The Apostle Paul Presents a Series of Contrasting Situations for Us to Avoid Paul writes to the church in Corinth. He warns them not to yoke themselves, that is, to pair themselves, with people who don’t believe. The image of a yoke applies to two animals paired together to pull a load. He tells them: […]
Regardless of Circumstances, God Walks With Us In Paul’s second letter to the believers in Corinth, he warns them not to deceive others or distort God’s word (2 Corinthians 4:2). That is, don’t misrepresent God’s character or intent to the world. Yet, this happens. Some people, in their zeal for Jesus, promise those on the […]
In my prior post, entitled Cannibalism, Holy Communion (aka the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist) was seen as a spiritual invitation to salvation. Communion is a symbolic rite reminding us of Jesus’ sacrificial death for us as the solution for the wrong things we have done. This is all good. However, Paul warns against the abuse of […]
Discover What the Bible Says about Salvation Paul, in writing to the church in Ephesus, shares a succinct and essential truth about salvation. He tells them how to be saved, which reminds them how they were saved. He writes “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, […]
Don’t Be Merely Human Paul reprimands the church in Corinth for many things. One time he points out that they envy one another and argue a lot. There is jealousy and quarreling in their church. It happened then and it’s still happening now. We want what others have. Although this often relates to money, possessions, […]
Do What You Can to Promote Peace In Jesus’s best-known sermon, which we call the Sermon on the Mount, he proclaims that “Blessed are the peacemakers.” They’ll be known as God’s children (Matthew 5:9). Though Jesus doesn’t explicitly command us to advocate for peace, he proclaims blessings on those who do. And the blessings are […]
Our Right Standing with Christ Frees Us from Rules, but Don’t Abuse This Freedom Jesus’s sacrificial death releases us from the obligation of Old Testament laws. We have freedom in Jesus and don’t need to follow rules. Instead, we follow Jesus. Yet we need to guard against getting carried away with our freedom. The Bible […]
Discover How to Control Your Thoughts Our brain is our most powerful organ, which makes our mind a significant part of us. That’s how God created us. With our mind we can accomplish much, but through it is also the potential to lead us into wrong thinking, guide us into sin, and take us away […]
Understanding the Weaker Vessel When Paul talks in the Bible about marriage, I struggle with his words because he was a bachelor. What does he know about the subject? Peter, on the other hand, was married so I give more credence to what he says on the subject. Even so I struggle a bit when […]
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 […]