As God’s redeemed community, the church is to engage in profound spiritual worship, giving God all our attention and praise. Given this aim of our corporate gathering, even our attire should be ordered toward this singular objective. This means practicing self-restraint and sound judgment, even in the very practical matter of clothing, but doing so without pharisaism or overzealousness.

Before David became king over Israel, he was a shepherd boy. In the fields, he gained firsthand knowledge of the skill, vigilance, courage, and care required to tend sheep, which prepared him to lead a nation. Drawing on that experience, David presents the LORD as the expert and faithful Shepherd of His people.

For the first time in history, God had formed a redeemed community on earth. How, then, were they to live? What kind of worship would please Him? How were men and women to worship Him in spirit and truth? Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, the teacher of the nations, gives us the answer. God wants His redeemed people to draw near to Him as a people unpolluted by sin, marked by repentance and sanctification. May the Lord continually sanctify us and raise up men who will lead us to the presence of our holy Father in heaven.

God’s gracious purpose and saving work intersected at the cross. There Christ, the one Mediator, gave Himself as a ransom for all, and by this singular act revealed the Father’s tender heart toward the lost. When we are tempted to question whether God cares for us in our weakness, grief, and struggles, we must look again to Calvary and rest in the sure proof of His love. This testimony of grace was meant for all the world to know. Therefore, God commissioned Paul as His chosen instrument to proclaim this gospel of grace to the nations. May we, too, be smooth and unobstructed channels of that same grace, making Christ known to all around us.

Convictions are the roots that hold and steady the tree of compassion. Paul underscores three deep convictions that undergird compassion for the lost: one God, one Mediator, and one Ransom. In this study, we give thoughtful attention to these three biblical truths that move us to pray and labor for the salvation of the lost.