The Scriptures often employ various words to paint a picture to assist us in seeing God’s beautiful plan. The church is described in various terms: the body of Christ, the ground and pillar of the truth, a spiritual house, the flock of God, God’s field, and a bride. “For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of…
Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusts in…
What were the first Christians like? What were they doing? “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers”(Acts 2:41:42). It’s easy to look at this…
In the Old Testament, Jehovah gave Israel a number of instructions including the Tabernacle (and the various things inside of it), a Law to live by (including its various applications), as well as other things. Israel was to value these teachings and instructions, primarily because they came from their God. They were holy and were to be…
In a book that I like to refer to, namely the Bible, we find, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good”(Romans 12:9). Easy to read but so difficult to put into practice. Just HOW do we – those of us who profess a commitment to Christ, who have been transformed by the renewing…
Solomon writes in Proverbs 16:6, “In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.”This proverb neatly encapsulates the core of the gospel. Everyone desiring the salvation of our Lord must obtain atonement for sin and depart from evil. Solomon here describes the mechanisms by which we…
Long ago, the children of Israel were given the opportunity to hear the very words of God. The Lord God Almighty spoke to them and declared to them his commandments. The mountain shook, the lightning flashed, the voice of the Lord boomed out as smoke billowed from the mountain that the people surrounded. All the…
In Numbers 20, we read about the story of Moses bringing water from the rock and committing a sin that was so egregious that it kept him from entering the promised land. There seems to be a different explanation of this sin for every commentary ever written, so perhaps we can’t all agree on the…
Finding fault in others, while missing or overlooking our own faults, is a characteristic that humans have perfected. Jesus observed this human failure and addressed it though his wise teaching many times. In the story of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32), Christ provides an example that is easy to miss, but one Christians should take…
Since the 2003 publication of Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code, a great deal of misinformation has been circulating concerning the New Testament’s origins, namely, how its books were collected, when, and by whom. Despite the book’s opening disclaimer that it is a work of fiction, its fabricated history has come to be believed…