Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.
The Simplicity of Faith In Peter’s darkest moment, he denies that he even knows who Jesus is. I don’t criticize Peter for this, however. Despite a desire to respond differently, I suspect that if facing death, I could easily do the same thing. Later, after returning to life, Jesus restores Peter to right relationship with […]
If You Are a Citizen of the Kingdom of God, Then You Live Here as an Alien Peter writes his first letter to Christians scattered about in pagan cities. He first calls them exiles (1 Peter 1:1). He also refers to them as foreigners (1 Peter 2:11). Though foreigner is accurate, I prefer the label […]
Prosperity Is Not a Bad Word, and We Must Start Embracing It as Good A popular pastime today is to decry prosperity as an evil that plagues the world. These folks think that all people who prosper are greedy and selfish—though some are. They advocate taking from those who have and give to those who […]
We Dishonor God by Persisting in Sin Because We Assume His Grace Will Cover It A highschool friend heard about the doctrine of eternal security—which some people shorten to the more accessible mantra of “once saved, always saved”—and latched onto it. She took God’s grace for granted. She reasoned this creed allowed her to act […]
How Closely Do You Do the Things God Tells You to Do? Paul travels to Ephesus to tell people about Jesus. This is his mission, a mission for God. As a Jew it seems logical that he would go to his own people first to share this good news. He does. He goes to the […]
The Holy Scriptures Are So Much More than a Sacred Icon or Guidebook for Living I revere the Bible. Every morning I reserve time to read its words and study its meaning. It informs who I am and reforms what I do. It exposes me to God and his ways. This is why I love […]
The 10 Lepers There is a story of Jesus dealing with ten lepers (leprosy is an infectious skin decease that eats away the flesh). Keeping their distance, as was the practice of the day, they call out to Jesus for help. Jesus tells them to go present themselves to the priest. (It was also the […]
Dr. Luke Describes 3 Characteristics of the Acts 4 Church The book of Acts unfolds as an historical narrative of the early church, the activities of the first followers of Jesus and those who join them. For the most part, Acts simply describes what happens, with little commentary and few instructions for proper conduct. While […]
An Act of Commission is an Act We’ve Done When I think of being punished, be it by God or people, I think in terms of things I do wrong. That is, doing things that I shouldn’t have done. Some people call this an “act of commission.” They are things I have committed. However, there […]
John Baptizes with Water and Jesus Baptizes with the Holy Spirit The third chapter in the book of Matthew focuses on John the Baptist and makes the transition to Jesus, the star of the rest of the book. This chapter also contains some teaching from John. He quotes Isaiah and calls for the Jewish people […]