Truth For Life Blog

Wallpaper: Temptation

TFL — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 05:00:00 GMT

“There is no period in the Christian life when we are exempt from temptation.”
—Alistair Begg

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2 Timothy: Guarding the Truth: A Verse-By-Verse Bible Study from Alistair Begg

TFL — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 05:00:07 GMT

The apostle Paul wrote 2 Timothy during a time when believers faced growing pressure to compromise their faith. Many of his ministry partners had deserted him, and people who previously had claimed Christ were being deceived by false teachers and falling away.

Facing execution, Paul encouraged Timothy, his son in the faith, with a message that remains just as urgent for us today: How do Christians stand firm when following Christ is costly?

2 Timothy: Guarding the Truth, a new ESV verse-by-verse study from Truth For Life and Alistair Begg, takes readers through Paul’s final letter to learn what it means to guard the Gospel, rely on God’s Word in every situation, and entrust it to faithful believers who can then teach others.

Throughout this twelve-week study, you’ll explore:

the Gospel’s role in suffering
the sufficiency of Scripture
why sound doctrine is key to living a holy life
the urgency of passing on the truth to the next generation
what it means to finish the race well

Each lesson also contains thought-provoking questions and readings from Psalms and hymns to inspire worship.

2 Timothy: Guarding the Truth is designed to inspire encouragement and discussion in small groups or to be used by individuals to gain a deeper understanding of Paul’s message. Readers will finish the study better equipped to stand firm in God’s truth, boldly proclaim the Gospel, and encourage fellow believers to persevere in Christ.

Request your copy of the 2 Timothy: Guarding the Truth verse-by-verse Bible study when you donate to Truth For Life today.

What Book of the Bible Has Had the Most Influence on Alistair Begg?

TFL — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 05:00:04 GMT

Teaching in the UK in August

Dear Friend,

Warmest Christian greetings from the land of my birth. It is always heartening to hear from those of you who, having found your way to Scotland, return with happy recollections of time spent here. It was in Scotland that I heard the Gospel from Sunday school teachers and Bible class leaders under whose influence I trusted in Christ. When my family moved to England, those teachers presented me with a Bible. The verse inscribed in it was 2 Timothy 2:15 in the King James Version:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

At that time as a fifteen-year-old boy, I understood what Paul’s word to Timothy meant but had no inkling of how important it would prove to be in my own life. When I am asked if I have a favorite book of the Bible, my usual answer is 2 Timothy. It has charted my course in pastoral ministry, and it was no surprise to me to learn that I make frequent reference to Paul’s letters to his protégé. I learned just recently the extent to which this is true: Since December of 1991, I’ve preached forty-two times from 1 Timothy and ninety-six times from 2 Timothy—a total of 138 sermons!

As he neared the end of his earthly pilgrimage, the apostle Paul urged Timothy to “be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” He had fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith, and he knew that it was imperative that Timothy guard the good deposit of the Gospel and entrust it to others who would pass it on. I suppose this forms the basis for the Basics Conference, which by the time you read this letter will have taken place in Southern California. We gather on these occasions to exhort and encourage one another to run the race marked out for us.

It is in keeping with this emphasis that we offer this month a verse-by-verse Bible study on (no surprise!) 2 Timothy and, along with that, a really helpful, practical, and encouraging book from our friend Christopher Ash. The title says it all—Not Old, Not Young, Not Done: Following Jesus in Your 50s and 60s. Of course, there is no need to wait until we are of that vintage, as what we are becoming in our early years is laying a foundation for the future.

During the last couple of months, it has been wonderfully encouraging to meet so many for whom Truth For Life is an important supplement to the steady diet they are receiving in their local churches. Be quick to thank your pastors who are preaching the Word “in season and out of season,” and undergird them with your prayers.

As aye with my love in the Lord Jesus,

Alistair

Soldier, Athlete, Farmer: Pictures of the Patient Pastor

TFL — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 05:00:00 GMT

While Jesus was masterful at sermon illustrations (in His case, often through parables), the apostle Paul wasn’t half bad either. In 2 Timothy 2:3–7, he uses a series of three illustrations to show his protégé, Timothy, what it means to be a pastor and a Gospel minister:

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

By pointing out the devotion of the soldier, the discipline of the athlete, and the diligence of the farmer, Paul highlights three key aspects of Gospel ministry. In doing so, he urges Timothy, and anyone who has followed in Timothy’s footsteps, to patient, disciplined service to the Lord.

The Devotion of the Soldier

A good soldier in any army has to be willing to take his share of suffering and remain focused on the objective. Military service is not about attending parties in dress uniform. It is a matter of life and death, and it involves training, preparation, and readiness in keeping with those stakes.

Thus, as Paul reminds us, the soldier is not to be “entangled in civilian pursuits.” And as it is with the soldier, so it is with the pastor. It’s not that ministers of the Gospel are to cease being in the world (John 17:15). Rather, as we remain in the world, all of our goals and concerns must be subservient to the overarching goal of serving Christ. In other words, we are to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”¹

Wartime metaphors have been out of style in pulpits for some time. Many of us would be hard-pressed to recall the last time we sang “Onward, Christian Soldiers” with our congregation. But let’s not be put off by the cultural moment! In invoking this image, Paul is not encouraging us to the violence of war but to the devotion of a good soldier to his or her commanding officer. One old children’s chorus puts it well:

The Lord has need of me;

His soldier I will be.
He gave Himself my life to win,
And so I mean to follow Him
And serve Him faithfully.
So although the fight be fierce and long,
I’ll carry on—He makes me strong.
And then one day His face I’ll see,
And oh, the joy when He says to me,
“Well done, my brave crusader!”²

The Gospel minister loves the Lord Jesus, and so he suffers for Him—not only from the assaults of the enemy but also through the diligence of faithful service.

The Discipline of the Athlete

Paul’s emphasis on “the rules” for the athlete points to the regulations involved in running a race. Athletes compete according to the rules, or else they face disqualification. A bad drug test will quickly strip away all the glory of a victory.

Some today teach the dangerous notion that once a person has discovered the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, any mention of rules is an intrusion into the freedom that is enjoyed in Christian living. This is woefully inconsistent with the biblical witness. We know that the Christian is not under the law as a way of justification and that Christ has fulfilled the law for us. At the same time, we know that in Christ, we are given a new ability to obey the law, and our new freedom is expressed in glad obedience to His commands—that is, freedom from sin and freedom to do what is right. As the Westminster Confession says, “The Spirit of Christ subdu[es] and enabl[es] the will of man to do that freely, and cheerfully, which the will of God, revealed in the law, requireth to be done.”³

Pastor and hymn writer George Matheson captured the counterintuitive nature of this reality in one of his verses:

Make me a captive, Lord,
And then I shall be free;
Force me to render up my sword,
And I shall conqueror be.
I sink in life’s alarms
When by myself I stand;
Imprison me within Your arms,
And strong shall be my hand.⁴

Pastors are to model this kind of obedience to the church. Paul had urged Timothy in another place to “set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12). The pastors whom Timothy raises up, too, are to be “above reproach” (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:6–7), committed to and consistent in the kind of godly behavior to which Christ calls every Christian. They are not to “profess to know God, but … deny him by their works” (Titus 1:16). Running the race with scorn for the regulations will ultimately bring disgrace.

The Diligence of the Farmer

Compared with the other two illustrations, farming carries little sense of drama. The daily routine of the farmer on arable soil is just plain old practical hard work. It is a picture of patient and diligent perseverance. It is, as William Carey described it, “plodding”: “I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit.”⁵

Christian ministry is not a leap from one spectacular victory to another; it is a matter of faithfully getting up in the morning to plow the land and sow the seed in the expectant hope that God will make it grow (1 Cor. 3:7). This is a hard word for our instantaneous world. You may sit with a young man or woman early in the morning over coffee and read the Scriptures together, half asleep, and think little has been gained by it. Yet years later you may find that God has sprouted those seeds into Christian maturity.

But if it is a hard word, it should also be an encouraging one for pastors who feel their ministry is seemingly unfruitful. The seed planted today will take time to grow, and some seeds may not grow in our place or in our lifetime. Many of the greatest joys of faithful, plodding pastors will be posthumous joys—seeing that seeds planted in their time and place bore fruit for eternity.

This takes hard work. The gifted pastor should never add laziness or pride to his giftedness. Yet simple gifts exercised with humble diligence will produce more than we had imagined, if we remain faithful to do the work.

“Think Over What I Say”

Paul’s illustrations present us with an opportunity for reflection, with the promise of the Lord’s help—as Paul tells Timothy explicitly: “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” As we come to the Scriptures and don’t merely read them but think about them, meditating on them “day and night” (Ps. 1:2), we will find that God blesses the effort and gives understanding. In these three illustrations from Paul, there is wisdom that will sustain the pastor through difficult seasons of ministry—if we are willing to think about them, pray over them, and allow the Spirit to guide our responses and actions.

This article was adapted from the sermon “Proclaiming Boldly, Suffering Bravely” by Alistair Begg.

Matthew 6:33 (ESV). ↩︎
Cecil John Allen, “The Lord Hath Need of Me (High Barnet Crusaders’ Chorus)” (1934). ↩︎
The Westminster Confession of Faith 19.7. ↩︎
George Matheson, “Make Me a Captive, Lord” (1890). ↩︎
Quoted in Eustace Carey, Memoir of William Carey […] (Boston: Gould, Kendall and Lincoln, 1836), 417. ↩︎

Wallpaper: Glowing

TFL — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 05:00:00 GMT

“God loves to see the hearts of His people glowing toward Himself. ... Let us use texts of Scripture as fuel for our heart’s fire.”
—C. H. Spurgeon

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The Case for Trusting the Gospels

TFL — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 05:00:00 GMT

John Stott has said, “Nothing hinders evangelism … more than the widespread loss of confidence in the truth, relevance, and power of the Gospel.”¹ Even within the present framework of contemporary Christianity, there has been and continues to be an erosion of conviction as it relates to the exclusive claims of Jesus and, thus, the power of the Gospel.

Unbelief is not strictly a matter of facts. There is a strong moral and spiritual component, by which a lack of courage may draw Christians into the vortex of contemporary opinion, and a spiritual blindness may prevent men and women from ever being ready to listen. Yet the facts are on the Bible-believing Christian’s side, and they should give us confidence. If we neglect them, we neglect a powerful resource that God has provided.

In his first epistle, the apostle Peter writes that we are to be “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (3:15). One very basic line of argument that all Christians should be ready with is the evidence for the veracity of the Gospel accounts. The story about Jesus forms the backbone of Christian faith. It is also a frequent target of skeptics and critics. But contrary to popular assumptions, the evidence on the side of the Gospels is strong.

Eyewitness Accounts

In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we do not have a group of potential literary experts aiming to contribute complicated texts to theological journals. The key thing about the Gospel writers, as Donald Guthrie writes, is that “they themselves had experienced a remarkable transformation as a result of the stupendous events they related.”² They were ordinary men who had encountered the extraordinary power of Jesus and who determined, under the direction of God’s Holy Spirit, to write down the events as they had experienced them (or as they had heard them recounted by those who had) so that others might in turn come to believe in Jesus.

Each of the Gospels is based on eyewitness accounts. The Gospel of Luke is illustrative, because Luke is explicit that his Gospel—as well as the work of other unnamed writers—comes from the accounts of “those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word.” And it is on this basis that he set out to “write an orderly account” (Luke 1:1–3). Luke’s attention to historical details, too, challenges the claim that the Gospels are mythical or legendary works. (See, for example, 3:1–2.)

The Gospel writers were ordinary men who had encountered the extraordinary power of Jesus.

The most basic facts about Jesus are also confirmed by contemporary non-Christian historians. The Jewish historian Josephus describes Jesus as a miracle worker who was killed by Pontius Pilate and whom some witnessed risen from the dead.³ (Although the authenticity of this passage in Josephus is disputed, it may be partly authentic. Josephus also later mentions James as the brother of Jesus, which is in accordance with the biblical witness.)⁴ The Roman historian Tacitus affirmed that “Christus” had been killed by Pontius Pilate.⁵ Pliny the Younger wrote to the emperor Trajan about Christians who gathered to worship Christ as one would worship a god.⁶ Those touchpoints won’t prove to an unbeliever that Jesus is the living Christ, but they refute the prevalent idea that the story of Jesus is pure fiction.

Furthermore, the Gospel records appear within the lifetimes of people who saw and heard Jesus. (That’s not to mention 1 Corinthians 15:3–8, which provides a list of living eyewitnesses a mere twenty years after the resurrection.) The stories found in the Gospels were clearly circulating even before that. Thus, these accounts were falsifiable. As C. E. B. Cranfield writes, “Eyewitnesses, hostile as well as believing, survived through the period of oral tradition and their survival must have set limits to the community’s freedom to invent and embellish.”⁷

Relevant to this is the fact that the writers of the Gospels and their sources make much of Jesus, but they themselves don’t come across in the best light. Their own ministry and miracles are only barely touched upon (e.g., Luke 10:17), while their failures and blunders—not least of all their abandonment and denial of Jesus in the critical hour—seem to leap off the page. The most reasonable explanation for this presentation of themselves is that it’s simply the truth of what happened, and they all knew it.

The Manuscripts

One objection that is often leveled against the New Testament evidence is that the documents themselves have been altered—that we have copies of copies of copies of the Gospels, fixed up by corrupt churchmen along the way to serve their own interests.

In fact, the manuscript evidence for the Gospels is superlative. With regard to the textual transmission of the New Testament, John A. T. Robinson writes, “The wealth of manuscripts, and above all the narrow interval of time between the writing and the earliest extant copies, make it by far the best attested text of any ancient writing in the world.”⁸ For example, the earliest manuscript we have from Tacitus was written down in 850 AD in Germany, more than seven centuries after the death of the author. By contrast, the first complete New Testament, contained in the Codex Sinaiticus, is from the 300s AD, only three centuries after the death of Jesus, and closer still to the authors. And manuscripts for many individual New Testament books come from far earlier, including a fragment of the Gospel of John likely to be from the 100s AD.

The manuscript evidence for the Gospels is superlative.

Another objection that critics will often raise is that there are flagrant discrepancies between the many manuscripts of the New Testament texts. Apart from the incredible fact that there even are so many manuscripts, allowing us to catalogue discrepancies in the first place, we may also answer confidently that none of the existing differences between manuscripts is able to call into question the central doctrines of the Christian faith. They may make us question which word is the right one here or whether a passage ought really to be included there—and evangelical scholars do carefully study such questions—but they don’t leave us doubting the central assertion of the New Testament: that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Suffering Servant, the risen Christ, the returning King.

The Relevance and the Power

The Bible is nevertheless scrutinized more closely than any other ancient text. That is because of the claim it makes and the power with which it makes it. The Bible makes a claim not just about what happened or what someone wrote down two thousand years ago; it makes a claim on our very selves, calling us to repentance and obedience. And apart from making this claim, it has won the reverence of billions of people.

In other words, the reason you tend to find copies of Newsweek and Time at the grocery store calling the New Testament into question—but not Tacitus—is because the New Testament is profoundly relevant.

The Bible makes a claim not just about what happened or what someone wrote down two thousand years ago; it makes a claim on our very selves.

In the thoroughfares of life, in everyday interchange, if it comes up that you went to church and studied the Gospel of Mark, someone may say, “Well, why would you even waste your time on that?”

Tell them, “In the Gospel I discover that Jesus loves me.”

“Well,” they say, “that’s a lovely thought, in a lovely story. I’m sure that brings you comfort.”

Tell them, “It’s more than a thought! It’s more than a story! This is what I’m basing my whole life on—and I’m counting on the fact that this Bible is a trustworthy, reliable document. And there is evidence to show it.”

We need not feel embarrassed about what we believe. There’s no need for us to trudge along in blind faith. When we look, we will see that the Scriptures can stand up to our questions and give us confidence in the faith we confess. That ought to give us all the more reason to go out and proclaim it to others too!

This article was adapted from the sermon “The Beginning of the Gospel” by Alistair Begg.

John R. W. Stott, “The Biblical Basis of Evangelism,” in Let the Earth Hear His Voice, ed. J. D. Douglas (Minneapolis: World Wide, 1975), 69. ↩︎
Donald Guthrie, New Testament Introduction, 3rd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1973), 14. ↩︎
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 18.3.3 §63. ↩︎
Josephus, 20.9.2 §200. ↩︎
Tacitus, Annals 15.44. ↩︎
Pliny, Letters 10.96. ↩︎
C. E. B. Cranfield, The Gospel According to Saint Mark: An Introduction and Commentary, Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1959), 17. ↩︎
John A. T. Robinson, Can We Trust the New Testament? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), 36. ↩︎

Wallpaper: True Freedom

TFL — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 05:00:00 GMT

“True freedom is found in all of our Christian lives by obedience to what God has made absolutely clear in the Bible.”
—Alistair Begg

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Stand in Awe: How Reverence Transforms Our Worship and Our Lives

TFL — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 05:00:00 GMT

We don’t use the word reverence much anymore. For many, it suggests hushed voices, stern looks, or a list of rules about how to behave. Yet throughout Scripture, we’re called to worship God with reverence and wonder at His power, grace, and majesty. What does reverence actually look like, and how can our worship give God the glory He deserves?

Worship leader and singer/songwriter Laura Story explores this question in Stand in Awe: How Reverence Transforms Our Worship and Our Lives. As she explains, reverence is more than just respect; it begins with seeing God as He truly is.

Laura writes, “Reverence toward God is more than mere respect. It involves fundamental humility and self-forgetfulness—a sense that God is more important and greater than we are.”

Stand in Awe teaches that worship isn’t just about the songs we sing on Sunday morning; it’s a response to God’s character that shapes every aspect of our lives. Whether we’re having time alone with God, gathering at church, or serving others, we are to live with an attitude of humility that recognizes God’s greatness and authority.

Along the way, Laura helps readers recognize common misunderstandings about reverence and offers practical guidance for worship that keeps God—not ourselves—at the center.

Whether you’re leading worship, serving in the church, or desiring to glorify God more fully, Stand in Awe will help you cultivate a life of greater devotion and reverence for God and His Word.

Request your copy of Stand in Awe when you donate to Truth For Life.

Introducing Habakkuk: From “O Lord, How Long?” to “I Will Rejoice”

TFL — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 04:59:59 GMT

Among the twelve Minor Prophets in the Old Testament is the book of the prophet Habakkuk. His book is not “Minor” because it is unimportant; it is “Minor” because, as many modern readers will appreciate, it has only three brief chapters, which take about ten minutes to read—that is, if it doesn’t make you stop to think!

When it comes to obscure Old Testament books with funny names, we may be tempted to say the circumstances are so distant in time and space that they will have very little relevance to us. The truth, though, is that we are far closer than we realize when it comes to thinking about the moral and the spiritual conditions of the people of God as Habakkuk describes them. Few who have paid any attention to our modern world will not resonate with the prophet’s opening words:

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
So the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
so justice goes forth perverted. (Hab. 1:2–4)

Those of us who are troubled by violence and injustice in the world today will do well to read the book of Habakkuk and consider how God answers the prophet and addresses his problem.

The Prophet

You won’t find anything about Habakkuk anywhere else in the Old Testament. All we know of him personally—which is not much—we derive from these three chapters. Of course, as with all true preaching, the significance of the prophet is to be found not in who he is but in what he says. His biography is subservient to his “burden” (Hab. 1:1 KJV)—that is, his “oracle” (ESV).

Despite our preoccupations in twenty-first-century America with personalities, the message is always more significant than the man. We know more about some biblical prophets than others, but even when we do know, we don’t know much. What we know for certain is that when God spoke through them, their words were powerful and true.

Habakkuk had witnessed the kingdom of Judah, ruled from Jerusalem by King David’s heirs, degenerate from its godly origins and embrace myriad evils. Its northern neighbor, the kingdom of Israel, had already followed the same path, and it was ultimately overrun by the Assyrian Empire; its people were deported, and its future was blotted out. Now, as Habakkuk preached, Assyria’s day in the sun had passed, and another Near Eastern empire had arisen to take its place.

Habakkuk’s Problem

The problem that Habakkuk addressed was the discrepancy between revelation and experience. How could he reconcile what he knew of the character and purpose of a good and powerful God with all the evil he saw around him? He asked, in effect, “How can it possibly be that You, O God, are good and powerful, and yet violence, moral ineptitude, and chaos confront us at every point?” Where is God in the face of a collapsing economy, diminishing productivity, food shortage, violence, social injustice, and a wholesale disregard for God’s law? (“Wow!” someone says. “Maybe this isn’t as far removed from where we live as I thought.”)

This wasn’t an external problem but an internal one. Habakkuk saw that it was those who were within God’s family who were causing the trouble. When God had called them out of Egypt and established them, He’d intended to make them “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6). They were far, far away from living up to this ideal!

Given the bad things happening and God’s apparent inaction, Habakkuk asked, “Why do You make me look at injustice?” and “Why do You tolerate wrong?” These are questions that will be on the lips of every thoughtful believer today. “How long will this go on?” we ask. “And why is it that this good, moral, all-powerful God that we serve tolerates declension and moral rot among those who profess to be the followers of His Son?”

God’s Answer

God’s answer to Habakkuk was not what the prophet expected. God was not idly watching Judah descend into chaos. He was already at work, raising up the powerful and ruthless Babylonians to bring judgment upon His rebellious people (Hab. 1:5–11). The events that seemed to Habakkuk to be spinning out of control were actually unfolding under God’s sovereign hand.

That answer only raised another question: How could a holy God use a nation even more wicked than Judah to accomplish His purposes? Again, God assured Habakkuk that He remained in control. Babylon’s violence, injustice, and idolatry would not go unanswered. In time, the proud would fall, “the righteous” would “live by his faith” (Hab. 2:4), and “the earth” would “be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (v. 14).

Habakkuk received no promise that his circumstances would immediately improve. Instead, he received something better: a clearer vision of the God who ruled over His people and His world. And that changed his posture entirely. The prophet who began by crying impatiently, “How long?” ended by declaring that even if the crops failed and the fields produced no food, “yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:18).

God’s Eternal Purpose

The history of Habakkuk’s era was under God’s control—and that is true in every age. The events of our world are all tied to God’s eternal purpose in relationship to His kingdom. If we will keep our gaze there—focused on the Gospel, focused on King Jesus—then all of our cares and cancers, our disappointments and failures, our heartaches and heartbreaks and confusions may be brought under the all-embracing security of God’s sovereign purpose.

God understands when, like Habakkuk, we cry out, “How long, and why?” And the answer of His Word is finally given to us expressly in Jesus and in the triumph of revelation. On a Monday morning in our morbid world, we can sing with the hymn writer,

God is still on the throne,
And He will remember His own;
Though trials may press us and burdens distress us,
He never will leave us alone.
God is still on the throne,
He never forsaketh His own;
His promise is true; He will not forget you;
God is still on the throne.¹

This article was adapted from the sermon “How Long and Why?” and the series A Study in Habakkuk by Alistair Begg.

Kittie Louise Suffield, “God Is Still on the Throne” (1929). ↩︎

Wallpaper: Steadfast Love

TFL — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 04:45:00 GMT

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.”
Lamentations 3:22

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25 Years Later: Remembering 9/11

TFL — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 04:45:00 GMT

On September 11, 2001, the world watched in disbelief as a day of unimaginable tragedy unfolded. The terrorist attacks on the United States claimed thousands of lives, reshaped global events, and left a lasting mark on a generation. Twenty-five years later, the memories remain vivid, and the questions raised by that day continue to confront us: Where is God when evil strikes? How should we respond when our sense of security is shaken? And what hope is there in a world marked by suffering and uncertainty?

In the aftermath of 9/11, Alistair Begg turned to Scripture to consider these questions. Rather than offering easy answers, these messages point us to the unchanging character of God, the reality of sin and suffering, and the sure hope found in Jesus Christ.

As we mark the anniversary of 9/11, we are reminded that the fears and uncertainties exposed that day have not disappeared. The world remains a place of tragedy, loss, and unanswered questions. Yet the same God who was present in the midst of our grief then is present with us now. We invite you to revisit The Day That Changed the Modern World and consider the comfort and wisdom found in the unchanging truth of Scripture.

Wallpaper: Blessings

TFL — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 05:00:00 GMT

“When we receive Him, God the Father pours out all of the blessings and benefits of His fatherhood upon His adopted sons and daughters.”
—Alistair Begg

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What Jesus Wants from the Overachiever

TFL — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 04:59:59 GMT

Among the pitfalls of which Christians should be wary, surely one of the most prevalent in our day is the trap of a performance-driven life. For certain high achievers, contentment is hard to come by. Nothing is ever finished, done, or good enough—and it never will be. And while that sort of approach may lead to apparent success in academics, business, and so on, when we try to adopt it in the Christian life, we quickly make our faith little more than a long list of activities to do, lacking in life or spiritual health.

If we wish to have a vital faith, we need to think less in terms of achievement for Christ and more in terms of commitment to Christ. The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38–42 is helpful in this regard, challenging those of us who are overachievers to sit down and rethink our priorities.

Looking at Martha

Martha was an achiever, and for good reasons. She was a woman of hospitality. She loved the Lord Jesus and “welcomed him into her house” (v. 38). What a wonderful service to be involved in! This story reveals, though, that there is a point where the blessing of service becomes a liability without the proper attitude.

Martha was, on the one hand, distracted: “Martha was distracted with much serving” (v. 40). It wasn’t necessarily that the task of serving Jesus was too much for her; it was that she made more of it than was warranted. She wanted to do something special for Jesus—and her commitment kept her from acting like her sister Mary, who “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching” (v. 39).

At the same time, Martha was disgruntled. Seeing Mary at Jesus’ feet, she gave voice to her frustration, asking Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me” (v. 40). Many of us know this attitude in our own homes, where we’re not content simply to be busy at a task; we also need to find fault in someone less busy.

In endeavoring to serve her Master, Martha meant well. But she had got her priorities wrong—and her misguided zeal disturbed the harmony that should have been enjoyed between her, Mary, and the Lord Jesus.

Learning with Mary

While Martha busied herself with serving, Mary, we read, sat at the Lord’s feet. This should surprise us! Women typically did not sit at rabbis’ feet. But Jesus, the great rabbi, disregarded that convention and was perfectly happy to teach Mary.

When Jesus indicated He had something to impart to her, Mary turned from everything else. A purple passage from an old commentator is illuminating: “By her attentive hearing Mary helped to make the seat of Jesus a pulpit, her own humble place at his feet a pew, and the whole room a chapel in which the mercy of Jehovah was proclaimed.”

The spirit of the servant of Christ must always be a spirit that longs to hear the voice of Christ.

Mary was determined to listen to the Lord’s words. Every teacher knows that children can hear your voice without actually listening to what you’re saying. Mary was not that kind of student. She was listening to Jesus. The spirit of the servant of Christ must always be a spirit that longs to hear the voice of Christ. As He said of Himself as Shepherd, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice” (John 10:3–4). By her willingness to still herself and listen to Jesus’ voice, Mary evidenced the fact that she was a member of His flock, one of the sheep of His pasture.

Listening to Jesus

In light of these two sisters’ differing postures, the sensitivity of Jesus’ reply to Martha’s complaint is striking. Where Martha is frank and rude, Jesus does not respond in kind.

We can almost hear the sympathy with which Jesus addresses Martha as He speaks her name: “Martha, Martha…” “I know what you’re trying to do,” we might imagine Him saying. “And I know why you’re trying to do it. And Martha, I love you for it. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you want to serve Me.” And yet He tells her, “You are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41–42). In other words: “Martha, you need to get your priorities straight.”

Jesus would later tell His disciples to “provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys” (Luke 12:33). Martha had laid intense value on her labors. Mary, on the other hand, had given her attention to something of everlasting value.

Martha had laid intense value on her labors. Mary, on the other hand, had given her attention to something of everlasting value.

Commenting on Martha’s busy effort, Charles Spurgeon writes, “A fly on St. Paul’s Cathedral might as well imagine that all the traffic at his feet was regulated by his presence, and would cease should he remove.”² When we adopt the overbusy posture of Martha, we can create the impression that the world would cease if we didn’t finish our checklist. We communicate, perhaps unwittingly, that we earn our value and God’s favor through activity when in fact, what Christ seeks for and from us is so much more: the total abandonment of ourselves to Him.

The story of Mary and Martha reminds us that a strong work ethic can be a great virtue—but at the end of the day, it has its limits. Today, as God’s children, instead of looking to our labors to justify us, may we make a priority of sitting at Jesus’ feet, under His Word, in simple, attentive devotion.

This article was adapted from the sermon “First Things First” by Alistair Begg.

R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1946), 612. ↩︎
C. H. Spurgeon, “Martha and Mary,” The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit 16, no. 927, 235. ↩︎

Alistair Begg on the Contribution of John Witherspoon

TFL — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 05:00:02 GMT

Dear Friends,

By the time this letter reaches you, the events of this week will be gone but not forgotten. If we can celebrate Christmas in July, then why not the Fourth of July in September!

I am writing in the early part of the week which contains our July 4 celebrations. Along with my family, I am keenly anticipating the fireworks, the food, and the fun. We will sing, as citizens of “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” of a “patriot dream that sees beyond the years,” asking for God to continue to shed His grace upon our nation.

I don’t recall ever writing about this in previous years, but I do not want to miss this opportunity on the occasion of our 250th anniversary.

This morning, as I led the Truth For Life team in our weekly devotion time, we considered the part John Witherspoon played in advancing the cause of the Gospel in the formative years of America. He was a Scottish Presbyterian minister who sailed from his homeland in 1768 to accept the presidency of the College of New Jersey, which later became Princeton University. Witherspoon participated in the Continental Congress and was the only active clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence.

It was Scripture, however, and not politics that shaped his worldview, and there is no doubt that he was a Gospel man. Consider this quote: “Nothing is more plain from Scripture, or better supported by daily experience, than that man by nature is, in fact, incapable of recovery [from his sinful state] without the power of God specially interposed.” At his death in 1794, John Adams described him as “a true son of liberty, but first he was a son of the cross.”

In direct contrast, loud voices today are quick to suggest that at some stage in the future, science will be able to explain everything and answer all our needs. Theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner Steven Weinberg speaks for more than himself when he declares, “Putting God ahead of humanity is a terrible thing.”

Os Guinness has described what we’re living through now as a “civilizational moment.” We either build on the rock by hearing God’s Word and putting it into practice, or we neglect it, build on the sand, and prepare for the long decline that will inevitably follow. In my youth, as Britain’s proud empire was crumbling, we sang,

Kingdoms will rise,
kingdoms will fall
Nations refuse to heed God’s call,
But the Word of the Lord
Endures forevermore.

This morning I reminded our team that our focus can never change. Truth that sets us free is found only in Jesus, and the life He offers is abundant in every way.

Thank you for being such a vital partner in this adventure as together we declare, “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.” We plant and water, but only God gives growth—and we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

So as we arrive at Labor Day weekend recalling the celebrations of the Fourth, let’s echo the words of the psalmist, saying together, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” (Ps. 85:6).

With my love in the Lord Jesus,

Alistair

Brand-New from Alistair Begg! We Will Be Changed: 9 Inner Glories the Spirit Is Cultivating in You

TFL — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 04:45:00 GMT

We know that God has promised to complete the good work He has begun in us (Phil. 1:6). But how do we know that we are truly growing spiritually? And what role do we play in this process?

These are questions that Alistair Begg explores in his new book, We Will Be Changed: 9 Inner Glories the Spirit Is Cultivating in You. In this exploration of the fruit of the Spirit described by Paul in the book of Galatians, Alistair looks at nine defining characteristics that God is faithfully at work to develop in the lives of believers—even when growth feels slow.

Each chapter in this book focuses on one of these nine “inner glories.” For example, you’ll learn how love is the foundation of all the other characteristics, how Christian joy differs from mere happiness, and how God’s peace takes deep root in our lives. Together, these attributes, along with the other six, present a vibrant picture of Christian character nurtured by the Spirit in every believer.

This book will remind you that spiritual growth isn’t about trying harder; it’s about God’s faithfulness to conform us to Christ’s image. Whether you’re discouraged by seemingly slow progress or longing to see greater fruit in your life, We Will Be Changed will renew your confidence in the Spirit’s ongoing work.

As Alistair writes, “My prayer is that this book will encourage you to pursue the nine inner glories of the fruit of the Spirit and to depend with humility and confidence on the Spirit to effect that change in you.”

Request your copy of We Will Be Changed when you donate to Truth For Life today.

Wallpaper: Prayer Life

TFL — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 04:59:59 GMT

“There is nothing more important, and there is nothing more difficult to establish and maintain, than a healthy, meaningful prayer life.”
—Alistair Begg

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John Owen: Five Qualities Every Preacher Should Have

TFL — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Faithful preaching has never been measured merely by eloquence, personality, or even theological precision. Throughout church history, the men God has most powerfully used have recognized that preaching is more than delivering information; it is the work of shepherding souls with the crook of God’s Word.

That conviction shaped the ministry of seventeenth-century pastor and theologian John Owen. In his sermon “The True Nature of a Gospel Church and Its Government,” Owen considers the qualities that should mark every faithful preacher. While his language reflects another era, his concerns remain current, reminding us that effective ministry requires personal holiness, spiritual wisdom, pastoral care, and genuine love for God’s people.

“Sundry things,” Owen writes, “are required unto this work and duty of pastoral preaching.” Here are the specific requirements he mentions, along with part of his explanation for each:

“Spiritual wisdom and understanding in the mysteries of the gospel, that they may declare unto the church ‘all the counsel of God’ and ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ[.]” … The generality of the church, especially those who are grown in knowledge and experience, have a spiritual insight into these things … and if those that instruct them, or should do so, have not some degree of eminency herein, they cannot be useful to lead them on to perfection.”
“Experience of the power of the truth which they preach in and upon their own souls. Without this they will themselves be lifeless and heartless in their own work, and their labour for the most part will be unprofitable towards others. … A man preacheth that sermon only well unto others which preacheth itself in his own soul. And he that doth not feed on and thrive in the digestion of the food which he provides for others will scarce make it savoury unto them.”
“Skill to divide the word aright …; and this consists in a practical wisdom, upon a diligent attendance unto the word of truth, to find out what is real, substantial, and meet food for the souls of the hearers,—to give unto all sorts of persons in the church that which is their proper portion.”
“A prudent and diligent consideration of the state of the flock over which any man is set, as unto their strength or weakness, their growth or defect in knowledge (the measure of their attainments requiring either milk or strong meat), their temptations and duties, their spiritual decays or thrivings; and that not only in general, but, as near as may be, with respect unto all the individual members of the church. Without a due regard unto these things, men preach at random, uncertainly fighting, like those that beat the air.”
“All these, in the whole discharge of their duty, are to be constantly accompanied with the evidence of zeal for the glory of God and compassion for the souls of men.” Where these are not in vigorous exercise in the minds and souls of them that preach the word, giving a demonstration of themselves unto the consciences of them that hear, the quickening form, the life and soul of preaching, is lost.”¹

Whether you regularly stand behind a pulpit or simply benefit from the preaching of God’s Word each week, Owen’s reflections invite careful consideration. They encourage pastors to examine their own hearts and practices while reminding congregations what faithful shepherding truly looks like. May his words deepen our gratitude for those who labor to preach Christ faithfully—and prompt us to pray that God would continue to raise up ministers whose lives and message bear the unmistakable marks of His grace.

This article was adapted from the sermon “Practical Issues of Pastoral Ministry — Part Two” by Alistair Begg.

John Owen, “The True Nature of a Gospel Church and Its Government,” in The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold (London: Johnstone and Hunter, 1853), 16:75–77. ↩︎

Wallpaper: God's Purpose

TFL — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 04:59:59 GMT

“It was God’s purpose from all of eternity that His Son would be the atoning sacrifice for sins.”
—Alistair Begg

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Who Wrote the Bible, Really?

TFL — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 05:00:00 GMT

To paraphrase Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is expired.”

“What!” says someone. “Does Scripture have an expiration date? I thought Scripture was inspired by God.”

That is traditionally the way the passage has been translated—in the King James Version, for example. Of course, people also say that Mozart was inspired, or that he was inspiring for those who hear him. They mean that there is a certain liveliness to his music, or perhaps that some creative force from outside of him empowered him as he wrote.

That’s not what we mean when we’re talking about the Bible. What Paul says is that all Scripture is theopneustos, “God-breathed” (NIV) or “breathed out by God” (ESV)—expired by Him. It is not that God took a writer or a body of writing and empowered them. No, God Himself breathed the Bible out. It has its origin in Him, no less than our own words emerge from within us on our breath.

But what does this mean, then, when we speak of Paul writing 2 Timothy or Moses writing the Law? Who can we say really wrote the Bible?

Dual Authorship

When we say God breathed out the Scriptures, we shouldn’t imagine that God made man into a mechanism, like a typewriter or a laptop—as if Jeremiah somehow or another went into a strange psychological neutrality, and before he knew what had happened, he had written a book. Nor is it a kind of fifty-fifty split, where God gave the outline and Jeremiah fleshed out the details, or where Jeremiah drafted and God edited. No, God wrote it, one hundred percent; and Jeremiah wrote it, one hundred percent.

Theologians call this the dual authorship of Scripture. William Hendriksen describes this process excellently: “The human authors were powerfully guided and directed by the Holy Spirit. As a result, what they wrote is not only without error but of supreme value for man. It is all that God wanted it to be.”¹ In other words, God, operating through His Spirit, guided the writing of the words of Scripture in such a way that every Word, without reservation, can be said to be His.

God, operating through His Spirit, guided the writing of the words of Scripture in such a way that every Word, without reservation, can be said to be His.

Yet Henriksen also explains that “the Spirit … did not suppress the personality of the human writer, but raised it to a higher level of activity …. And because the individuality of the human author was not destroyed, we find in the Bible a wide variety of style and language.”² Thus, the psalmist wrote the Psalms, and he wrote them from the depths of personal experience; and James wrote the epistle of James, leaning on and repeating the teachings of his older brother, Jesus. The individuality of the individuals involved comes through because they wrote organically. Yet, in a way that is true of no other book, they also wrote exactly what God intended them to write.

Concurrence

B. B. Warfield writes, “If God wished to give His people a series of letters like Paul’s, He prepared a Paul to write them, and the Paul He brought to the task was a Paul who spontaneously would write just such letters.”³ In other words, God, who is sovereign over all things, can bring about exactly the circumstances that will prepare His people to write His Word.

Through His sovereign ordaining of people and circumstances, God acted to write His own words to us in the Scriptures. The prophets and apostles indeed wrote them, but more importantly, God wrote them.

God, who is sovereign over all things, can bring about exactly the circumstances that will prepare His people to write His Word.

The theological term for this is concurrence. The life of Joseph in the book of Genesis gives us a clear picture of this concept. Speaking to his brothers, after all has been revealed, he says, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Gen. 50:20). The human activity was commitment on their part to the destruction of Joseph. Yet they were actually fulfilling the purpose of God, who was active in it all to save many people. In the same way (but without the evil intent), in the authorship of Scripture, human authors were completely active in writing out the Scriptures, and God was completely active in composing—breathing out—the book of salvation through them.

This means that Luke, as he was writing his Gospel, didn’t hear a voice and write down what it said. No, he testifies that “it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account” (Luke 1:3). His Gospel comes from the mind, desires, and motivations of Luke. Yet God had prepared Luke, with all of his historical acumen, with all of his medical input, with all of his eye for detail, to write exactly the Gospel he wrote.

The Spirit’s Work

Finally, God is actually superintending the process. As Hendriksen says, God “suggested to the mind of the human author that language (the very words!) and that style, which would be the most appropriate vehicle for the interpretation of the divine ideas for people of every rank and position, age and race.”⁴ In other words, “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). God actively worked in and through them as they spoke or wrote.

It was the work of the Spirit of God to advance the truth of God in the lives of the apostles of God and then through them to others.

In John 14:26, as He was preparing to leave His disciples and return to the Father, Jesus told them, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” In 16:13 He adds, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” It was the work of the Spirit of God to advance the truth of God in the lives of the apostles of God and then through them to others.

Jesus received the words that He spoke from His Father (John 17:7–8). Jesus in turn gave them to the apostles. The apostles, under the invisible direction and jurisdiction of the Spirit like the prophets before them, spoke those words to those who would come to believe in Jesus. And they wrote them down.

What the Bible Tells Us

Sinclair Ferguson writes, “The Scriptures do not tell us everything about everything.”⁵ You can’t go in the Bible and find out how to improve your golf swing. You won’t find the name of person you’re meant to marry. You won’t find a recipe for overnight oats. Those things aren’t in there. They’re not supposed to be.

But Ferguson reminds us, “Scripture teaches us something about everything.”⁶ When you go in the Bible, you discover—from dozens of authors over thousands of years—one compelling story showing that salvation belongs to the Lord and explaining the why of it all. It tells us about the origin and ultimate destiny of humankind. It tells us about the world that God made. It tells us about God. It tells us what we must do to be saved.

God tells us. The Bible is a book breathed out by God. This is why the Bible is the priority, authority, and sufficiency of all Gospel ministry. May we learn, then, to say with the disciples, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

This article was adapted from the sermon “Scripture: God-Breathed” by Alistair Begg.

William Hendriksen, Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1957), 302. ↩︎
Hendriksen, 302. ↩︎
Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield, The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, ed. Samuel G. Craig (Philadelphia:: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1948), 155. ↩︎
Hendriksen, Exposition, 302. ↩︎
Sinclair B. Ferguson, From the Mouth of God: Trusting, Reading, and Applying the Bible, rev. and enlarged ed. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2014), 37. ↩︎
Ferguson, 37. ↩︎

The Language of Rivers and Stars: How Nature Speaks of the Glories of God

TFL — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 05:00:00 GMT

There are few experiences as refreshing as stepping outside and being reminded of the beauty, power, and wonder of God’s creation. The Language of Rivers and Stars extends a compelling invitation not only to simply admire the natural world but also to discover how creation itself points to the glory of its Creator. You’ll be encouraged to view rivers, mountains, animals, skies, and stars as part of God’s ongoing testimony to His greatness.

Drawing on Scripture and everyday encounters with nature, The Language of Rivers and Stars explains how God’s creation speaks a meaningful language that reveals His character, wisdom, and power. Whether you’re a gardener, hiker, birdwatcher, or simply someone who enjoys a walk outdoors, this book provides a fresh perspective on the relationship between God’s Word and God’s world.

What makes The Language of Rivers and Stars especially engaging is its combination of theological depth and accessible, engaging prose. The author, Seth Lewis, writes with warmth, wonder, and a contagious enthusiasm for both Scripture and creation. You’ll find yourself challenged to look more carefully, think more deeply, and worship more fully as you encounter familiar aspects of nature through a biblical lens.

If you’ve ever sensed that there is something profound being communicated through a sunset, a flowing river, or a star-filled sky, The Language of Rivers and Stars will help you understand why. This thoughtful and inspiring book is an invitation to rediscover the wonder of God’s creation and to hear, more clearly, the message it has been declaring all along.

“This is unlike any book I have ever read. Seth is a great writer, and this work of poetic theology is as beautiful as it is faithful. It has impacted me to the extent that even walking in the park is a new experience—one of awe and wonder.”
—Alistair Begg

Request your copy of The Language of Rivers and Stars when you donate to Truth For Life today.