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-Andrew Sveda | Monday, January 23, 2023
“[M]y soul is bereft of peace;” the author of Lamentations writes. “I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, ‘My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD’” (Lamentations 3:17-18). In these verses, the author is so discouraged that he is driven to the brink of utter despair. In such moments, the Christian life
Andrew Sveda | Tuesday, November 29, 2022
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20 ESV). These last words of Jesus’ Great Commission have long been cherished by Christians. Why is this? What does this verse mean? Let us first look at the words themselves. The original audience, the “you,” is “the eleven disciples” (28:16), but the promise here
Andrew Sveda | Monday, November 14, 2022
The Sermon on the Mount is full of startling claims, many of which, for various reasons, we fail to appreciate. One such statement is this: God “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45 ESV). Jesus uses these words to show
Andrew Sveda | Monday, October 31, 2022
Paul’s most scathing words are found in Galatians, where he vigorously defends the doctrine of justification by faith. Why was this teaching so important to him? Let us look at a passage in Galatians 3: “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone
Andrew Sveda | Monday, October 10, 2022
Man is wholly dependent on God. This is not merely pious rhetoric but thoroughly biblical. We have been created (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 139:13) and are sustained by God (Hebrews 1:3). We cannot live one hour (Luke 12:25-26) or even take a single step (Acts 17:28) apart from His power and foreordination. Even more, it is not only
Andrew Sveda | Monday, September 26, 2022
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” (Psalm 42:5 ESV). This deep spiritual darkness is no doubt the state of many Christians, perhaps you, today. A hard-to-explain gloom casts its shadow, and the joy you once had in the Lord feels like a vague memory. Though you continue to
Andrew Sveda | Monday, September 12, 2022
In his first letter, the apostle John makes a startling remark: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13 ESV). John is saying that we can know that we are saved, that we have been
Andrew Sveda | Monday, August 29, 2022
If you had told me three years ago that I’d be a theology major, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. Leaving high school, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be. God had other plans for my life, and I am incredibly grateful for it. But why
Andrew Sveda | Monday, April 4, 2022
“If you are a preacher of grace, then preach real and not fake grace,” Martin Luther wrote in a letter to Philipp Melanchthon in 1521. “If grace is true, then you must bear true and not false sin. God does not save those who are only fake sinners. Be a sinner — believing and rejoicing
Andrew Sveda | Monday, March 21, 2022
Listening to a playlist one night alone in my dorm room, a new song started playing. It began: “Not what my hands have done / can save my guilty soul…” I didn’t even get that far before skipping to the next song. I had heard it many times before and had some particularly fond memories