The Desert Feast of Fasting   The Son of God began his earthly ministry with a forty-day fast.This should give us pause. Especially if we—who are not God—have moved into ministry heedless of the battle we may have tofight. Why did Jesus do this? Why did God lead him to it? Andwhat about us? Can we ...

Man Shall Not Live By Bread AloneAnd you shall remember all the waywhich the LORD your God has led youin the wilderness these forty yearsthat He might humble you, testing you,to know what was in your heart,whether you would keep His commandments or not.And He humbled you and let you be hungry,and fe ...

Is Fasting Christian?Is fasting Christian? It is if it comes from confidence in Christ and is sustained by the power of Christ and aims at the glory of Christ. Over every Christian fast should be written the words, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesu ...

Should a Christian Buffet the Body?It is misleading, without careful qualification, to say (as Keith Main does) that “Paul . . . deliberately diverted the disciples’ attention away from fasting and any form of food asceticism and into prayer, service, and toil on behalf of the kingdom.” I agree with ...

All Eating Is Lawful, but Not All Is HelpfulWhat all this means for Paul’s practice is that he was free to fast or not to fast. “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12). The reason for ...

Christian Fasting Is Not “Willpower Religion”The great danger Paul saw in self-made and self-exalting fasting does not nullify the new Christian fasting. Paul warns that there is a fasting that is a “self-made religion and [a] self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, [but has] no value again ...

Christian Fasting Affirms the Goodness of FoodThis is why the warnings we raised earlier from Paul’s letters are not really objections against Christian fasting, but only against its distortions. “God has created [food] to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everythi ...

Fasting as an Expression of Dissatisfied ContentmentAs an act of faith, Christian fasting is an expression of dissatisfied contentment in the all-sufficiency of Christ. It is an expression of secure and happy longing for the all-satisfying fullness of Christ. Christian fasting does not tremble in th ...

Fasting Does Belong in the Kingdom of GodThis understanding of Christian fasting answers all the concerns raised earlier by Keith Main. He said that “the prayer life of the New Testament is a sign of the inbreaking of the kingdom of God. Fasting is no longer consistent with the joyous and than ...