Understanding Christianity

Do you want to merely be happy or blessed? Is there a difference between experiencing the blessing of God and happiness? What does it mean to be truly blessed by God? Here is this Psalm's main point or central idea: The LORD blesses those who live FOR Him and LIKE Him. What describes the person the LORD blesses? The answer: You live FOR Him. What is the overall lifestyle of the person the LORD ble...

Dr. Sean Cole continues the teaching series through the 1689 London Baptist Confession. He examines Chapter 14 on saving faith. Is faith a gift that the Holy Spirit gives to the elect in regeneration? What is the nature of saving faith? Is there more to faith than mere mental assent? Is there such a thing as false faith or a temporary believer? What must one believe to be saved? He answers these q...

Emmanuel Baptist Church hosted the second annual "Virtue of Manhood Conference." This is Sean Cole's message from the event, challenging men to be leaders in their local churches. A godly man leads his church in four specific ways. (1) All men are called to pray diligently. (2) Some men are called to lead spiritually. (3) All men are called to model faithfully.   (4) All men are called to ser...

Does the Old Testament, and in particular, the Psalms, prophesy or mention the Second Coming of Christ? Here is the main point of this Psalm: Christ will return as the universal King over all the earth. How do you respond to King Jesus? What is your reaction to his absolute sovereignty and His Second Coming?  This is an Old Testament prophetic Psalm pointing toward the Second Coming of Christ...

Dr. Sean Cole begins a new sermon series called "Summer in the Psalms." What is a Psalm? How do they point to Jesus? In Psalm 57, we see the main idea that we glorify God by trusting Him in tough times. In verses 1-5, we see a concerned plea for God's swift rescue. In verses 6-11, we see a confident praise in God's steadfast love. How does having a healthy dose of God's sovereignty help us through...

Dr. Sean Cole concludes the sermon series in Ruth. What have we learned from this wonderful book? First, it has been regarded as the best short story in literature. Second, it is the story of God's invisible Hand of sovereignty. We’ve seen God’s invisible hand of grace orchestrate events that, at first glance, appeared to be just “coincidences” and “luck.” The s...

In Ruth 4:1-12, Boaz finally redeems Ruth and makes her his bride. He went to great lengths to care for Ruth because of his great love for her. In the same way, Jesus, the greater Boaz, also went to great lengths to purchase His bride--the church. He became a curse on the cross and redeemed us from slavery to sin. What does it mean to be spiritually redeemed by the blood of Christ and how should w...

In Ruth Chapter 3, we see an unusual yet extraordinary encounter between Ruth and Boaz on the threshing floor at midnight. In this bizarre marriage proposal, we see the integrity of Boaz and the godly submission of Ruth. Although Boaz is a kinsman-redeemer, he throws a monkey wrench into the situation when he tells Ruth there is another man who is in line in front of him to redeem Ruth. How will B...

Dr. Sean Cole interacts with a recent video from Leighton Flowers of Sotierology 101 called: WARNING: This May Be The CRINGIEST Video You Watch About Calvinism Leighton gets sucker punched by comments from a Calvinist named Joe Ensley of the Gospelogian answering two questions from an atheist woman who calls herself the Godless Granny. How should Calvinists respond to the extremely emotional issue...

In Ruth 2:18-23, there is light at the end of the tunnel for Naomi. She is transforming from a bitter woman to finding hope in the living God. What does the Bible say about bitterness? How do you have a soft heart toward God? In this episode, Boaz emerges as their kinsman redeemer. What does it mean for God to redeem us? How does Jesus fulfill the role of our ultimate Redeemer through His work on...

In this encounter between Ruth and Boaz, we see the profile of a godly woman and a godly man. How does God sovereignly orchestrate events for them to meet? What are the godly characteristics of Ruth? Of Boaz? How is Jesus the GREATER Boaz who protects and provides for sinners by grace alone? Listen and find out.   You can purchase Sean’s two books here:   40 Days in Philippians: Fi...

Naomi appears to suffer from a dark providence as she is left a widow in the pagan nation of Moab. The LORD relieves the famine in Israel, and Naomi sets out to return. Ruth follows her, and we see one of the most wonderful confessions of faith in the living God from the lips of Ruth herself. How does this passage ultimately point to Jesus and His experiencing the bitter wrath of God on the cross...

Dr. Sean Cole begins a new sermon series in the book of Ruth. He provides four reasons to study Ruth and then dives into Chapter 1:1-5. How do you handle life's dark providences when God seems to be distant? How do you handle tragedy? Is there such a thing as a spiritual famine, and what is the answer? Listen and find out. You can purchase Sean’s two books here: 40 Days in Philippians: Findi...

Dr. Sean Cole preaches the final sermon on the book of Judges. What does a nation that is rotten to the core look like? What about us as God’s people? His church? Is the book of Judges a mirror held up to us to show us how we can just as easily fall into the same rebellion? Does the book of Judges end in despair or hope? VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.seancole.net FOLLOW US ON OUR SOCIALS: YouTube:...

Judges 17-19 show Israel engaged in gross idolatry and immorality. There is no king in Israel. Everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes. There is flagrant rebellion. Open sin. No spiritual leadership and a nation in chaos. God called Israel to be a holy nation, and their primary goal was to be a light to the nations around them and not to adopt the ways of the pagan Canaanites. As we mo...

Dr. Sean Cole interacts with Leighton Flowers of Soteriology 101 and the Provisionist understanding of Ezekiel 36:25-27. Flowers asserts that God will give you a new heart IF YOU ADMIT you need a new heart. God responds to our libertarian free will decision to want a new heart by then regenerating us in response to our faith. Sean also interacts with an article from the Society of Evangelical Armi...

Judges 19 is perhaps the most disturbing passage in the Bible. The subject matter is R-rated and contains some graphic depictions of human depravity. Here is the main point of this disastrous chapter: When God’s people fail to submit to Jesus as Lord, they can commit outrageous acts of immorality. Ultimately, this chapter should move us to MOURN and GRIEVE over the sinfulness of sin and its...

Dr. Sean Cole has been preaching through the book of Judges which addresses the dangers of idolatry. Why do we give our hearts to idols? The answer is this: We are not CONTENT. What is contentment? How do we learn contentment? How do we stay content? Listen to this sermon from Philippians 4:10-13 and find out. Facebook Video: https://www.facebook.com/sean.cole.16144/videos/7799520173438018 www.sea...

Dr. Sean Cole has hosted Understanding Christianity since 2015. Over the past 9 years and over 900 episodes, he has tackled various topics and theological issues. The podcast is now on Spotify and there are many new listeners. In this short episode, Sean discusses the purpose of this podcast and then reads the first three chapters from his book by G3 Press called "40 Days in Philippians: Finding J...

Dr. Sean Cole continues the teaching series through the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession. He addresses Chapter 13 on Sanctification. The best way to understand the difference between justification and sanctification is to consider what the Reformers said: “Christ is FOR us”—that is justification. “Christ is IN us”—that is sanctification. We can think of san...

Being adopted by God as your Father is the highest privilege of your salvation. J. I. Packer states, “If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he do...

Dr. Sean Cole teaches one of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith: Justification by faith alone. How can guilty sinners be declared righteous before a holy God? NOT with an infusion of righteousness, but an imputation of Christ's perfect record and the complete forgiveness of sins. www.seancole.net