed his gaze on the many things that God would yet be doing. He speaks of himself as “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” (Phil. 3:13). Someone once asked David Livingstone when he was back in England briefly after having worked for many years in Africa, “Well, Dr. Livingstone, where are you ready to go now?” Livingstone answered, “I am ready to go anywhere, provided it be forward.” That is what Paul would have said. Paul’s sense of the Lord’s leading was always linked to his awareness of open doors. Paul expected the Lord to open doors, and when he did, Paul went through them instantly. Through those doors Paul was constantly striving toward those things that were ahead.
It is precisely at this point that these verses are often misunderstood. When verse 14 speaks of the “goal” and the “prize” of God’s high calling, most readers think of a prize received in heaven, and then interpret verse 13 as a description of Paul’s striving for a heavenly reward. This is not the true meaning of the verses. It is true that the prize is probably a prize received in heaven. But the prize is achieved, as in a long race, not by pressing toward the prize itself but by pressing on to one mark after another along the racecourse of the Christian life. Actually, Paul says that he is striving to achieve this aspect of his calling.
This is evident in the text in two ways. First, verse 14 speaks of the “heavenward” calling of God in Christ Jesus. This throws the emphasis of the verse upon the ascent. Second, Paul mentions God’s “call.” In the New Testament when this word is used of a Christian it almost always refers to God’s calling to be conformed day by day to the image of Jesus Christ. That, too, is a reference to the present.
Do we run our race like that as Christians? We can err in two ways in the running of the Christian life. We can err by looking only at the past; this is sin, for it is a lack of faith in God’s future blessing. But we can also err by looking only at so distant a future that we miss the more immediate blessings that God has in store for this life.
Instead of either of these, we should run our race striving toward each new task before us. We should awake in the morning to say, “Lord, here is a new day that you have given me. I know that there are new things to be done and new lessons to be learned. Help me to use this day as well as I possibly can—to raise my children properly, to do well at my job, to help my neighbor.” And when we go to bed that night we can pray, “Lord, I have not done anything today as well as I should have, and I missed many of your blessings. But thank you for being with me. Help me now to place today’s experiences behind and rest well so that I may serve you better tomorrow.” God will do it, for he is anxious to lead us onward in our experience and our service for him.

Spiritual Battles

There is a third point to Paul’s statement in these verses. The life Paul wishes to live involves not only a forgetting of the past and looking forward to the things that lie ahead. It also involves a striving for these things. This involves perseverance, discipline, and concentration. Do you concentrate on the Christian life, or is your mind filled with the things of this world? Do you fix your mind on the things God has for you, or do the temporary, passing, and insignificant things of this world crowd out the lasting, eternal things?
If we are really to engage in that great struggle for God’s best that Paul is speaking about, we must also be prepared for vigorous spiritual conflict. For our striving is not only against ourselves or our circumstances but against the spiritual forces of this world that seek to hinder us. Paul calls them principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world.
Satan’s attacks are directed against Jesus Christ, and he does not care much about a believer who is far away from his Lord. If you want an easy time as a Christian, all you have to do is to get far away from Jesus Christ—move away to the periphery of the battle. Satan is not going to bother you much out there because that is where he wants you. However, if you draw close to the Lord, as Paul wished to do, and join with him in the battle, then Satan’s arrows will start coming at you too. The battle will be hard and you will find it necessary to use God’s weapons for the conflict.
All too often Christians arm themselves with the weapons of the world instead of with God’s armor. In Ephesians 6 Paul speaks of God’s weapons as truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and the Word of God. But how often do believers prefer the world’s armor: wisdom, self-confidence, financial security, success, and popularity! This is not the armor that God has prepared for his warriors.
The first part is truth, for Paul writes, “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist” (Eph. 6:14). Pilate asked Jesus about the truth, but he did not wait for an answer. If he had, he would have learned that Christ is the truth and that God’s Word is truth (John 14:6; 17:17). If we are to stand fast as Christians, we must first be armed with the truth about Christ and with the great, energizing principles of God’s Word.
We are also to have on the breastplate of righteousness. This is not the righteousness with which we are clothed by God when we believe in Jesus Christ. It is not the divine righteousness that Paul is talking about here. If we are believers in Christ, we already have that righteousness and there is no need to admonish the Christian to put it on. The righteousness mentioned here is a practical righteousness that is meant to characterize the life of the individual. Christians are to live holy lives and must not allow their conduct to damage their testimony.
Then too we are to have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. This means that we are to have mastered the heart of the gospel of God’s grace to humans in Jesus Christ and to be ready to explain it to others. In the same way, Peter admonished his readers to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).
We are also to take the shield of faith. This is not the faith we exercised in believing in Jesus Christ originally, but a present faith that does not doubt in the midst of God’s current dealing with us. Does it seem to you that events have turned against you? Do you see what appear to be uncontrollable setbacks in your work or in your relationships to other people? That is where the shield of faith must be raised against all attacks of Satan. You must learn to say of God as Job did, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15).
There is also the helmet of salvation. How wonderful to know that the center of our being is protected by the great and eternal salvation that God has worked out for us!
Finally, we are to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. A special Greek word is used for the term “word” in verse 17. It gives the verse a slightly different meaning from the previous admonition in verse 14 to be armed with the truth. This word is not the normal Greek noun logos, which refers to the Word of God in its entirety. It is the more restrictive word hrema, which really means “a saying.” Paul is saying that we are to be armed with specific sayings of Scripture, specific verses, and that we are to be able to draw on them in every circumstance and in every spiritual engagement.
As we engage in the battles of the Christian life that result from our striving for the victories that God sets before us, we can take confidence in the fact that the victory of Jesus Christ has already guaranteed the outcome. By his death and resurrection Jesus Christ decisively defeated Satan and the forces of darkness, and we now advance under his banner to enforce his conquest. We are to wear his weapons. As we go we are to echo Paul’s challenge: “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13–14).

Boice, J. M. (2000). Philippians: an expositional commentary (pp. 196–201). Baker Books.

God Finished His Work | VCY

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God Finished His Work

The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. (Psalm 138:8)

He who has begun will carry on the work which is being wrought within my soul. The Lord is concerned about everything that concerns me. All that is now good, but not perfect, the Lord will watch over, preserve, and carry out to completion. This is a great comfort. I could not perfect the work of grace myself. Of that I am quite sure, for I fail every day and have only held on so long as I have because the Lord has helped me. If the Lord were to leave me, all my past experience would go for nothing, and I should perish from the way. But the Lord will continue to bless me. He will perfect my faith, my love, my character, my lifework. He will do this because He has begun a work in me. He gave me the concern I feel, and, in a measure, He has fulfilled my gracious aspirations, He never leaves a work unfinished; this would not be for His glory, nor would it be like Him. He knows how to accomplish His gracious design, and though my own evil nature and the world and the devil all conspire to hinder Him, I do not doubt His promise. He will perfect that which concerneth me, and I will praise Him forever. Lord, let Thy gracious work make some advance this day!

Gracious Dealing | VCY

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Gracious Dealing

And the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest. (Deuteronomy 15:18)

An Israelitish master was to give his bondservant liberty in due time, and when he left his service he was to start him in life with a liberal portion, This was to be done heartily and cheerfully, and then the Lord promised to bless the generous act. The spirit of this precept, and, indeed, the whole law of Christ, binds us to treat people well. We ought to remember how the Lord has dealt with us, and that this renders it absolutely needful that we should deal graciously with others, It becomes those to be generous who are the children of a gracious God. How can we expect our great Master to bless us in our business if we oppress those who serve us?

What a benediction is here set before the liberal mind! To be blessed in all that we do is to be blessed indeed. The Lord will send us this partly in prosperity, partly in content of mind, and partly in a sense of His favor, which is the best of all blessings. He can make us feel that we are under His special care and are surrounded by His peculiar love. This makes this earthly life a joyous prelude to the life to come. God’s blessing is more than a fortune. It maketh rich and addeth no sorrow therewith.

The Shepherds’ Gospel | Michelle Lesley

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The Shepherds’ Gospel

Originally published December 22, 2015

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.¹²And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

¹⁵When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. ¹⁷And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. ¹⁸And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.Luke 2:8-20

The Christmas story just wouldn’t be the same without the shepherds, would it? Just a bunch of blue collar guys out doing their jobs one night, when God stepped in and gave them a story they’d be telling for the rest of their lives. We don’t know their names or how many of them there were, but they’re more than just pieces of our nativity sets. They’re a picture of the gospel.

Just a bunch of blue collar guys out doing their jobs one night, when God stepped in and gave them a story they’d be telling for the rest of their lives.Tweet

Called Out of Darkness Into Light

The shepherds had no idea God would reveal His Son to them that night. They were just going about their lives, day in and day out, oblivious, until God intervened and brought them the good news of Christ. In a similar way, the Bible says that we walk through life day after day, dead in our trespasses and sins, until that glorious moment when God draws us to Himself, opens our eyes to the gospel, and makes us alive in Christ.

The Clean for the Unclean

The nature of the job put shepherds frequently in contact with the remains of dead animals and insects, rendering them often, if not nearly perpetually, ceremonially unclean according to Mosaic law. While unclean, they were separated from fellowship with God. They were not allowed to enter the temple to worship until they had offered a lamb to atone for their sin. And God chose these unclean men – guilty under the law – to be the first to meet His perfectly clean and spotless Lamb who would offer Himself to make the final atoning sacrifice for their sin, and ours. Through Christ, we are no longer separated from God by our sin and guilt.

God chose these unclean men – guilty under the law – to be the first to meet His perfectly clean and spotless Lamb who would offer Himself to make the final atoning sacrifice for their sin, and ours.Tweet

Given, Not Earned

Because the shepherds had no way of knowing Christ would suddenly be revealed to them, there was nothing they could do to prepare for His coming or make themselves worthy of Him. God met them right where they were – dirty, smelly, and lower class – and brought them to Christ. Not because they were good people or had earned this honor with commendable deeds, but for God’s own reasons and His own glory.

There’s nothing we can do to earn our salvation either. None of us are righteous, all of our so called “good deeds” are like filthy rags, and it’s impossible for us to please God in any way before coming to faith in Christ. Jesus meets us right where we are – dirty, smelly, and in the middle of our sin – and saves us. Not because we’re worthy, but for God’s own reasons and His own glory.

Faithful Messengers for God’s Glory

The angel knew God personally and faithfully declared His word to the shepherds for God’s glory. Those of us who know Christ must faithfully proclaim the gospel, from the Word of God, to others. Proclaiming the good news of Christ brings glory to God.

Hear, Believe, Respond

When the shepherds heard the message of Christ, they immediately believed it and responded by coming to Him. In the same way, when we hear the good news of the gospel, Christ calls us to repent of our sin, believe unto salvation, and follow Him.

Do Tell

Once the shepherds had met Christ face to face, they couldn’t keep it to themselves. With great joy, they went out and told others about Him. Some must have believed them. Others, perhaps not. But the news they spread made an impact on everyone who heard it. If only we would share the good news of Christ far and wide as the shepherds did! Some will believe. Some won’t. But God’s word always impacts people and accomplishes His purposes.

Once the shepherds had met Christ face to face, they couldn’t keep it to themselves. With great joy, they went out and told others about Him.Tweet

O Worship the King

How could the shepherds help but worship, praising and glorifying God, for all they had seen and heard and all God had done for them? And how can we, after all we have seen and heard from God’s Word, and all He has done for us, help but worship, praise, and glorify our King?

Just a crew of rag tag shepherds tending the sheep that would be sacrificed in the temple. But not for long. A new Shepherd had been born. The Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

7 timeless truths about the incarnation of Christ | Christian Post

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By Mark Creech, Op-ed Contributor Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Christmas is so familiar that it is easy to miss how utterly unlike every other religious claim it truly is. The story is renowned throughout the world: a child in a manger, angels, shepherds, and songs of peace. Yet beneath these familiar scenes lies a declaration so radical that it reshapes how we understand God, humanity, and salvation itself.

Christianity does not begin with human beings reaching upward toward the divine. It starts with God coming down — entering history, taking on human flesh, and making Himself known in a way no philosophy, no moral system, and no religious speculation ever could. In the incarnation of Christ, God does not merely speak; He demonstrates. He does not remain distant; He draws near. He does not reveal ideas about Himself; He reveals Himself.

The birth of Jesus Christ is not simply the opening chapter of His earthly life. It is foundational to the Christian faith. Everything we believe about who God is, how He rescues and redeems, and what He requires of us rests upon this astonishing truth: God has entered the human story.

To properly reflect on Christmas, then, is to move beyond sentiment and recover the wonder of it. The Incarnation reveals the heart of God, the nature of true greatness, and the sure hope of salvation anchored in time. The following seven timeless truths invite us to look again, carefully and reverently, at the mystery of how God robed Himself with humanity, and rediscover why this moment remains the most consequential event the world has ever known.

1. The incarnation is God’s final and full self-revelation

Human beings have always asked the same essential question: What is God like?

Creation shows us His power, conscience whispers of His moral law, and history records humanity’s countless attempts to imagine, define, and explain the divine. Yet Scripture is clear that none of these, on their own, can bring us to a true knowledge of God. The world does not know God through human wisdom alone. If God is to be known rightly, He must make Himself known (1 Cor. 1:21).

That is precisely what happens in the incarnation.

In the incarnation, God reveals Himself. We cannot, by searching, climb our way up to God. The more we attempt to comprehend Him through human intellect only, the more bewildered we become. In the birth of Christ, God does not send us a distant image of Himself; He becomes a human being. He comes to us Himself, stooping to our level so that finite minds might truly know what they need to know about the infinite.

Jesus Christ does not merely reflect God; He is God. In Him, God’s character is not described in abstractions but displayed in a real person’s life. His compassion toward the broken, His patience with the slow to believe, His severity toward hypocrisy, His tenderness toward the weak, and His willingness to suffer rather than condemn are not simply admirable virtues — they are a revelation of the very character of God Himself. Christ is the radiance of God’s glory, and the exact imprint of His nature (Heb. 1:3). To see Christ is to encounter God as He truly is.

2.The incarnation was eternally intended, not simply born of circumstance

It is easy to assume that the incarnation came about because history reached a breaking point — that Christ entered the world only after human sin and suffering made divine intervention necessary. Read this way, Christmas can appear to be a response to circumstance, a gracious remedy applied once things had gone terribly wrong.

Scripture presents a far deeper and more comforting truth.

The coming of Christ was not God’s afterthought, nor was it simply born of historical circumstance. The Bible teaches that long before the world was ever made, God purposed to redeem a people through His Son. This does not mean that sin was insignificant or that evil was somehow excusable. The Fall was real, tragic, and devastating. Nor does it mean that God was the author of humanity’s great fall. Human rebellion mattered, and it mattered profoundly. Yet it did not take God by surprise, nor did it force His hand.

The New Testament speaks of Christ as foreknown before the foundation of the world and revealed in time for our sake (1 Pet. 1:20). This language reaches into eternity past — before Bethlehem and before the Garden of Eden — placing the incarnation within the eternal counsel of God. History provided the setting, but eternity supplied the purpose. The Incarnation did not arise merely because circumstances demanded it, but because divine love had already determined it.

That God would set His love upon sinners before they ever existed, and resolve, even then, to come for them Himself, is a wonder beyond human reckoning.

Christmas marks the moment when what was purposed in eternity entered time. The child in the manger stands as a living testimony that God’s grace was not improvised and redemption was not merely a reaction to human failure. What unfolded in history was the outworking of a design established before the world began. It united God and humanity in the person of Jesus Christ.

The concept stretches the limits of human understanding. Yet it is true.

3. The incarnation unites God and man without confusing either

When God’s eternal purpose entered time, it did not do so as an idea, a symbol, or a temporary appearance. The incarnation is how God did more than draw near to the world; it is God’s full union with humanity in Jesus Christ.

This union is without parallel. In Christ, God does not cease to be God, and humanity is not absorbed into divinity. Jesus is not half God and half man, nor is He God merely appearing in human form. He is entirely God and fully man — two natures united in one person.

This distinction is not a matter of theological precision alone; it is essential to salvation itself. Only one who is truly God can reveal God perfectly, forgive sin authoritatively, and conquer death decisively. At the same time, only one who is truly human can obey God’s law perfectly in our stead and pay the penalty for our sins — death — in our place. Scripture holds both truths together without hesitation: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same” (Heb. 2:14). If Christ is less than God, He cannot save. If He is less than man, He cannot represent us.

Daniel Webster once expressed the proper posture toward this mystery. When asked whether he truly understood how Jesus could be both fully God and fully man at the same time, Webster replied that he did not. If he could fully comprehend Christ, he reasoned, Christ would be no greater than himself. It was precisely because Christ’s nature surpassed his understanding that Webster knew he needed Him. A savior who can be fully explained would be no savior at all.

In Jesus Christ, Heaven and earth are not merely reconciled; they are joined. He is the one mediator between God and men (1 Tim. 2:5), the living union of divine holiness and human weakness. Because this union is real and enduring, redemption is not a temporary solution but an eternally secure one for all who believe.

4. The incarnation redefines the nature of true greatness

In the ancient world, the deification of rulers, heroes, or philosophers was almost always a movement upward. Powerful men were declared divine only after demonstrating dominance through conquest, political authority, military victory, or cultural influence. Egyptian pharaohs, Roman emperors, and mythic heroes like Hercules were exalted because they already stood above others. Deification functioned as political propaganda, reinforcing authority, legitimizing rules, and demanding submission.

The incarnation of Christ moves in the opposite direction entirely.

Christianity does not proclaim that an extraordinary man was elevated to divine status. It proclaims that the eternal Son of God descended into human weakness. The movement is not man rising to godhood, but God stooping into humanity. This reversal stands at the very heart of the Christian faith and redefines greatness at its most fundamental level.

Philippians 2:6–8 captures this with devastating clarity. It tells us that Christ did not seek equality with God, which He already possessed. Instead, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and humbled Himself unto death, even the death of the Cross. Nothing like this exists in the religious imagination of the ancient world.

Where pagan deification glorified strength, the incarnation sanctifies weakness. Where emperors claimed divinity to rule, Christ laid aside His glory to serve. Where myths celebrated ascent, the gospel proclaims descent. Where others demanded sacrifice, Christ became the sacrifice.

The early Christians did not invent Christ’s divinity to exalt a fallen hero. They proclaimed it because they were confronted with a risen Lord who bore wounds, washed feet, and forgave His enemies. In every other case, deification served man’s ambition. In Christ alone, divinity serves man’s salvation.

5. The incarnation demonstrates how God displays His power

Human power is typically expressed through force, control, and the ability to compel outcomes. Authority is demonstrated by imposing one’s will, silencing opposition, and overcoming resistance. From empires to modern institutions, power is measured by how much one can dominate.

The incarnation reveals a radically different kind of power.

God does not enter the world wielding coercion. He does not overwhelm His enemies with spectacle or crush resistance through sheer might. Instead, He comes in weakness. He submits to the limits of human flesh, the vulnerability of infancy, and the constraints of ordinary life. From the beginning, the Incarnation declares that God’s power is not diminished by humility — it is displayed through it.

This pattern continues throughout Christ’s life. Jesus refuses to seize authority by force (Matt. 4:8–10; John 18:36). He resists the temptation to rule through domination. He silences storms, not armies (Mark 4:39); heals the sick, not political systems (Matt. 8:16–17); casts out demons, not rivals (Luke 4:40–41). Even when confronted with rejection, betrayal, and violence, He does not retaliate (Isa. 53:7; 1 Pet. 2:23). His power is exercised through truth, mercy, and sacrificial love (John 1:14; Matt. 12:20).

Nowhere is this more evident than at the Cross. What appears to be weakness is, in fact, a decisive act of divine power. Scripture declares that Christ was crucified in weakness yet lives by the power of God (2 Cor. 13:4). The incarnation leads not to a throne of force, but to a rugged Cross of self-sacrifice, and it is there — in a very unexpected place – that sin is vanquished, death is undone, and redemption is forever secured.

However, make no mistake — Scripture is equally clear that the one who came in meekness will return in glory, exercising judgment and authority over all. The incarnation shows not what God cannot do, but what astonishing ends He was willing to go to save us.

This reveals a truth that runs against every human instinct: God conquers not by crushing His enemies, but by bearing the weight and penalty of their own sin. He triumphs not by inflicting suffering, but by absorbing it.

This is precisely why the incarnation matters, not only for what we believe about God, but for how we understand power, authority, and faithfulness itself. For the God who comes in weakness is the God who will be revealed in glory, and whose purposes are never thwarted, only patiently fulfilled.

6. The incarnation reveals God’s faithfulness to His promises

The incarnation did not arrive as a religious improvisation — it came in the swaddling clothes of promise. From the earliest pages of Scripture, God spoke of a coming Redeemer, one who would be born of a virgin, descended from Abraham, rising from the line of David, and arriving at the appointed time. Christmas is not the invention of a new story; it is the fulfillment of a very old one.

For centuries, Israel lived in expectation. The prophets spoke of a child who would be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2), a king who would come humbly and bring peace (Zech. 9:9), and a servant who would suffer for the sins of others (Isa. 53).

This matters because Christian faith is not sustained by sentiment alone. It rests upon the conviction that God acts faithfully in real time, that His promises are not empty assurances, and that His redemptive purposes move steadily forward — even when fulfillment seems delayed or unlikely. The incarnation assures us that what God has spoken, He will do.

Christmas, therefore, is not merely a moment of wonder; it is a marker of God’s trustworthiness. In the birth of Christ, God places His faithfulness on display before the world. The manager stands as a quiet testimony that divine promises are not forgotten, postponed indefinitely, or quietly abandoned. They are kept, patiently, precisely, and filled entirely in His appointed time.

7. The incarnation calls us to a life of humble obedience, trust, and worship

The incarnation is not merely a truth to be contemplated or a religious doctrine to be affirmed; it is a reality that makes a claim on our lives. If the eternal Son of God has truly entered the human story — becoming human, bearing our weaknesses, suffering for our sins, and rising in victory from the grave — then indifference is no longer possible. The incarnation demands, as well as deserves, a response.

The one who stooped to save us now calls us to follow Him in lives marked by humility, faith, and obedience. Christmas does not merely reveal what God has done; it shows what faithful trust looks like when it takes Christ seriously.

This obedience is not rooted in fear or coercion. It flows from confidence in who God has shown Himself to be. The incarnation assures us that God is not distant, uncaring, or unreliable. He has entered our condition, kept His promises across centuries, and accomplished redemption at tremendous cost to Himself. Such a God is more than worthy of our trust. To rely upon Him is not naïve; it is most reasonable. To obey Him is not burdensome; it is truly fitting.

Christmas is not merely an event to be remembered once a year. It is a truth that reshapes everything. If God has robed Himself in humanity to redeem us, then the proper response is not mere admiration, but surrender; not sentiment, but trust; not indifference, but worship.

The God who comes to us in Jesus Christ now calls each of us to respond, not simply with an acknowledgment of these truths, but with repentance, faith, and trust in Him.

For Christmas to have its ultimate meaning, we must be willing to put away our sin and receive Christ. The incarnation of Christ is God uniting Himself with humanity so that we might know Him personally in Jesus Christ.

This, indeed, is the wonder of all wonders that Christmas proclaims.

Rev. Mark H. Creech is Executive Director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina, Inc. He was a pastor for twenty years before taking this position, having served five different Southern Baptist churches in North Carolina and one Independent Baptist in upstate New York.

https://www.christianpost.com/voices/7-timeless-truths-about-the-incarnation-of-christ.html

“These Lutherans Worshipping a Tree”: What Is Idolatry? | Cranach by Gene Veith

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The Reformed have often accused Lutherans of “idolatry,” from their Christmas trees in church to their theology of the Sacraments. How Luther understood idolatry, in contrast to how the Reformed understand it.

A prominent local newspaper called it “a nonsensical, asinine, moronic absurdity, besides being silly.” It editorialized against “these Lutherans . . . worshipping a tree . . . groveling before a shrub.” Worse, it recommended that the good Christian citizens of Cleveland ostracize, shun and refuse to do business with anyone “who tolerates such heathenish, idolatrous practices in his church.”

That might seem like a rather ridiculous overreaction today, but why is the criticism wrong? The Reformed often claim the Lutheran teaching that the bread and wine in Holy Communion is “idolatrous.” The same is said of other Lutheran customs, such as bowing before the cross and the altar. Or even having a cross and an altar. What is an “idolatrous practice”?Michael Lockwood, a confessional Lutheran pastor from Australia, addresses this in his book from CPH entitled The Unholy Trinity: Martin Luther Against the Idol of Me, Myself, and I. This is one of those paradigm-shifting books that addresses quite brilliantly how to reach today’s secularists and the “spiritual but not religious.” (I blogged about this book here. Be sure to read the comments for Lockwood’s response.)

In this course of his discussion, Lockwood explains how Luther understood idolatry, in contrast to how the Reformed understand it.

For Luther, idolatry means worshiping a false god. In his explanation of the First Commandment in the Large Catechism, Luther says that whatever we put our faith in is our god. If we put our trust in the God revealed in Scripture and look to Him in our distress,

A god means that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take refuge in all distress, so that to have a God is nothing else than to trust and believe Him from the [whole] heart; as I have often said that the confidence and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol. If your faith and trust be right, then is your god also true; and, on the other hand, if your trust be false and wrong, then you have not the true God; for these two belong together, faith and God. That now, I say, upon which you set your heart and put your trust is properly your god.

If you put your faith, trust, and confidence in anything else–a different deity, or your wealth, or your possessions, or your power, or whatever–you are committing idolatry. Indeed, such idolatry, Luther believed, is the root of all sin. Lockwood goes on to observe that the most common idolatry today, in all of its different manifestations, is faith in one’s self. Much of the book tells how to apply the Law and the Gospel to someone with this mindset.

Lockwood, though, contrasts Luther’s understanding of idolatry as putting one’s faith in a false god with the Reformed view of idolatry, which focuses on the alleged idol’s materiality. Thus, for the Reformed, using any material object in worship as a focus of devotion constitutes idolatry.

Luther’s guiding concern was that our faith and worship life be grounded in the promises of God and the means of salvation he has instituted for us in the Bible. This includes such physical things as the sacraments and the death and resurrection of Christ. The Reformed on the other hand were convinced that God’s transcendence over all created things must be preserved at all costs lest we fall into idolatry. . . .Thus they concluded that our worship must be centered on things that are “spiritual” in the sense of non-visible and non-material. This led them to ban religious images. It also led them–at least from Luther’s perspective–to fight against the created means of salvation that God has instituted. (Unholy Trinity, p. 149)

Luther only opposed religious images if people put their faith in them, which they often did in medieval Catholicism. The Reformed, though, “treated sacred images as inherently idolatrous regardless of whether people worship them or not.”

These same guiding principles led to different views of the Sacrament. If it demeans God’s majesty to be associated with any physical thing, then what about the Sacraments? The basic Reformed opinion was that the rejection of idolatry also entails a rejection of the church’s sacramental system. Although they retained Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, they spiritualized them. They interpreted them symbolically, and denied that God or his power can be present within the elements. . . .

In complete contrast, Luther regarded a high view of the Sacraments as essential if we are to avoid idolatry. That is, he regarded the rejection of Christ’s sacramental presence with us as a rejection of the incarnate Christ that must inevitably lead to idolatry. . . .For Luther, the Sacraments are Gospel, and the Gospel is sacramental. If we say that the means of the Gospel do not actually deliver Christ and his grace to us, then they are not Gospel. Instead, they are laws that teach us how to express our piety or vainly direct us to climb up to God. And if the means of the Gospel are not Gospel, then we have no Gospel. Nor do we have Christ, since we can only grasp hold of Christ sacramentally through the Gospel and not with some self-invented law. (Unholy Trinity, pp. 152-153)

This Reformed mindset that the spiritual must always be separated from the material leads them also, at various points in their theology, to split off Christ’s human nature from His divine nature, rather than admit their coming together in the Incarnation.

Luther certainly believed in God’s transcendence and His glory. “It was Luther’s belief in God’s almighty power that led him to assert that if the Creator chooses to join himself to part of his creation, and to unite the infinite with the finite by becoming incarnate, he is able to do so.” And, to a Reformed critic who argued that the notion that God comes to us through the material realm reduces His glory, Luther “argues instead that God’s glory is revealed most in his willingness to enter into our world and the lowest depths for us.” (Unholy Trinity, pp. 155-156)

So no, “these Lutherans” were not “worshipping a tree.” And to discern Christ’s body in Holy Communion is not idolatry, since Christ is true God. And celebrating Christmas, far from being pagan, is a recognition “that God’s glory is revealed most in his willingness to enter into our world and the lowest depths for us.”

Allegory of the True Faith [Calvin, Pope Leo, Luther] by Anonymous – https://www.nationalmuseum.ch/sammlung_online/?lauftext=LM-76931&sID=&numOf=30, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64303095

[I think this Swiss allegory shows Calvin lighting his candle by himself, while Luther is lighting his candle from that of the pope. Calvin thus has the “true faith,” while Luther is “too Catholic.”]

Source: “These Lutherans Worshipping a Tree”: What Is Idolatry?

December 23 Afternoon Verse of the Day

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THE MANIFESTATION OF SUPERNATURAL KNOWLEDGE AND CONTROL

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. (19:28–30)

After tenderly establishing His mother’s care, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.” In His omniscience, Jesus knew there was only one remaining prophecy to be fulfilled. In Psalm 69:21 David wrote, “They also gave me gall for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar (the Septuagint uses the same Greek word translated sour wine in v. 29) to drink.” Jesus knew that by saying “I am thirsty” He would prompt the soldiers to give Him a drink. They, of course, did not consciously do so to fulfill prophecy, still less to show compassion. Their goal was to increase the Lord’s torment by prolonging His life.
From a jar full of sour wine that was standing nearby, one of the bystanders (probably one of the soldiers; or at least someone acting with their approval) put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop (cf. Ex. 12:22) and brought it up to His mouth. This was the cheap, sour wine that the soldiers commonly consumed. It was not the same beverage that the Lord had earlier refused (Matt. 27:34). That beverage, which contained gall, was intended to help deaden His pain so He would not struggle as much while being nailed to His cross. Jesus had refused it, because He wanted to drink the cup of the Father’s wrath against sin in the fullest way His senses could experience it.
Having received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It is finished!” (Gk. tetelestai). Actually, the Lord shouted those words with a loud cry (Matt. 27:50; Mark 15:37). It was a shout of triumph; the proclamation of a victor. The work of redemption that the Father had given Him was accomplished: sin was atoned for (Heb. 9:12; 10:12;), and Satan was defeated and rendered powerless (Heb. 2:14; cf. 1 Peter 1:18–20; 1 John 3:8). Every requirement of God’s righteous law had been satisfied; God’s holy wrath against sin had been appeased (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10); every prophecy had been fulfilled. Christ’s completion of the work of redemption means that nothing needs to be nor can be added to it. Salvation is not a joint effort of God and man, but is entirely a work of God’s grace, appropriated solely by faith (Eph. 2:8–9).
His mission accomplished, the time had come for Christ to surrender His life. Therefore, after “crying out with a loud voice … ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46), He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. Jesus voluntarily chose to surrender His life by a conscious act of His own sovereign will. “No one has taken it away from Me,” He declared, “but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father” (10:18). That He still had the strength to shout loudly shows that He was not physically at the point of death. That He died sooner than was normal for someone who had been crucified (Mark 15:43–45) also shows that He gave up His life of His own will.
No human words, no matter how eloquent, can adequately express the meaning of Christ’s death. But the words of the familiar hymn “At Calvary” express the gratitude every believer feels:

Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified,
Knowing not it was for me He died
On Calvary.

  Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
  Pardon there was multiplied to me;
  There my burdened soul found liberty,
  At Calvary.

By God’s Word at last my sin I learned,
Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,
Till my guilty soul imploring turned
To Calvary.

Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus ev’rything;
Now I gladly own Him as my King;
Now my raptured soul can only sing
Of Calvary.

O, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
O, the grace that brought it down to man!
O, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2008). John 12–21 (pp. 356–357). Moody Publishers.

No Death like Jesus’ Death

John 19:30

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

If Christ is Christianity and if the final week of Christ’s life is its center, then the center of that week is certainly the moment of Christ’s death on Calvary. That moment is therefore the focal point of all history, and the words “It is finished” are an important expression of it.
The importance of those words, the sixth in the series of seven spoken from the cross, is that they point to Christ’s death as an achievement. Elsewhere in the Gospels we are told that Jesus uttered a loud cry just before his death (Matt. 27:50; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46); since two of the Gospels also tell us that Jesus had been given a drink just before this, it would seem that this was Christ’s cry. In other words, Christ’s words were not the final gasping sob of a defeated man or even the firm deliberate declaration of one who was resigned to his fate. They were a triumphant declaration that the turning point in history had been reached and that the work that Jesus had been sent into the world to do had been done.
It is this that makes Christ’s death unique. As an example of patient endurance of abuse and suffering, it may perhaps be matched by other deaths. As a fitting end for One who, like the prophets, bore a faithful witness to God’s truth even when that truth was rejected, it may perhaps be paralleled. But Christ’s death cannot be matched in its fullest sense, because Jesus (and no other) achieved our salvation by his suffering. The apostle Paul speaks of it, saying, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Gal. 4:4–5). Again he writes, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:21–26).
Because Christ’s atonement is so important, we need to consider it at some length. In this and the following studies we will look at the nature, necessity, perfection, and extent of the atonement.

Christ’s Death a Sacrifice

When we consider the nature of the atonement we immediately find ourselves in the midst of a world of biblical ideas and imagery without which its nature cannot really be understood. Central to this world of ideas and imagery is the notion of sacrifice and the accompanying thought of substitution. Sacrifice has to do with the death of an innocent victim, usually an animal. Substitution means that this death was in place of the death of someone else.
The background of this concept lies in the truth that all who have ever lived are sinners, having broken God’s law, and that the penalty for sin is death. The Bible declares, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Rom. 3:10–12). Moreover the Bible declares that the penalty for sin is death. It says, “The soul that sins will die” (Ezek. 18:4). This death is not merely physical death, though it is that. It is spiritual death as well. Death is separation. Physical death is the separation of the soul and spirit from the body. Spiritual death is the separation of the soul and the spirit from God. This is what we deserve as a consequence of our sin. But Jesus took that death to himself by his sacrifice. He became our substitute by experiencing both physical and spiritual death in our place.
There is a very vivid illustration of this principle in the early chapters of Genesis. In these chapters Adam and Eve had sinned and were now in terror of the consequences. God had warned them. He had said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of food and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen. 2:16–17). At this point they probably did not have a very clear idea of what death was, but they knew it was serious. Consequently, when they had sinned through disobedience and then later had heard God walking toward them in the garden, they tried to hide.
They could not hide from God. No one can. So we are told that God called them out of hiding and began to deal with their transgression. What should we expect to happen as a result of this confrontation? Here is God who has told our first parents that in the day they sinned they would die. Here also are Adam and Eve who have sinned. In this situation we should expect the immediate execution of the sentence. They had sinned. So if God had put them to death in that moment, both physically and spiritually, banishing them from his presence forever, it would have been just.
But that is not what we find. Instead, we have God first rebuking the sin and then, wonder of wonders, performing a sacrifice as a result of which Adam and Eve were clothed with the skins of those animals. This was the first death that anyone had ever witnessed. It was enacted by God. As Adam and Eve looked on they must have been horrfied. “So this is death,” they must have said. “How horrible!” Yet even as they recoiled from the sacrifice, they must have marveled as well, for what God was showing was that although they themselves deserved to die it was possible for another, in this case two animals, to die in their place. The animals paid the price of their sin. Moreover, they were now clothed in the skins of the animals as a reminder of that fact.
This is the meaning of sacrifice: substitution. It is the death of one on behalf of another. And yet we must say, as the Bible teaches, that the death of animals could never take away the penalty of sin (Heb. 10:4). These were a symbol of how sin was to be taken away, but they were only a symbol. The real and effective sacrifice was performed by Jesus Christ. We sometimes read in theological literature that the ideas of sacrifice and substitution are alien to our culture and therefore that we cannot use these terms to speak of the meaning of Christ’s death anymore, at least if we want to be understood. But we must not think that it was any easier for those who lived in earlier stages of the world’s history to understand them. These concepts have always been difficult; that is why God took so much time and such elaborate means to teach them.

Stilling God’s Wrath

A second word for understanding the meaning of Christ’s death is propitiation (Rom. 3:25). Propitiation also relates to the world of sacrifices. But unlike substitution, which refers primarily to what Jesus did in reference to us (he died in our place), propitiation describes that death in terms of its bearing upon God. The background for this term is the wrath of God which is directed against all sin. Propitiation refers to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in which the justified wrath of God against the sinner was stilled or turned aside and the love of God was enabled to go out to save him.
An Old Testament illustration is helpful. It is the ark of the covenant and the sacrifice which involved it. The ark of the covenant was one of the pieces of furniture for Israel’s wilderness tabernacle. It was a chest about a yard long, covered with gold and closed by a solid gold covering known as the mercy seat. The mercy seat had two figures of cherubim standing on either end looking inward. The cherubim had wings which stretched out over the ends of the ark and then came together over the top. The stone tables of the law of Moses were kept within this ark, and the ark itself was kept within the Holy of Holies, the most sacred part of the tabernacle.
The most significant thing about the ark of the covenant is that it was thought of symbolically as being the earthly dwelling place of God. God was thought to dwell in the space between the outstretched wings of the cherubim above the mercy seat. And of course, this is why no one but the high priest was ever to enter the Holy of Holies, and even he was to enter only once a year on the Day of Atonement. God was holy, and sinful men and women who came into his presence would be consumed.
The picture of that ark is a terrible picture, as it was meant to be. There we see God dwelling between the outstretched wings of the cherubim. There we see the law, which we have broken. As God looks down upon the affairs of men this is what he sees—the broken law. So the picture tells us that God in his holiness must judge sin and that sinners are subject to his judicial wrath.
But that is not all, for now the Day of Atonement comes, and on that day the high priest takes the blood of a sacrifice and, bearing it carefully according to all the regulations for this ceremony (for violation of these regulations entailed death), enters the Holy of Holies where it is now sprinkled upon the mercy seat between the presence of God and the law. What is symbolized now? Gloriously, the picture is now no longer of wrath directed against the violators of God’s law but rather a picture of mercy in which the wrath of God against sin is satisfied and the sinner is spared. Now when God looks down from between the wings of the cherubim he sees, not the law we have broken, but the blood of the sacrifice. An innocent has died. He has borne our penalty. Thus, we can live.
In discussing sacrifice, I pointed out that the blood of animals could not actually take away sin but that these pointed forward pedagogically to the work of Christ on Calvary. That also applies here. The blood of the sacrifice sprinkled upon the mercy seat by the high priest did not remove sin, but it pointed forward to the One whose death would remove it: Jesus Christ. When he died God’s wrath against sin was literally propitiated, which God himself demonstrated by tearing the veil of the temple, separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, in two from top to bottom. Thus did God show that the way into his presence was now open for all who should believe in Jesus.
An interesting sidelight on this meaning of God’s death is the speed with which blood sacrifices disappeared in the ancient world once the gospel of Christ was proclaimed. At the time of Christ’s death sacrifices were performed everywhere—in the Roman and barbarian worlds as well as within Judaism. But, as Adolf Harnack once pointed out in a striking passage, “Wherever the Christian message … penetrated, the sacrificial altars were deserted and dealers in sacrificial beasts found no more purchasers.… The death of Christ put an end to all blood-sacrifices.” Why did this happen? Harnack explains, “His death [Christ’s] had the value of an expiatory sacrifice, for otherwise it would not have had strength to penetrate into that inner world in which the blood-sacrifices originated.” Sacrifices ceased because the death of Christ alone met the need they were supposed to satisfy.

Reconciliation

A third word used for describing the effects of Christ’s death is reconciliation. Second Corinthians 5:18–19 provides us with a key passage: “All this if from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”
Reconciliation means “to make one,” so the background for this term is the broken relationship between ourselves and God because of sin. We have already seen one example of this in Genesis, for when Adam and Eve sinned and God came to them in the Garden, our first parents hid from God. This had not been the case before their disobedience. Before there had been openness. They had talked with God joyously. Now the relationship that they had enjoyed was broken, and they showed their deep psychological awareness of this by hiding. In a sense men and women have been hiding ever since. We hide through a self-imposed ignorance of spiritual things, through our supposed sophistication or culture, or even (strange as it may seem) through religion—for many religious experiences are attempts to get away from God rather than attempts to find him.
But God comes to us; that is the glory of the gospel. Moreover, when he comes he does what is necessary to heal the broken relationship and bridge the gap. In Eden it was the inauguration of sacrifices. On Calvary it was the ultimate bridge to which the earlier sacrifices pointed. Paul writes, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). He means that it is on the basis of Christ’s death that the reconciliation takes place.

Bought with a Price

The final word of those most significant for describing the death of Christ is “redemption.” “Redemption” is derived from two Latin words: re, meaning “again,” and emere, meaning “to buy.” So redemption means “buying again” or “buying back,” as in redeeming something that has been pawned or mortgaged. We use the word of material things. The Bible uses the word to signify that we are God’s, but have nevertheless fallen into bondage as a result of our sin and now must be purchased out of that bondage by Christ’s sacrifice.
Our bondage is to sin’s penalty and power. Christ’s death frees us from both. On this subject John Murray writes, “Just as sacrifice is directed to the need created by our guilt, propitiation to the need that arises from the wrath of God, and reconciliation to the need arising from our alienation from God, so redemption is directed to the bondage to which our sin has consigned us. This bondage is, of course, multiform. Consequently redemption as purchase or ransom receives a wide variety of reference and application. Redemption applies to every respect in which we are bound, and it releases us unto a liberty that is nothing less than the liberty of the glory of the children of God.” Paul speaks of that redemption in Romans: “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). Peter speaks of it in even more explicit terms: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18–19).
“It is finished,” Christ’s declaration from the cross, is particularly appropriate for understanding his death as redemption; for one of the meanings of the Greek word tetelestai, which underlies it, is “Paid in full!” The word was used in this way in secular business transactions.
Here we come back to the point with which we began. What makes the death of Christ so unique and indeed marks it out as the focal point of history is that it accomplished precisely what needed to be accomplished in regard to our salvation. We deserved to die for sin; Christ died for us. We were under the just wrath of God by reason of our transgressions; Christ bore that wrath in our place. We were alienated from God; Christ reconciled us to him. We were sold under sin; Christ bought our freedom by paying sin’s price. From one perspective all this is spiritual. It has to do both with moral matters and with spiritual relationships. But from another point of view, this is as concrete and historical as the birth of Julius Caesar or the death of Socrates.

Why Did Jesus Die?

John 19:30

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Those who know anything at all about Christianity know that Jesus died to save us from sin, and they know that the source of the decision to save us from sin was God’s love. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). But why was it necessary for the love of God to achieve its end in this way? Why Jesus? And why the cross? This was the question raised by Anselm of Canterbury in his famous essay Cur Deus Homo? (“Why God Became Man”), in which he asked, “For what reason or necessity did God become man and, as we believe and confess, by his death restore life to the world, when he could have done this through another person (angelic or human), or even by a sheer act of will?”
Was the cross necessary, or could God have saved the human race through another person or even by a sheer act of will? One writer puts it like this: “If we say that he could not, do we not impugn his power? If we say that he could but would not, do we not impugn his wisdom? Such questions are not scholastic subtleties or vain curiosities. To evade them is to miss something that is central in the interpretation of the redeeming work of Christ and to miss the vision of some of its essential glory. Why did God become man? Why, having become man, did he die? Why, having died, did he die the accursed death of the cross?”

Two Necessities

In the history of Christian doctrine there have traditionally been two ways in which the necessity of the death of Jesus has been spoken of. One is what we might call circumstantial necessity. The other is absolute necessity. Let me explain.
The view that we call circumstantial necessity maintains that God, being free and infinite, always has an infinite number of possibilities open to him. Consequently, although he chose to save men and women by the death of Christ, he did not need to do so and could actually have saved them in an infinite number of other ways. If we ask at that point how we can then speak of a “necessity” in the atonement at all, the answer is that because of the circumstances under which God operated, this was the way (chosen out of many ways) that the greatest number of advantages would occur, including the greatest possible glory being given to God. God could have saved us without Christ’s having died. But he could not have done so and yet have showed the greatest measure of wisdom and love in the circumstances. When we read that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” of sins (Heb. 9:22), that is indeed true. But it is true only because God has chosen to do things that way. He could have saved us without blood shedding.
The other way to talk about the necessity of Jesus’ death is to see it as an absolute necessity. This means literally that, having elected to save some of Adam’s fallen race, God had no other means at his disposal than the sacrifice of his beloved Son. This does not mean that God had to send Jesus. He could have elected not to save anyone. But having elected to save them, he was under the necessity of accomplishing this by the death of his Son, a necessity arising out of the perfections of his own nature.
At first glance it might be thought presumptuous for us to speak thus of something being absolutely necessary for God. “After all,” someone might object, “who are we to tell God what he can or must do?” But this is not the way in which this statement is made. Obviously we cannot tell God to be or do anything. Yet he has revealed something of his nature in Scripture, and it is not impudent or improper to inquire on the basis of that revelation whether God can or cannot do a thing, particularly when it is as central to the Christian faith as the atonement. For example, is it possible for God to lie or speak falsehood? If we answer no, as we should, we are not limiting God by telling what he can or cannot do. We are simply acknowledging that deceit is impossible for one who is characterized by utter truth, as God declares himself to be. Far from dishonoring him in this, we actually honor him. Moreover, we are led to a valuable conclusion; for, on the basis of God’s inability to lie, we perceive that he can always be trusted.
It is not improper or even impractical to conclude that God was under an absolute necessity in the matter of Christ’s death. He may not have been. But the answer to whether he was or not is to be determined solely by the teaching of the Scripture and not by any prior conclusions as to what is required by our understanding of God’s freedom.

The Divine Necessities

When we turn to the Bible we find a number of necessities pertaining to God which bear upon our subject. They are like the necessity for God to speak truth, being Truth, but they relate primarily to the matter of salvation.
The first of these necessities is the hatred of God for sin, which we may express by saying that God must hate sin if he is to be as he declares himself to be in Scripture. The background for this necessity is the holiness of God. In Scripture God is more often called holy than anything else. This is the epithet most often affixed to his name, for instance. We do not often read of his “loving name,” “mighty name,” or “eternal name.” But we are often reminded of his “holy name.” Moreover, this is the attribute of God which is invariably mentioned in any vision men have of him. Isaiah, in his great vision of the Lord “high and lifted up,” stressed the holiness of God more than any other attribute. “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty,” cry the seraphim. Isaiah’s immediate reaction was to bemoan his own sinful condition: “Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isa. 6:5; cf. vv. 1–6).
The holiness of God lies at the core of his being, then, and the dismay of Isaiah was the recognition that in his holiness God cannot be indifferent to anything which opposes it. Holiness involves the elements of majesty and will. When we ask, “What is that will primarily set on?” the answer is: God’s majesty. Thus, God’s will is inevitably directed against anything which would attempt to diminish that majesty or flaunt it. That is what sin tries to do. So God is against sin; he is wrath toward it.
Many people today do not like the idea of wrath. But like it or not, Scripture teaches that it is a necessary aspect of God’s nature in relation to sin. The Old Testament alone has nearly six hundred important passages concerning God’s wrath. His wrath is directed against injustice, corruption, and offenses against his own glory and majesty. The New Testament has equally important passages. Romans 1, for example, speaks of God’s wrath revealed “against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (v. 18). Other passages speak boldly of “the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:10; 2:16; cf. 5:9; Rom. 2:5). The teaching of these passages is that God will not and cannot look with indifference upon the unrighteous.
A second necessity of the divine nature relating to the matter of salvation is the obligation of God to do right. This obligation is based upon God’s role as ruler and judge of creation. “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” asked Abraham rhetorically on the occasion of God’s revelation to him of the pending judgment of Sodom (Gen. 18:25). The answer was obvious: the Sovereign must do right. In fact, Abraham used this necessity to plead for the salvation of Sodom. God had told Abraham that he would destroy Sodom, and Abraham remonstrated, “Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city: will you also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are in it? Far be it from you to do this, to slay the righteous with the wicked. Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
Here are two divine necessities pertaining to salvation: first, that God must hate sin, and second, that the Judge of the earth must do right. What is right where sin is concerned? The answer is judgment, as the destruction of Sodom indicates. True, we do not see the fullness of that judgment now, for God has largely withheld his judgment. Yet it must come. It must come later if not sooner; and when it comes, it must result in the eternal destruction of the sinner.

The Divine Solution

We know from the biblical record that God elected not to destroy every sinner. Out of his great love he decided to elect a great company to salvation. But the question arises: How can he do this without violating these two necessities of his very nature? How can he save those who actually deserve his just judgment? There is only one way: another must suffer the judgment in place of those who stand condemned. We hear that answer, and we are momentarily relieved. But then we ask, “Who?” and despair settles on us once again. Who is equal to such a task? Who is willing to do it? The answer is: God’s own Son; the only One both able and willing to become man and to die for sinners.
Anselm, whom we mentioned earlier, put it like this: First, he said, salvation had to be achieved by God, for no one else could achieve it. Certainly men and women could not achieve it, for we are the ones who have gotten ourselves into trouble in the first place. We have done so by our rebellion against God’s just law and decrees. Moreover, we have suffered from the effects of sin to such a degree that even our will is bound, and therefore we cannot even choose to please God, let alone actually please him. Our only hope is God, who alone has both the will and power to save. Second, said Anselm, apparently contradicting this first point, salvation must also be achieved by man, for man is the one who has wronged God and must therefore make the wrong right. Given this situation, salvation can be achieved only by one who is both God and man, that is, Jesus.
Anselm put the argument in these words: “It would not have been right for the restoration of human nature to be left undone, and … it could not have been done unless man paid what was owing to God for sin. But the debt was so great that, while man alone owed it, only God could pay it, so that the same person must be both man and God. Thus it was necessary for God to take manhood into the unity of his person, so that he who in his own nature ought to pay and could not should be in a person who could.… The life of this man was so sublime, so precious, that it can suffice to pay what is owing for the sins of the whole world, and infinitely more.”
Only thus was it possible for God to be both “just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). This is the ultimate necessity indicated in those well-known verses in John’s Gospel. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (3:14–17). These verses say that apart from the death of Christ and faith in him, the race is lost. Given the desire of God to save us, there was just no other option.

Curse of the Cross

Yet there is still one matter. At the start of this chapter we asked, “Why was it necessary for the love of God to achieve its end in this way? Why Jesus? And why the cross?” Thus far we have answered the first half of that question; we have seen why it was necessary for the price of our salvation to be paid by Jesus. But we still have not answered why that sacrifice had to be made on Calvary. Why this death? Why this particularly horrible form of suffering?
The answer to that question is given in the Book of Galatians, in which Paul says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us; for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’ ” (Gal. 3:13). What does this mean? Well, it is the Bible’s answer to an objection to God’s way of salvation that we might still make even after we have understood the nature and necessity of the atonement. We might understand that Jesus was the innocent Son of God and that he was therefore the only One who could take our place on Calvary, the just for the unjust. We might understand that God judged him in our place. “But that is still not right,” we might argue. “Even if Jesus died willingly, it was still not right for God to punish one who was innocent of all wrongdoing.” At this point Paul’s answer comes in, for he points out that in the Old Testament there is a verse (Deut. 21:23) that pronounces a curse on anyone hanged on a tree as a means of execution. This may not have meant much to those who lived in that day, but it was part of the law of Israel. Thus, when the Lord Jesus Christ was taken and hanged on a tree, he thereby became a technical violator of the whole law (though through no fault of his own) and could be justly punished. In this way God remained just in his execution of Christ, and Christ remained innocent.

God’s Love Commended

The conclusion to this study is that the achievement of our salvation at such cost flows from the love of God and that the love of God is thereby commended to us so that we might believe on Jesus. To save us it was necessary to pay this cost. Yet God did not hesitate to provide the sacrifice of his Son, so great was his love for us. Can we despise that love? Can we ignore it? The Bible says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).
This, of course, is the bottom line of the entire discussion, and it is this that makes it meaningful. Our discussion of the necessity of the atonement has involved us in some careful theological distinctions, and some of this is admittedly difficult for some people, for not all are theologians. Yet the bottom line is not difficult at all. Let me put it like this. The week before I first preached this material in my regular exposition of John on Sunday mornings at Tenth Presbyterian Church, I was discussing these themes at the dinner table to see how the people who were there would react to them. They did very well. But at the end a ten-year-old friend of one of my daughters asked, “What is the main point of your sermon?” It was a question her parents had been teaching her to ask so she could follow the messages better, and (I think) she wanted to get a head start. I replied that the answer was a simple one; for although the theology is difficult, the point itself is not. It is simply this:

  There was no other good enough
     To pay the price of sin;
  He only could unlock the gate
     Of heav’n and let us in.
  O dearly, dearly has He loved!
     And we must love Him too,
  And trust in His redeeming blood,
     And try His works to do.

Christ has loved us so much that he did not hold back from doing what needed to be done. Because of this we, on our part, should serve him without reservation.

“It Is Finished”

John 19:30

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

One of the goals of Greek oratory, to which the Greek language generally lends itself, is to say much in few words—“to give a sea of matter in a drop of language.” That goal is reached in the sixth of Christ’s sayings from the cross: “It is finished!” In English this is only three words, in Greek just one. Yet this word sums up the greatest work that has ever been done. Spurgeon said, “It would need all the other words that ever were spoken, or ever can be spoken, to explain this one word. It is altogether immeasurable. It is high; I cannot attain to it. It is deep; I cannot fathom it.”
We have been trying to study it, however, and to that end we have looked at, first, the nature and, second, the necessity of the atonement. In this chapter we deal with its perfection, the aspect of Christ’s death that is perhaps more directly suggested by this word than any other.
Pink writes, “This was not the despairing cry of a helpless martyr; it was not an expression of satisfaction that the termination of his sufferings was now reached; it was not the last gasp of a worn-out life. No, rather was it the declaration on the part of the Divine Redeemer that all for which he came from heaven to earth to do, was now done; that all that was needed to reveal the full character of God had now been accomplished; that all that was required by the law before sinners could be saved had now been performed; that the full price of our redemption was now paid.” To be sure, as Jesus spoke these words he was not yet dead. But his death was only moments away, and in any case he here speaks anticipatively of the work now done.
What did this dying utterance of the Lord mean? What was finished? How does this relate to us and our salvation?

Christ’s Work Done

There are a number of things we can point to as having been finished in the moment of Christ’s death. The first and most obvious one is Christ’s sufferings. These had not taken him by surprise. Long before this the Lord had said, “I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!” (Luke 12:50). Centuries before, Isaiah had written of him, “He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). Suffering marked Christ’s life. He had thirsted and hungered. He had ministered for three years without even a place to lay his head. He was scorned, accused, beaten, and now subjected to the horror and indignities of the cross.
No one ever suffered as Jesus did. Yet now it is finished. No snarling enemies will spit in his face again. No soldiers will ever scourge him again. No priests will mock him. It is finished; he sits on heaven’s throne, waiting until all his enemies are made his footstool. Spurgeon wrote: “Now Judas, come and betray him with a kiss! What, man, dare you not do it? Come, Pilate, and wash your hands in pretended innocency, and say now that you are guiltless of his blood! Come, ye scribes and Pharisees, and accuse him; and oh, ye Jewish mob and Gentile rabble, newly-risen from the grave, shout now, ‘Away with him! Crucify him!’ But see! they flee from him; they cry to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne!’ Yet that is the face that was more marred than any man’s, the face of him whom they once despised and rejected.”

  The head that once was crowned with thorns
     Is crowned with glory now;
  A royal diadem adorns
     The mighty Victor’s brow.
  The highest place that heav’n affords
     Is his, is his by right,
  The King of kings, and Lord of lords,
     And heav’n’s eternal Light.

How glad we must be that none can despise him, that the sufferings of which the Savior’s life were once full are finished.
The second thing we can point to as finished in the moment of our Lord’s death was his work, that which he had been sent into the world to do. This work centered in the atonement, which we will come to in a moment, but it was more than this. It was also his entire life, undergirded by his utter obedience to the Father and filled with teachings and good works. This work was before him constantly. We are told by the author of Hebrews that on the occasion of his coming into the world he said, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God’ ” (Heb. 10:5–7). In John 4:34 we read, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” He spoke of the works that God had given him to do (John 5:36) and of the words that God had given him to speak (John 8:26; 14:24). He said, “The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work” (John 14:10). Then, in his great high priestly prayer recorded in John 17, he said, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do” (v. 4).
Throughout his lifetime Jesus had this work in mind, and he devoted himself to doing it. Now it is done, and he points with satisfaction: “It is finished!” None of us can say that fully of our work, but Jesus said it of his. His work was done perfectly.
The third area to which these words apply is the prophecies of his first coming. We cannot say that all the prophecies concerning the Lord are finished, for some pertain to work he is yet to do—at his second coming. But those that refer to his Gospel ministry are finished. In fact, it is in direct connection with one such prophecy that these words were spoken. Psalm 69:21 speaks of vinegar being given to the dying Messiah in his thirst. So Jesus, noticing that this had not been fulfilled, said, “I thirst,” and thus provoked its fulfillment as soldiers rushed to offer him a vinegar-wine solution. Immediately afterward we read, “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished’ ” (John 19:30).
It had been prophesied that the Messiah was to be born of a woman without benefit of a human father (Isa. 7:14; Gal. 4:4). This was completed. It had been foretold that he was to be the seed of Abraham and of the line of David (Gen. 22:18; 2 Sam. 7:12–13), that he should be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), and he was so born. Old Testament writers had spoken of his flight into Egypt and a subsequent return to his own land (Hosea 11:1; cf. Isa. 49:3, 6). It so happened. Christ’s appearance was to be preceded by that of one like Elijah (Mal. 3:1). John the Baptist filled this role. Christ’s miracles were foretold—that “the eyes of the blind” should be opened, “the ears of the deaf” unstopped, “the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing” (Isa. 35:5–6). Jesus performed all these miracles. His triumphal entry into Jerusalem had been foretold (Zech. 9:9). He was to be hated (Ps. 69:4) and rejected by his own people (Isa. 8:14). A friend would betray him (Ps. 41:9). He was to be numbered with the transgressors (Isa. 53:12), pierced through hands and feet (Ps. 22:16). Soldiers were to divide his garments and cast lots for his outer cloak (Ps. 22:18). All this had been completed. There was nothing of all that had been written of him that was left undone.
Moreover, this is not just a conclusion based on our own imperfect knowledge of the Old Testament texts. This is the teaching of Scripture itself. Three times in Scripture the very word that is used in John 19:30, translated “it is finished” (teleō), is used of this fulfillment. Luke 18:31—“Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.’ ” Luke 22:37—“I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me.” Acts 13:29—“When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead.”
Certainly, nothing that was to be fulfilled in the life and ministry of the Messiah was left lacking in Jesus.

A Perfect Atonement

Having said all this, we must nevertheless add that the primary reference of these words is to the atonement. This was the acme of his sufferings, the chief of his works, and the primary focus of the prophecies. Moreover, this has major doctrinal significance; for if the work of the atonement is finished, then salvation is secured for us by God and there is nothing that we can add or hope to add to it. Indeed, we dare not attempt to add anything if we would be saved.
This is the point of the atonement that has always figured prominently in Protestant presentations of the meaning of the death of Christ, as over against Roman Catholic theology. The Roman church (and many unsound protestant churches too, for that matter) maintains that the death of Christ does not relieve the believer in Christ of making satisfaction for sins he has committed. More precisely, it distinguishes between sins committed before and after baptism, and between temporal and eternal punishment for those sins. So far as sins committed before baptism are concerned, both the temporal and eternal punishment are blotted out through the application of the benefits of Christ’s death to the individual through the baptismal rite. So far as sins committed after baptism are concerned, the eternal punishments are blotted out. But the temporal punishments require the making of satisfaction by the individual himself either in this life (through a faithful use of the sacraments and by a meritorious life) or else in purgatory. While this system of salvation allows the greater part of the work to be God’s and even acknowledges that the faithfulness and merit of the believer are attained only through the prevenient grace of God, it nevertheless requires the individual to contribute to his own salvation in some measure. So it is not possible to say that the work of Christ is finished. More is needed. This outlook is evident in the Mass, in which the sacrifice of Christ is reenacted constantly.
Thus, Protestant thought has always contended rightly that “the satisfaction of Christ is the only satisfaction for sin and is so perfect and final that it leaves no penal liability for any sin of the believer.” True, the believer often experiences chastisement for sins done in this life (though never in full measure to what he has deserved). But this is not satisfaction. It is discipline only; it is given to help us grow. Even in times of severe chastisement it is still true that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).
This is the burden of the Book of Hebrews, to give just one other biblical example. For, having demonstrated the uniqueness of Christ’s person, office, and mission, the author of that book states, “But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb. 10:12–14). What can be clearer than that? What can be greater? “From whatever angle we look upon his sacrifice we find its uniqueness to be as inviolable as the uniqueness of his person, of his mission, and of his office. Who is God-man but he alone? Who is great high priest to offer such sacrifice but he alone? Who shed such vicarious blood but he alone? Who entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption, but he alone?” In light of those qualities and achievement it is arrogant to think that we can add anything.

  Jesus paid it all,
  All to him I owe;
  Sin had left a crimson stain;
  He washed it white as snow.

“But then, what is left for us to do?” someone asks. Nothing but to believe in God’s Word and trust Jesus! Jesus himself said it. When some of the Galileans asked him on the occasion of his multiplication of the loaves and fish, “What must we do to do works of God?” Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:28–29).
Pink tells a story that may be helpful in this regard. A Christian farmer, deeply concerned over an unsaved neighbor, who was a carpenter, was trying to explain the gospel, especially the sufficiency of the finished work of Christ. But the carpenter persisted in believing that he had to do something himself. One day the farmer asked his friend to make a gate for him, and when it was finished he came for it and carried it away in his wagon. He hung it on a fence in his field and then arranged for the carpenter to stop by and see that it was hung properly. The carpenter came. But when he arrived he was surprised to see the farmer standing by with a sharp axe in his hand. “What is that for?” he asked.
“I’m going to add a few strokes to your work,” was the answer.
“But there’s no need to do that,” the carpenter protested. “The gate is perfect as it is. I did everything that was necessary.” The farmer took his axe and began to strike the gate anyway, keeping at it until in a short while it was ruined. “Look what you’ve done,” cried the carpenter. “You’ve ruined my work!”
“Yes,” said his friend. “And that is exactly what you are trying to do. You are trying to ruin the work of Christ by your own miserable additions to it.” God used this lesson to show the carpenter his mistake, and he was led to cast himself upon what Christ had done for him.

What Work for Jesus?

Yet I must not leave the impression that, having believed on Christ, there is then nothing for the Christian to do or that his conduct after he has become a believer in Christ does not matter. Let us say clearly that nothing we have done or ever will do can enter into the satisfaction that Christ made on the cross. His work is perfect; the atonement is done. But what do we say in that case? Do we say, “Well, if Christ has finished it, I will fold my hands and do nothing”? Not at all! Rather do we say, “If Jesus has finished such a great work for me, tell me quickly what work I can do for him.”
Do we need a biblical example? We find one in Saul of Tarsus. When he was struck down on the road to Damascus, his first question concerned the identity of the One who was revealing himself to him. He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” But as soon as he had learned the answer—“I am Jesus, whom you persecute”—and had believed on the One who spoke, Paul’s next question was: “Lord, what do you want me to do?” (Acts 9:5–6). Christ had a work for him to do. He was to be an apostle to bear the name of Christ “before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (v. 15).
This will not necessarily be your task. You are not an apostle, nor am I. But we each have a work to do. If we have been put in this world by Jesus and have not yet been taken home to be with him, we may be certain that we have not yet finished that work. So get on with it. Did he finish his work? Then you and I must finish our work too. Of course, there are discouragements. Of course, there is suffering and weakness and disappointment. But we must not give in to these. We must keep on until that moment when we, upon our deathbed, can say as did Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:7–8).
I leave you this challenge from the pen of Spurgeon: “As long as there is breath in our bodies, let us serve Christ; as long as we can think, as long as we can speak, as long as we can work, let us serve him, let us serve him with our last gasp; and, if it be possible, let us try to set some work going that will glorify him when we are dead and gone.”

For Whom Did Christ Die?

John 19:30

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

For whom did Christ die? Did he die for all human beings, and thus all will be saved (the view of universalism)? Did he die for all, but, for whatever reason, not all will be saved (the view of Arminianism)? Or did he die only for certain individuals, all of whom will be saved (the view of Calvinism)? Each of these views involves problems, so that many people would rather not deal with the question. But we cannot avoid it, at least in this series of studies. It is an area of the atonement with which theology has always dealt. Besides, it is suggested by our text and by the gospel.
Our text contains Christ’s sixth cry from the cross, “It is finished.” But what was finished? In our last study we answered that it was, above all, the atonement. But what was the atonement? Was it the actual payment of the price for the sins of some or of all people, as the result of which they are saved? Or was it potential atonement only, that is, something that makes it possible for people to be saved but that in itself saves no one?
The Gospel of John gives us the most difficult answer, for it (perhaps more than any other Gospel) presents that view of Christ’s work generally known as “limited atonement.” We think of John 10, in which Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep” (v. 11). A few verses later he explicitly excludes certain of his hearers from that number—“You are not my sheep” (v. 26). Similarly, in John 17 the Lord explicitly prays for those “you have given me,” a phrase repeated six times with only slight variations. This phrase does not include everyone because those who have been given to Christ are carefully distinguished from “the world” (vv. 6, 9, 11–18).
It would be easier to skip this subject; but as in the matter of the necessity of the atonement, we would do so to our own hurt. Actually the subject is important and profitable; for what is at stake is nothing other than the nature of the atonement itself, as we will see when we study it.

“The World” and “All Men”

But first we must deal with a primary matter. This is the view that the whole discussion is wrongheaded simply because, so it is said, the Bible gives a clear answer to the question. Is it not true, one might ask, that the Bible often uses universal terms when speaking of Jesus’ death? Take Isaiah 53:6. It says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Does this not say that all have sinned and that it is for these, all of them, that Christ died? Again, there is Hebrews 2:9, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Or perhaps 1 John 2:2, which seems even more unmistakable. “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” Do these verses not teach unambiguously that Jesus died for everyone?
Not necessarily. The reason this is not necessarily the case is that the Bible habitually uses these terms in less than an inclusivistic sense. For instance, the word “world” is sometimes used of the whole fabric of heaven and earth (Job 34:13). Sometimes it refers only to the earth (Ps. 24:1; 98:7), or only to the heavens (Ps. 90:2). There are texts in which it does mean every single human being (Rom. 3:6, 19). But again, it sometimes refers only to one large group (Matt. 18:7; John 4:42; 1 Cor. 4:9; Rev. 13:3). This last is probably the dominant meaning, just as it is in our use of the same word in English. To give an example, when the Pharisees say among themselves, “Look how the world has gone after him” (John 12:19), meaning Christ, they do not mean every person on earth or even every person in Israel. They only mean a very large group of the citizens of Jerusalem. If we insist that “world” always means “every human being,” we are going to have trouble explaining how under Caesar Augustus “all the world” went to be taxed. Did everyone go—barbarians, prisoners, slaves, or others outside the Roman sphere of influence?
The point we are making is that the use of words like “all men,” “the whole world,” and “us all” does not in itself settle the matter. Rather, the meaning of each phrase must be determined from the context. Thus, in the case of Isaiah 53:6, it can be argued very cogently that the passage is written of God’s people, all of whom certainly have gone astray (which is also true of those who are not God’s people) and have been redeemed (which is not true of those who are not God’s people). Similarly, in Hebrews 2:9, the reference is to the “many sons” who shall be brought to glory, as specified in the very next verse. Believers in particular redemption have usually explained 1 John 2:2 in terms of John’s emphasis in writing. He is trying to show that the propitiation Christ made was not for Jews only, which might be expected, but for Gentiles as well.
The point here is not whether this particular interpretation of these verses is the correct one, though I believe it is. The point is only that they may be so interpreted. Consequently, the matter of limited versus unlimited atonement must be resolved on other grounds.

The Central Question

The central question in this entire discussion is not how many verses may be lined up on one side or the other or even whether or not Christ’s death has sufficient value to atone for the sins of the world. The answer to the last question is obvious: Christ’s death has sufficient value to atone not only for a million worlds such as ours but more besides. The question is only: Did Christ’s death actually atone for the sins of anyone? Did it actually propitiate the wrath of God toward any specific group of individuals? Did it actually reconcile any single person to God? Did it redeem anyone? If it did, whom? When the question is asked in this way we can see that there are only three possible answers:

      1.      Christ’s death was not an actual atonement but rather that which makes atonement possible. It becomes actual when the sinner repents of sin and believes on Jesus.
      2.      It was an actual atonement for the sins of God’s elect, with the result that these are saved.
      3.      It was an actual atonement for the sins of all human beings, so that all are saved.

We can dismiss the third possibility immediately, for the Bible clearly teaches that not all human beings are saved and conversely that some specifically are lost. Pharaoh is an example. So is Judas. So is the rich man in Christ’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus. In Revelation we have descriptions of God’s final judgment on such persons. With this possibility eliminated, the choice is between numbers one and two—an actual atonement for the specific sins of the elect and an indefinite atonement for no sins in particular. What, then, is the way in which the Bible speaks of Christ’s sacrifice?
The answer has already been given in our earlier studies. We talked of sacrifice and substitution, and the point was that Christ actually became a sacrifice and substitute on the basis of which those who were appointed to salvation were saved. We talked of propitiation, reconciliation, and redemption. Each of these points to a specific aspect of that which Christ accomplished. Christ did not come to make propitiation possible; he came to propitiate God’s wrath against sin. He did not come to make reconciliation possible; he came to make reconciliation. He did not come to make redemption possible; his shed blood was the price of redemption.
John Murray poses the issue like this: “The very nature of Christ’s mission and accomplishment is involved in this question. Did Christ come to make the salvation of all men possible, to remove obstacles that stood in the way of salvation, and merely to make provision for salvation? Or did he come to secure the salvation of all those who are ordained to eternal life? Did he come to make men redeemable? Or did he come effectually and infallibly to redeem? The doctrine of the Atonement must be radically revised if, as atonement, it applies to those who finally perish as well as to those who are the heirs of eternal life. In that event we should have to dilute the grand categories in terms of which the Scripture defines the Atonement and deprive them of their most precious import and glory. This we cannot do. The saving efficacy of expiation, propitiation, reconciliation, and redemption is too deeply embedded in these concepts, and we dare not eliminate this efficacy. We do well to ponder the words of our Lord himself: ‘I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that of everything which he hath given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up in the last day’ (John 6:38–39). Security inheres in Christ’s redemptive accomplishment. And this means that, in respect of the persons contemplated, design and accomplishment and final realization have all the same extent.”
This is called “limited atonement.” But this is not a good designation, for all theologians limit it in one way or another. The Calvinist limits its scope. The Arminian limits its power. The question is rather: How does the Bible portray Christ’s sacrifice? The answer is that it is portrayed as actually accomplishing that for which God ordained it. It is because it was actual that Christ looked upon “the suffering of his soul” and was “satisfied” (Isa. 53:11).

Belief and Unbelief

I can see only one possible way of avoiding this conclusion, and even that is not actually a possibility when it is once examined. It may be argued by someone that the atonement is actual and also for the sins of the whole world but that all are not saved, not because their sins are not atoned for, but because they do not believe in Christ and hence will not accept the gospel. “It is like a gift,” the person might say. “It has been selected and paid for, but no one can be forced to take a gift. The world has been saved, but many persons will not be saved simply because they do not believe in Jesus.”
Does that sound reasonable? It does until you ask about the nature of unbelief. Is it merely the morally neutral choice of deciding not to accept salvation? Or is it a sin? The answer is: a sin. In fact, it is the most damning of all sins. And this means simply that if Christ died for all sin and if this includes even the sin of unbelief (as it must if he truly died for all sin), then all are saved whether they respond to the gospel or not. Pharaoh, Judas, Muslims, Hindus, pagans will all be in heaven. John Owen, the greatest of the Puritan theologians, who did for this doctrine what Anselm did for the necessity of the atonement, wrote: “You will say, ‘Because of their unbelief; they will not believe.’ But this unbelief, is it a sin, or not? If not, why should they be punished for it? If it be, then Christ underwent the punishment due to it, or not. If so, then why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which he died from partaking of the fruit of his death? If he did not, then did he not die for all their sins. Let them choose which part they will.” If Jesus died for all the sin of the whole human race, unbelief included, then all are saved, which the Bible denies. If he died for all the sin of the race, unbelief excluded, then he did not die for all the sins of anyone and all must be condemned. The only viable position is that he died for the sin of the elect only.
And, of course, this is what the Bible teaches.

Matthew 1:21—“You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Matthew 20:28—“The Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
John 13:1—“It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.”
Galatians 3:13—“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”
Ephesians 5:25—“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”
Romans 8:28–32—“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

Repent and Believe the Gospel

Some will argue that if Christ did not take away the sins of all the world, then it is not possible for Christians to offer salvation to all indiscriminately. In fact, it is not possible to offer salvation to anyone, since we do not know whether the person is one for whom Christ died.
There are two answers. First, we are to offer salvation to everyone because we are told to do it and because we have ample biblical examples to that effect. We must say as Ezekiel, “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezek. 33:11). Or as Isaiah, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat” (Isa. 55:1). Or as Jesus, “Come to me, all you who are weary and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). This is our great commandment and pattern.
The second answer is that, strictly speaking, the gospel is not so much an offer that people may politely accept or refuse according to their own pleasure as it is a command to turn from sin to Jesus. We have gotten into the habit of making the gospel into an offer because this is more socially acceptable in our culture, and God clearly uses our culturally conditioned efforts. But strictly speaking, the gospel is not something lying around for people to take or leave as they choose. They are called to repent. We are to call them. Only after they repent and turn to Christ can we know that they are those for whom Christ died.
Spurgeon was a great Calvinist. He believed in limited atonement. But it did not stop him from being one of the most effective evangelists of his age. He did not lie; he did not say, “Because you all are elect, Christ died for you.” It was enough to say, “You are a sinner, and Jesus died for sinners just like you and me. If you would be saved, repent and believe the gospel.”
God honors truth. Therefore, we will speak the truth. And what a wonderful truth this is! We proclaim not a mere possibility of salvation, but salvation itself. We preach that Jesus died for his people. He actually died in their place. He propitiated the wrath of God for them. He reconciled them to God. He redeemed them from the terrible bondage of their own guilt and wickedness. He is therefore a sufficient and suitable Savior. If he is your Savior, you will certainly come to him. Will you not come now? Do not say, “But I am not one of the elect.” You do not know that. Just come to Jesus. Jesus has done everything necessary to save sinners. Are you a sinner? Then come to Jesus. He is the Savior. Come!

Boice, J. M. (2005). The Gospel of John: an expositional commentary (pp. 1525–1548). Baker Books.

23 Dec 2025 News Briefing

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A Christmas Message? A “Bomb Cyclone” That Will Slam Into California On Christmas Eve Will Cause 100 MPH Winds And Up To 120 Inches Of Snow
To say that some parts of California are going to experience a “white Christmas” this year would be an enormous understatement. Some of the numbers that I am going to share with you in this article are difficult to believe, but I did not come up with any of them. Respected meteorologists are issuing forecasts that seem like they have been pulled directly out of a Hollywood disaster movie. How much crazier will things have to get before people start to realize that what we are experiencing is not even close to normal?

Strong M6.5 earthquake hits eastern New Guinea, Papua New Guinea
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.5 hit Papua New Guinea on December 22, 2025. EMSC is reporting M6.4 at a depth of 88 km (55 miles). There is no tsunami threat.

Floods, heavy snow, and blizzards kill at least eight across 25 provinces in Iran
At least eight people have died after heavy snow, floods, and blizzards affected more than 25 provinces in Iran between December 15 and 21, 2025, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.

Silver And Copper Are Both Flashing The Same Signal — And That Is Setting The Stage For Widespread Panic On Wall Street
2025 has been a smashing year for those invested in precious metals. The price of copper is up about 30% since start of the year, and the price of silver has risen 128% during that time. I’ve been saying “we have never seen anything like this before” a lot lately, but this is another case where that’s entirely true. Needless to say, what we’ve been witnessing isn’t welcome news for those trying to keep silver and copper prices suppressed. In recent weeks, big losses have turned into bigger losses. The big financial institutions in the Western world attempting to suppress prices are fighting a losing battle because the “AI revolution” will require vast amounts of physical silver and physical copper. At this stage, it would take a truly apocalyptic event to stop construction of the thousands of colossal data centers currently going up all over the globe.

Texas as the Test Case: $25M+ Muslim Brotherhood-Linked Islamic Fortress Rises At UT Austin—Model For Sharia Campuses Within U.S. Universities
The University of Texas at Austin is being used as the proving ground for a Saudi-seeded, Muslim Brotherhood–aligned Islamic infrastructure project centered on the Nueces Mosque, designed to surround university students with mosque-controlled worship, housing, education, finance, and behavioral enforcement, and promoted as a repeatable Sharia-governed campus model nationwide.

Holy Awakening Gains Momentum As Biblical ‘David’ Film Soars At Box Office
A revival appears to be taking shape in the US, with a noticeable resurgence of religious interest among young men and women that emerged during President Trump’s “America First” campaign and intensified following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Pilot reports UFO hovering beside jet, leaving air traffic control stunned: ‘Good luck with the aliens’
A pilot in a Piper PA-32RT-300T Turbo Lance II over Rhode at 3,500 feet spotted a small silver cylinder hovering near right wing tip. – The pilot radioed air control at T.F. Green International Airport, describing it as stationary with no attachments, ruling out drone or balloon.

The Drumbeats Of War Are Getting Louder
Hundreds of millions of people all over the western world are enjoying the holiday season as if nothing has changed. Meanwhile the pounding of war drums continues to intensify. If the world keeps going down this path, next year’s holiday season could look completely different. Unfortunately, most people seem to assume everything will magically work out just fine somehow. That greatly frustrates me because ignoring the reality of the crisis we’re facing is not going to fix anything. If ordinary citizens in the Western world truly understood what was at stake, they’d be going completely ballistic. Global war is rapidly approaching, but the vast majority of our entertainment-addicted population doesn’t seem to get this.

Lord Falconer says pregnant women should be able to choose assisted suicide
“In a stunning moment in the UK House of Lords, Lord Charles Leslie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, stated that “pregnancy should not be a bar” to assisted suicide.”

Holy Awakening Gains Momentum As Biblical ‘David’ Film Soars At Box Office
Mojo’s data showed that David was in 3,118 theaters and earned …

23 Dec 2025

Headlines – 12/23/2025

Christmas Is Back in Bethlehem, but Peace and Joy Have Yet to Arrive

Illegal settlement expansion: How Israel is redrawing occupied West Bank – Israel’s approval of 19 new settlements stands to redraw the occupied West Bank, undermining prospect of two-state solution

Ex-Saudi intel chief to ToI: Riyadh will consider normalization when Israel acts normally – In very rare engagement with Israeli media, Prince Turki bin Faisal says kingdom won’t forge ties with Israel without ‘resolution to Palestinian issue entailing two-state solution’

In Gaza and Ukraine, Trump again leaning on Jared Kushner for difficult diplomacy – US president’s son-in-law, key figure in 2020 Abraham Accords but absent at start of Trump’s 2nd term, now teaming up with Steve Witkoff to tackle difficult conflicts

Kushner and Witkoff Reportedly Draft $112B Plan to Turn Gaza Into ‘Smart City’ With Beach Resorts, High-Speed Rail, and AI Grids – U.S. Pushes Back on Claims It Would Foot $60B

Visiting Gaza, region’s top Catholic official says there’s no hunger anymore, urges pressure on Hamas

Netanyahu: Politically appointed Oct 7 inquiry must probe Oslo deal, Gaza disengagement

AG Baharav-Miara opposes gov’t’s plans to establish ‘political’ commission of inquiry into Oct 7 failures

3 arrested in protest at PM’s office as backers of state Oct. 7 probe vow ‘week of rage’

Majority of Jews in Britain Considering Leaving Country Amid Rising Antisemitism: Poll

Antisemitic attack in Turkey targets Jews on way to Hanukkah event: ‘I don’t want Zionists in my country’

JD Vance is ‘walking a tightrope’ on raging Israel debate within MAGA

JD Vance: Anti-Israel sentiment ‘backlash’ to US foreign policy, not antisemitism

At least 20% of Mamdani appointees have ties to anti-Zionist groups, ADL says – New York City mayor-elect’s transition committee picks have said that ‘Zionism is racism’ and Zionists are worse than Nazis, according to report

Israeli government approves controversial closure of Army Radio after 75 years at a time of mounting concerns over press freedom

Bennett: Qatargate is ‘most serious act of treason’ in Israeli history, PM must resign – Opposition leaders echo former premier’s words, after news report sheds light on Netanyahu aides’ alleged work for Qatar while in Israeli premier’s employ

Former spy Jonathan Pollard: Israel sent a man to convince me to kill myself: ‘Why don’t you just do the right thing and we’ll bring you home, give you a nice burial on Mount Herzl’

5 settlers arrested for allegedly attacking Palestinian shepherd, killing his sheep

Haredim block traffic on Route 4 in protest of arrests of draft-dodgers – Police say protesters called them ‘Nazis’; female motorist confronts Haredi crowd, prompting cries of ‘Shiksa!’

IDF: Strike kills 3 Hezbollah operatives, including one who served in Lebanese army

Gantz: Israel needs to prevent Iran from restocking missiles – Iran ballistic drill may mask attack, Israel warns U.S.

Huckabee: Iran ‘didn’t get the full message’ when US bombed its nuclear sites – US ambassador addresses reports the Islamic Republic is rebuilding its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, worrying Jerusalem; Tehran says missiles are nonnegotiable

The eighth, most dangerous front: How Turkey went from ally to strategic threat – opinion

Netanyahu uses summit of Israel, Greece, Cyprus leaders to send warning to Turkey – Participants at trilateral Jerusalem summit agree to boost cooperation in eastern Mediterranean; PM says the three countries can defend against those trying to ‘recreate empire’

Turkey’s Erdogan issues threats as Israel hosts PMs of Greece & Cyprus for summit in Jerusalem – ‘Alliance between Israel, Greece & Cyprus is an anchor of regional stability’ says Netanyahu

Clashes flare as top Turkish officials visit Syria ahead of deadline for Kurdish integration – Two civilians were killed and eight were wounded by shelling in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported

Syrian army, Kurdish-led SDF agree to stop deadly fighting in Aleppo – At least two people killed in clashes in northern city of Aleppo during Turkish FM Fidan’s visit to Syria

Kurdish-led SDF cooperating with Israel in Syria, Turkish FM Hakan Fidan claims – Turkish forces working in tandem with Israel claimed that the partnership is actually a major obstacle to ongoing negotiations with Damascus

Several settler activists breach border into Syria, are returned to Israel by IDF

A year post-Assad, Syrian jails are again filling up, with widespread accounts of abuse

George W. Bush Institute Urges Americans to Sympathize with Afghans After D.C. National Guard Attack

President Announces Plans for New ‘Trump Class’ Warships

Trump Announces U.S. Building World’s Largest Battleships for ‘Golden Fleet’

How U.S. Defense Industry Dodged a Rare-Earth Shortage After China’s Curbs

China quietly loads 100+ ICBMs into new missile silos near Mongolia – Report claims China accelerating military buildup with Beijing on track to exceed 1,000 warheads by 2030

Trump Says It Would Be ‘Smart’ for Venezuela’s Maduro to Step Down

Russia evacuates diplomats’ families from Venezuela as US seizes oil tankers

China says US seizure of ships ‘serious violation’ of international law

Gustavo Petro Challenges Trump and Demands “Returning” Texas to Mexico: Geopolitical and Strategic Risks over Oil and U.S. Sovereignty

Russian general killed in Moscow car bomb explosion in suspected assassination after he was personally promoted by Putin – He was the head of the Department of Operational Training of the Russian armed forces

Finland Says To Raise Reservist Age To 65 to strengthen the country’s military preparedness towards any threat posed by neighbouring Russia

Rubio and Witkoff ‘locked in power struggle over Ukraine’ – US secretary of state understood to have become frustrated at peace envoy for cutting him out of talks

European Council Accuses Iran of Involvement in Ukraine War

Trump’s appointment of envoy to Greenland sparks new tension with Denmark

Trump says US ‘has to have’ Greenland after naming special envoy

The EU could be gone in four years: A revolutionary eruption is coming – In 1988, if you had told anyone that the Soviet Union would cease to exist just four years later, you would have been dismissed as a crank

Major signs of another coming Dark Age – collapsing the West could make history repeat

Gold, Silver Prices Reach New Highs to Reemerge as Hedge

France rushes emergency budget law to avert shutdown after talks collapse

Democrats renew government shutdown threat as tensions flare with Trump

Santas and elves rob Montreal grocery store to ‘give food to the needy’ – Group called Robins des Ruelles later said in statement stunt was intended to highlight cost of living crisis

One ‘Jane Doe’ tells CNN she is mortified that her name is unredacted multiple times in the Epstein files

Trump complains Epstein files are damaging people who ‘innocently met’ him

Victims, lawmakers pan Epstein files’ slow release; Trump urges privacy for the blameless – US president says highly respected people met innocently with pedophile financier over the years, but a photo of them can ruin reputations

Bill Clinton spokesperson says they don’t need ‘protection,’ asks for release of all Epstein files

Bill Clinton Spokesman Accuses DOJ of Cover-Up

DOJ releases shocking fake video of Jeffrey Epstein suicide as part of file dump

“I Have a List in My Head” – Anonymous Deep State Prosecutor Admits DOJ will Retaliate Against Trump Admin Officials as Soon as Democrats Take Back the White House

The Atlantic: CBS and CNN Are Being Sacrificed to Trump – Media conglomerates want the president’s permission for mergers—and control of news outlets is at stake

Spotify Says Piracy Activists Hacked Its Music Catalogue

Her ‘Game of Thrones’ GIF shut down a city meeting. She ‘lost everything’ – The incident has sparked a debate among free speech experts about government overreach and the protection of political commentary

Boys at her school shared AI-generated, nude images of her. After a fight, she was the one expelled

She Fell in Love With ChatGPT. Then She Ghosted It. The 29-year-old woman who created the “MyBoyfriendIsAI” community on Reddit isn’t dating (or sexting) her A.I. boyfriend anymore.

Why one of the godfathers of AI says he lies to chatbots

Extremists are using AI voice cloning to supercharge propaganda. Experts say it’s helping them grow – Researchers warn generative tools are helping militant groups from neo-Nazis to the Islamic State spread ideology

AI Robot: Chinese humanoid robots could be a ‘Trojan Horse’ inside West & turned against their masters by Xi with just one word

Little-known underground salt caverns could slow the AI boom and its thirst for power

China Delays Plans for Mass Production of Self-Driving Cars After Accident

Pentagon taps Musk’s xAI to boost sensitive government workflows, support military operations – Grok will be deployed across systems serving 3 million military and civilian personnel by early 2026

Uganda restricts imports of Starlink equipment weeks before election – The opposition fears the government will again impose an internet blackout

An exploded Starlink satellite is orbiting Earth right now – It’ll fall back down to Earth soon

Japan H3 rocket failure costs nation its navigation satellite as second setback threatens ambitious Mars mission

This Fungus Grew Inside Chernobyl’s Nuclear Reactor, Feeding on Radiation, Now NASA Wants to Use It for Space Travel

Pilot reports UFO hovering beside jet, leaving air traffic control stunned: ‘Good luck with the aliens’ – Pilot reportedly told ATC the cylindrical object appeared to be ‘standing still’ with nothing attached to it

5.2 magnitude earthquake hits near Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea

5.2 magnitude earthquake hits near Oyama, Japan

5.1 magnitude earthquake hits near Pirallahi, Azerbaijan

Reventador volcano in Ecuador erupts to 17,000ft

Purace volcano in Colombia erupts to 17,000ft

Semeru volcano in Indonesia erupts to 15,000ft

Fuego volcano in Guatemala erupts to 15,000ft

Santa Maria volcano in Guatemala erupts to 14,000ft

Colorado Windstorm Causes 4.8 Microsecond Glitch in Official US Time – A destructive windstorm disrupted the power supply to more than a dozen atomic clocks that keep official time in the United States

Cat Lost for 443 Days After Hurricane Helene Reunited with Family with the help of a feline microchip

At least 1 killed as Northern California battered by rain, major Christmas flood threat looms for Los Angeles

Floods, heavy snow, and blizzards kill at least eight across 25 provinces in Iran

Snow blankets Saudi Arabia’s deserts for first time in 30 years

‘Rusting rivers’ threatening Alaska’s Arctic after years of permafrost thaw, wildfires

New Report Warns of Looming Water Crisis in Colorado River Basin Impacting Millions Across Seven States and Mexico

Major incident declared after canal bank failure creates sinkhole near Whitchurch, Shropshire, UK

At least 5 dead after Mexican Navy plane crashes in Galveston amid foggy conditions

The Doomsday Glacier Is Getting Closer and Closer to Irreversible Collapse

Trump Administration Halts Offshore Wind Farms, Citing National Security

Christians Being Slaughtered in Burkina Faso – Jihadist Violence on the Rise

Janitor at Brown University Warned Campus Security Multiple Times in Weeks Leading up to Shooting – “He’d Been Casing That Place for Weeks”

Trump’s DOJ Sues Washington, D.C. Police Department Over Unconstitutional Ban on Semi-Automatic Firearms

Australian state poised to approve sweeping new gun laws, protest ban

42 Years Later, DNA Evidence Solves Case of 5 Texans Kidnapped from a KFC Restaurant and Executed After Robbery

Driver Plows Car Into Crowd During Christmas Light Parade in the Netherlands, Leaving More Than 10 People Injured

Minneapolis: ICE Agents Open Fire After Illegal Alien Plows SUV Into Them, Bites Officer

Minnesota Democrats Keep Funding Somali Nonprofit after Chairman Arrested for $9 Million Fraud

Nearly 100 Minnesota Mayors Send Panicked Letter to Lawmakers Complaining About Fraud Scandal and the Leadership of Tim Walz

Miss Universe Mogul Implicated in Arms Pipeline from Guatemala Supplying CJNG, Mexico City Cartels

US military kills ‘narco-terrorist’ in eastern Pacific strike

Dem Rep. Sherman: Going After Tankers May Be Legal, But I Worry We’ll Turn Venezuela ‘Into a Failed State’

Homan: There Will Be More Bloodshed if ‘Hateful Rhetoric’ Against ICE Continues

60 Minutes Correspondent Slams Bari Weiss’s ‘Political Decision’ to Axe Her Trump Deportations Report in Stunning Internal Memo

Here’s the 60 Minutes Segment Trump and CBS News Executives Don’t Want You to See – Hours before it was set to air last night, CBS News executives pulled the segment, but Canada’s Global TV app received it prior to broadcast

DHS Offers Illegal Immigrants a $3,000 ‘Holiday Stipend’ for Self-Deportation

DHS Triples Reward For Illegal Aliens Who Self-Deport Over Christmas – Will Now Receive $3,000, Free Flight Home and Wiping of Immigration Record

Pope Leo appoints pro-immigration bishop to diocese home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago – Rev Manuel de Jesus Rodriguez says he wants to ‘help’ Trump on immigration policy but opposes deporting children

Undocumented 12-year-old accused of back-to-back armed robberies at Florida park

Some central Ohio schools shutter for low attendance amid ICE activity

Missing children saved from trafficking during ‘Operation Northern Lights’

Ecuador soldiers sentenced to 34 years in prison for disappearing children – Sentencing caps yearlong investigation into abuse, disappearance of four children in Guayaquil amid crime crackdown

Uber Cleared Violent Felons to Drive. Passengers Accused Them of Rape – The ride-hailing giant’s background check process was intended to speed drivers onto its network while keeping costs down, internal documents show

Mica Miller case: South Carolina pastor charged with allegedly cyberstalking wife for years before her death

Deranged Serial Assaulter Who Stabbed Elderly Seattle Woman in the Eye with Wooden Club Identifies as Transgender

Trans Convict Who Fatally Shot His Parents in the Head Converts to Islam, Requests Death Penalty but Gets 25 to Life

Trans instructor at Oklahoma University fired for flunking student’s viral Bible-based essay on gender

Health experts warn of ‘super flu’ surge as Christmas approaches

The US has signed a $2.1 billion health deal with Nigeria to combat diseases and protect Christians from persecution

RFK Jr. Tried to Wreck the Childhood Vaccine Schedule Over the Weekend

Charlie Kirk backed Nicki Minaj when Dems attacked her over Covid vax – now she’s live on stage at AmFest

Childbirth epidural kit shortage could last until March, officials say

Source: http://trackingbibleprophecy.org/birthpangs.php

Mid-Day Digest · December 23, 2025

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“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”

THE FOUNDATION

“May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us in all our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.” —George Washington (1790)

Publisher’s Note

At the end of each year, I ask my editors and staff to take leave between Christmas and New Year’s Day to be with their families. I want each team member to step back from the rigors of relentless daily deadlines so that they can begin January with a fresh perspective.

As always, I’ll remain on the wall with our Managing Editor, Nate, watching for any mischief from the adversaries of Liberty. Our News Editor, Jordan, will update our Right Opinion page daily, and our regular editions will return on January 2nd.

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis

Mark Alexander, Publisher
The Patriot Post

IN TODAY’S DIGEST

EXECUTIVE NEWS SUMMARY

The Editors

Weiss curbs “60 Minutes” propaganda: CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss pulled a segment of the “60 Minutes” program prior to its Sunday airing, citing her determination that “it needed additional reporting.” The segment in question focused on the Trump administration’s sending of hundreds of illegal aliens connected to violent criminal gangs to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador. It contains an interview with two illegal aliens who have since exited the prison, who said they endured “brutal and torturous conditions.” Reporter Sharyn Alfonsi, who spearheaded the segment, expressed frustration over Weiss’s last-minute decision, claiming, without evidence, that it was “political.” Meanwhile, Weiss defended her decision, noting that pulling segments that “lack sufficient context” or “are missing critical voices” is common and that the piece will run “when it’s ready.”
Wind farm leases paused: Yesterday, the Trump administration paused production on five offshore wind farms on the East Coast. The cited reason is radar “clutter” from wind farms that could obscure hostile vessels approaching the U.S. The Departments of the Interior, War, and other relevant agencies will work to solve the issue without raising the radar “false alarm” threshold, as that could miss genuine targets. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum pointed out that wind farms are not an efficient source of power generation: “ONE natural gas pipeline supplies as much energy as these 5 projects COMBINED.” New York Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul says the move is part of the administration’s “assault on clean energy.”

Trump-class battleships: President Donald Trump has announced that the Navy is building his new “Trump-class” battleship as well as a new class of aircraft carrier. A Navy team has developed and approved requirements for the new class of “large surface combatant,” according to a U.S. official. The Navy team planned the latest fleet to be better suited to counter China and manage the Western Hemisphere. To remain relevant in future battles, the ships need more firepower, meaning more missile-launching tubes and the ability to carry hypersonic weapons. The first ship in the Trump-class of battleships will be the USS Defiant. Construction would begin “almost immediately,” Trump said, and would take two and a half years. The new frigate will be based on the Coast Guard’s Legend-class National Security Cutter and will replace the Constellation-class frigate that the Navy canceled last month after years of delays.
DOJ sues DC over AR-15 ban: On Monday, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Washington, DC’s Metropolitan Police Department, accusing it of violating residents’ Second Amendment rights by effectively enforcing a ban on AR-15 rifles. “Washington, D.C.‘s ban on some of America’s most popular firearms is an unconstitutional infringement on the Second Amendment — living in our nation’s capital should not preclude law-abiding citizens from exercising their fundamental constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” Attorney General Pam Bondi explained. Included in the lawsuit is outgoing MPD Chief Pamela Smith. The lawsuit notes that DC has a pattern of denying residents their Second Amendment rights, even after the Supreme Court’s 2008 Heller decision. DC has admitted that its firearm registration requirement bans “assault weapons,” which include the AR-15.
98 Minnesota mayors ask Tim Walz to rein in fraud: A letter from numerous Minnesota mayors identifies the problem in their state without pulling any punches, saying the problem lies with “fraud, unchecked spending, and inconsistent fiscal management in St. Paul.” The mayors explain that this behavior in the capital has impeded their ability to maintain infrastructure, hire and retain employees, and “sustain core services without overburdening local taxpayers.” The state’s reckless fiscal policies have left schools, health and human services, and public safety as unfunded mandates. The mayors noted that the state is expected to run a $3 billion deficit for the 2028-2029 two-year period. The letter ends with an admonition for state lawmakers to remember “that every dollar you manage belongs not to the Capitol, but to the people of Minnesota.”
Polis backs Trump’s school choice plan: Colorado Governor Jared Polis became the first Democrat governor to embrace President Trump’s nationwide school choice program, established this year via the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. “I would be crazy not to,” Polis stated. Taking effect in 2027, the plan allows taxpayers across America to contribute up to $1,700 annually toward scholarships that will then be used to fund private school tuition, homeschooling materials, or other educational options. In turn, donors will receive dollar-for-dollar federal tax credits. This will apply to taxpayers across the nation, irrespective of whether their state agrees to participate in the program; the kicker, however, is that these school choice donations will only go to those states that participate. Resistant blue states will still be subsidizing the program, just not in their state. Numerous Republican governors have already lined up to join.

Appeals court sides with Washington U prof punished for mocking tribal land claims: A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court declared that the University of Washington violated the First Amendment by forcing a professor, Stuart Reges, to endorse the “University Land Acknowledgement” during the 2021-22 school year. The university investigated, reprimanded, and threatened disciplinary action against Reges after he repeatedly satirized the “Land Acknowledgement,” writing in his syllabus, “I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property, the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington.” Judge Daniel Bress explained that “offense in the university community” did not justify the school’s suspension of the professor. “Land acknowledgements are performative acts of conformity,” the professor wrote. “The 9th Circuit has affirmed that my parody was a reasonable way to participate in the discussion of this important topic.”
Angel Studios’ “David” impresses: Independent upstart Angel Studios arrived on the movie scene in 2023 with the successful “Sound of Freedom.” Last weekend, Angel released its second animated feature film of the year, “David,” which tells the classic Bible story of David and Goliath. “David’s” opening weekend beat previous Angel records with a $22 million haul — second only to “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” The musical stars Grammy-nominated artist Phil Wickham as David and has a 70% critic score and a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Headlines

Trump names Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as special envoy to Greenland (RedState)
Trump admin recalling around 30 ambassadors as part of State Dept. realignment (Fox News)
Ex-Senator Ben Sasse announces Stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis (NY Post)
Brown U janitor says he warned campus security about suspicious man twice in weeks leading up to mass shooting (NY Post)
Russian general killed by bomb under his car in Moscow (NBC News)
Nigeria secures release of another 130 Catholic kids that were kidnapped by jihadis (Not the Bee)
Humor: Texas issues annual reminder not to shoot Santa (Babylon Bee)

For the Executive Summary archive, click here.

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FEATURED ANALYSIS

Trump’s Impressive Accomplishments in 2025

Nate Jackson

“Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” President Donald Trump triumphantly declared last week. “In a few short months, we went from worst to best.”

I covered that speech at the time, but as we close out 2025, it seemed like a good idea to bullet point Trump’s work so far this year. I could complain about a few things, but I’ll refrain and instead focus on what he checked off his to-do list.

Inflation: The annual inflation rate recently hit 2.7%, down from a high of 9.1% under Joe Biden. Cumulative inflation across Biden’s disastrous tenure was nearly 25%, and it will take time to declare victory. But the next few bullets deal with actions he took for that purpose.
Regulation: Trump has moved to deregulate the federal government at a pace even faster than during his first term — 10 removed for every one implemented instead of two for every one. He blocked all unfinalized Biden regulations and rolled back many that were already in place. Repealing the EV mandate alone will have a considerable impact. Regulations are taxes, so removing them will slow the rise in the price of goods and services.
Tax cuts: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made permanent the tax rates enacted in Trump’s first term. Those tax cuts benefited every tax bracket, so if you pay federal income taxes, you pay a lower rate than you did under Barack Obama. Republicans also added a number of new items, like no taxes on tips, overtime, or Social Security income.
Foreign investment: Trump is a businessman at heart, and he has used tariffs to wheel and deal with other nations. Tariffs are not a panacea, and they do cost American consumers, but Trump has secured trillions in promised investment in America from foreign countries. That will create jobs and wealth in our nation.
Healthcare and prescriptions: Trump and the GOP have pitched alternatives to ObamaCare that could help rein in the exploding price of healthcare created by Democrats. One of Trump’s big moves was on prescription drugs. His Most Favored Nation plan will help reduce prices, and TrumpRx will allow for lower negotiated prices on many popular medications. There are 20 new VA clinics since Trump took office, too, helping Veterans with access to the care they need.
Energy: The Trump administration reinvigorated the first-term policies that led to an energy boom. Biden emptied our Strategic Petroleum Reserve when his policies led to record-high gas prices; Trump has done the opposite, and gas prices are back down to four-year lows. Overall, Trump’s energy policies will create a boom that will help us well into the future.
DOGE: The Department of Government Efficiency didn’t make the wholesale changes many folks hoped for, but it did begin reining in the bureaucracy and some wasteful spending. USAID is effectively gone, and so are roughly 271,000 government jobs. The Washington Post has a year-end retrospective on “The year Trump broke the federal government.” I’m not saying every bureaucrat is a bad person or does a poor job, but the federal apparatus was badly in need of breaking. The Post’s complaint should be a compliment.
DEI: The Trump administration has eliminated many of the “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies that race-obsessed Democrats implement all over the federal government. America and its government should be merit-based, not skin-color-based.
“Transgender” issues: The administration moved to withhold Medicaid funds from states and hospitals that conduct gender-mutilation experiments on minors. They are protecting “trans” kids. The administration also barred “transgender” individuals from military service.
Border security: More than any other issue save inflation, Biden’s open border created a humanitarian crisis that required hard work to fix. Biden lied, claiming his hands were tied without Congress. Trump proved that to be a lie by effectively closing the border to illegal alien entries and working at an accelerated pace to remove people who shouldn’t have broken our laws to get here. As Trump put it last week, “We inherited the worst border anywhere in the world, and we quickly turned it into the strongest border in the history of our country.” We didn’t need a new law. All we needed was a new president.
Foreign policy: Trump takes credit for a list of achievements, saying, “I’ve restored American strength, settled eight wars in 10 months, destroyed the Iran nuclear threat and ended the war in Gaza, bringing for the first time in 3,000 years, peace to the Middle East, and secured the release of the hostages, both living and dead.” American leadership has been restored in the world.

Obviously, this isn’t a comprehensive list of everything Trump has done this year, but he has been, to put it mildly, a busy man. 2025 presented numerous challenges, but Trump never shies away from meeting them.

Follow Nate Jackson on X.

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MORE ANALYSIS

Samantha Koch: The Nativity Is Not a Political Prop — At this time of year, it’s important to step back and truly consider what the Christmas story really teaches.
Douglas Andrews: An ICE-y Christmas for Illegals — Just in time for the holidays, Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security has tripled its self-deportation bonus to illegal aliens.
Jack DeVine: Presidential Success and an Achilles’ Heel — Our president does a great job of handling the big things, but we need him to avoid the ugly little miscues along the way.
Emmy Griffin: China’s Influence Campaign on the Democrats — From New York to California, Communist Chinese agents are worming their way into Democrat administrations and dictating U.S. policy.

Reader Comments

Editor’s Note: Each week we receive hundreds of comments and correspondences — and we read every one of them. Click here for a few thought-provoking comments about specific articles. The views expressed therein don’t necessarily reflect those of The Patriot Post.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion.

BEST OF VIDEOS

Fulton County Faces Election Lawsuit — Fulton County’s admission that more than 130 tabulator tapes were unsigned in 2020 has brought the spotlight back on Georgia’s election.
Why Can’t We All Agree that Anti-White Discrimination Is Wrong? — Rich Lowry explains why we should stop punishing white people in hiring and promoting practices in the name of racial “justice.”
‘Congress Is Literally Failing the American People’ — Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) sounded off on his party’s leadership.
Can AI Build Your Home? — Ryan Fink and Ty Frackiewicz discuss the growing role of Artificial Intelligence in homebuilding and construction — fields that have always depended on skilled tradespeople.
‘How Does It Benefit American Citizens to Bring These People Into Our Country?’ — Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) expressed opposition to allowing Afghan immigrants to come to the U.S.
Humor: The Grinch Makes Christmas Great Again — Parody, not affiliated at all with Dr. Seuss.

SHORT CUTS

Demagogue

“We’re very aware of the Trump administration and the horrors that they have done, but to do this — for CBS and for the new leadership there, which is clearly connected to folks in Trump’s orbit, to take this off the air and make that call — I mean, clearly, right now they are trying to take control of all of media.” —Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) after CBS pulled a “60 Minutes” report on CECOT

A Blind Squirrel Finds a Nut

“Donald Trump is not on Epstein’s list. There’s nothing in there that’s really damning about Donald Trump.” —MS NOW’s Joe Scarborough

For the Record

“Domestic terrorists, Islamic jihadists, violent criminals, and narco-terrorists are walking amongst us; only an idiot would seek to disarm legal, law-abiding citizens.” —Allen West

“Literally zero Republicans in 30 Yale departments when half the country is Republican is truly outrageous bigotry!” —Elon Musk

Upright

“You don’t attack widows. You just don’t do it. … Some women … mourn with quiet grace, saving their tears for the moments when they can be alone. Other women launch joyfully into life, seeking new relationships and new adventures. And others will do what Erika Kirk is doing, honoring her husband by continuing his work and keeping his name alive. She is a woman to admire, emulate and respect.” —Christine Flowers

“The only thing that has truly served as an anchor of the United States of America is that we have been, and by the grace of God we always will be, a Christian nation.” —Vice President JD Vance

“We won’t be silenced ever again. We will speak up for Christians wherever they are in this world.” —singer-songwriter Nicki Minaj

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TODAY’S MEME

For more of today’s memes, visit the Memesters Union.

ON THIS DAY in 1776, Thomas Paine published *The American Crisis*. It contained words that George Washington ordered be read to his troops on Christmas Eve before they crossed the Delaware River on the way to victory in Trenton: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered. Yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”

Netanyahu to Iran: ‘Harsh Response’ to Any Strike on Israel | CBN NewsWatch – December 23, 2025

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with regional allies to promote economic advancement and regional security. The U.S. military carried out another strike against a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean. With Christmas just 2 days away, the holiday travel rush has officially begun. AAA says they expect more than 120 million Americans to hit the roads, rails, and skies through New Year’s Day. Heading into the final days of Christmas shopping, sales are strong. This time of year, many of us are feeling the holiday rush, complete with all the stress that brings. A majority of the 80 million people worldwide who need a wheelchair can’t get one often due to poverty, remote locations, and limited supply chains.

Want more news from a Christian Perspective? Choose to support CBN: https://go.cbn.com/ugWBn

CBN News. Because Truth Matters™

Source: Netanyahu to Iran: ‘Harsh Response’ to Any Strike on Israel | CBN NewsWatch – December 23, 2025

Will the Ukraine War Ever End? | The NEWSMAX Daily (12/23/25)

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-Newsmax’s Rob Finnerty examines the critical choice the U.S. faces as the Russia–Ukraine war nears an end.
-On National Report, Rep. Greg Steube answers Sen. Rand Paul’s criticism of President Trump’s push against Venezuela.
-President Trump announces a powerful line of new battleships.
-Judge Andrew Napolitano: DOJ Epstein file release is ‘kind of a mess’
-“The Right Squad,” panel discusses DOJ records that show the FBI was warned about Jeffrey Epstein as early as 1996.
-Newsmax’s Greg Kelly slams Democrats for their outrage over renaming the Kennedy Center.

Source: Will the Ukraine War Ever End? | The NEWSMAX Daily (12/23/25)

Student-loan borrowers in default are set to see their paychecks garnished in early January | Business Insider

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President Donald Trump’s administration is resuming wage garnishment for defaulted student-loan borrowers in early January.Doug Mills – Pool/Getty Images

The Education Department confirmed that wage garnishment is resuming for defaulted student-loan borrowers.
About 1,000 borrowers will receive garnishment notices the week of January 7, the department said.
It follows the department’s resumption of collections on defaulted student loans in May 2025.

Student-loan borrowers behind on payments could soon start seeing smaller paychecks.

President Donald Trump’s Department of Education confirmed to Business Insider on Tuesday that it will begin sending wage garnishment notices to defaulted student-loan borrowers in early January. The Washington Post was the first to report this update.

The department said that notices will go out to approximately 1,000 defaulted student-loan borrowers the week of January 7, and the notices “will increase in scale on a month-to-month basis.” The garnishment occurs only after borrowers have received notice and an opportunity to repay their loans, the department said.

This update follows the department’s announcement in April that it would restart collections on defaulted student loans in May, after a five-year pause. Over 5 million student-loan borrowers are in default, according to department data, which typically occurs after a federal borrower has payments that are more than 270 days past due.

More could soon enter default status — TransUnion reported 5.8 million newly delinquent borrowers in April, or over 90 days past due, meaning that if those borrowers don’t make payments, they could enter default and have their wages seized, in addition to withheld tax refunds and federal benefits like Social Security.

How student-loan borrowers in default can return to good standing

Borrowers in default have options to return to good standing, but they can be time-consuming and complicated. One option is loan rehabilitation, which requires a borrower to contact their servicer and sign an agreement to make nine payments within 20 days of the due date over a period of 10 consecutive months. Wage garnishment would continue during rehabilitation, but upon completion, the default status would be removed from the borrower’s credit report.

Another option is loan consolidation. During this process, a borrower can apply to consolidate their defaulted student loan into a federal direct loan, but the record of default would remain on the borrower’s credit history.

Linda McMahon, Trump’s education secretary, said when the collection resumption was first announced that the goal of the policy isn’t “to be unkind to student borrowers.”

“Borrowing money and failing to pay it back isn’t a victimless offense,” McMahon said. “Debt doesn’t go away; it gets transferred to others.”

Read the original article on Business Insider

Source: Student-loan borrowers in default are set to see their paychecks garnished in early January

Gas prices fall to four-year lows as millions embark on holiday road trips

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The average price of unleaded gasoline in the U.S. is at its lowest since 2021, according to AAA.

Source: Gas prices fall to four-year lows as millions embark on holiday road trips

Surprise, Surprise

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Is there any reason at all to be surprised that everything seen through the myopic eyes of socialist Democrats has a racial component? The favorite card of the racist socialist Democrat Party is the race card. The very foundational roots of the Democrat Party are racist roots. They always have been and always will be.

Source: Surprise, Surprise

Over 5 Million Dirty Voter Names Cleaned from Voter Rolls!

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READ: https://www.judicialwatch.org/names-cleaned-from-voter-rolls/ Judicial Watch analysis and use of voter registration lists has led to lawsuits and legal actions under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) that have resulted in the removal of five million names from voter rolls in nearly a dozen states and localities over the last several years.

Source: Over 5 Million Dirty Voter Names Cleaned from Voter Rolls!

Intercession 5.3 | ESV

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PURSUING THE PRIZE REQUIRES A PROPER MOTIVATION

Striving for the Living Christ

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Originally published December 22, 2015

Called Out of Darkness Into Light

The Clean for the Unclean

Given, Not Earned

Faithful Messengers for God’s Glory

Hear, Believe, Respond

Do Tell

O Worship the King

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No Death like Jesus’ Death

Why Did Jesus Die?

“It Is Finished”

For Whom Did Christ Die?

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Headlines – 12/23/2025

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IN TODAY’S DIGEST

EXECUTIVE NEWS SUMMARY

Headlines

FEATURED ANALYSIS

MORE ANALYSIS

Reader Comments

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

BEST OF VIDEOS

SHORT CUTS

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How student-loan borrowers in default can return to good standing

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