Tag: God
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And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3) I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. (Luke 12:4) There’s been a lot of talk over the…
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For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. (Matthew 23:23) The church in America recently entered a new reality. The era of Roe is over, many say. Supporters and opponents blasted…
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In the last two posts, we’ve been discussing the heart of fallen man and the New Covenant as the solution. When we look at the promises of the New Covenant against the needs of fallen humanity, we see that God has given the believer everything he or she needs to live in Christ (2 Peter…
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And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26) In the last post (An Incurable Diagnosis), we saw the condition of fallen humanity. It was a grim…
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“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars, while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills, on the mountains in the…
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We’ve seen so far that Jesus was not what the people of Israel expected in a Messiah. He talked about being sent to the Gentiles after all! Now, we’re going to see that Jesus wasn’t quite the “observant Jew” that the Pharisees thought He should be. On a Sabbath, while he was going through the…
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But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you…
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For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two…
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But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means…
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Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see (2 Kings 19:16). The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man (Psalm 11:4). The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the…
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Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life…
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They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed.Can He also give bread or provide meat for His people?” (Psalm 78:18-20) When we look at the history of Israel–how God chose them, delivered them, and…
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In the previous post (“On Rebuilding: Starting from the Ground Up”), we saw how Ezra and the Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple—the centerpiece of all Israel. We mentioned that this is not unlike our own struggles to rebuild our lives, especially after things happen that rip life apart. We further mentioned…
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[Note: This is part 4 in a six-part series looking at the First Epistle of John. Some of the material is adapted from my commentary That You May Know: The First Letter of John. During this series, we won’t necessarily touch on every single verse, but will look at the major messages that 1 John…
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[Note: This is part 3 in a six-part series looking at the First Epistle of John. Some of the material is adapted from my commentary That You May Know: The First Letter of John. During this series, we won’t necessarily touch on every single verse, but will look at the major messages that 1 John…
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[Note: This is part 2 in a six-part series looking at the First Epistle of John. Some of the material is adapted from my commentary as.That You May Know: The First Letter of John During this series, we won’t necessarily touch on every single verse, but will look at the major messages that 1 John…
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Allow me to introduce you to my friend Billy Charles (not his real name, but we’ll get to that later). Billy has been in my life as long as I can remember. I can’t think of a time when he wasn’t there. Billy is the kind of friend that many people have. He’s very spiritual.…
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For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to…
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We talk a lot about the gospel. And well we should. It’s the story of redemption, after all—our redemption. We talk a lot about various parts of the gospel as we try to get the big picture. We tell people, “Jesus died for your sin.” “Jesus paid the penalty for your sin.” “For God so…
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Welcome to the first installment of #WordforWednesday. In this series, we will study a passage of Scripture once a week in an in-depth manner to pull out its teachings so that we may apply them to our lives. Just a note: These posts may tend to be longer than the average blog post. But that’s…
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In this first installment of #MissionMonday, we are going to think about the goal of the church (making disciples) and the place of social media. in that process. I often wonder what Paul and the other apostles would have thought of our world today, with it’s great technology. Judging by what they wrote, I have…
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If you have read or followed this blog for any length of time, you probably have noticed a strong emphasis on salvation by faith. Almost every post. “Salvation by faith. Salvation is by faith alone.” And that is the truth of Scripture. Law-keeping has no place in the life of the believer (by “law-keeping,” we…
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Unlike most jobs that have a period of training before starting, the life of the disciple (and thus his calling) starts from the moment of salvation. Thus, the training we undergo is “on the job” training. We mentioned in previous pots that the Bible was given to us, among other reasons, to serve as our…
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Have you ever looked at the world through a frosted glass or frosted window? Perhaps you had those cool colored lenses (blue or red) that you could look at things through? We all have ‘lenses’ through which we view life. The Bible presents two different perspectives: that of the world, and that of the Kingdom.…
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And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold (Matt. 24:10-12). Few in the Christian community would doubt that we are seeing the fulfillment of these words…