Biblical Counseling

The phrase “no independent self” has been used in some Christian circles. This study attempts to consider legitimate and illegitimate usages of the phrase. ©2005 by James A. Fowler. All rights reserved. You are free to download this article provided it remains intact without alteration. You are also free to transmit this article and quote…

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the…

In Christ Interview With Paul and Vicki Cardarella INTERVIEWER: Has anything happened in your life which has served as the occasion for you to study the New Testament message of living by grace? PAUL: There was an incident. Without going into explicit detail there was a near tragedy in our lives. On the night it…

“Do not offer the parts of your body to sin … but rather offer yourselves to God”(Romans 6:13). Not only are we to offer our spirit and soul as an offering to God, but we are to offer our body as well. Under the Old Covenant, the slain sacrifice was not presented as a whole;…

1. An unselfish relationship “And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God” (1 Sam. 23: 16). God make us all His Jonathans. There is a great hunter abroad in the world [the devil]. Like Saul who sought David every day, he seeks souls every day,…

A while back businessmen and architects faced the question of what to do with a crumbling, old jailhouse in Boston. At the cost of 150 million dollars, the building was thoroughly renovated to become the city’s newest luxury hotel! The distinctive, eight-sided building was originally completed in 1851. It finally closed its operation as a…

“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, ‘Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord…

One of the vivid metaphors of the believer’s union with Christ is that of a grafted branch. The Lord Jesus uses this image extensively in John 15:1-8 where He is the true vine and believers are branches. The ones who temporarily are unfruitful are “lifted up” through cleansing, support, and positioning in the sun (v.2).[1]…

“When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:4) The promise of the Lord’s second coming has comforted the church since it was born. Confidence in His return permeates the New Testament, but the particular emphasis in Colossians 3:4 is that the promise rests in the…

“God has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end” (Ecclesiasted 3:11).[1] If we are quiet before God and allow his Spirit to shine upon our inward state, we shall probably discover more…