Ultimately, we know that God has all things under control. The powers that be are ordained by God. They have no power except what God gave them. Even people like Judas, Pontius Pilate, and Caiaphas have a purpose in God’s overall plan. God can use the evil activities of wicked people to fulfill his purposes. Read More ...
What is the Bible all about? The most basic and foundational idea that the whole Bible reflects is that God desires to glorify himself by living in fellowship with his people. His ultimate goal is to save people from sin and dwell with them in eternal fellowship. Read More ...
On Resurrection Sunday, we gladly affirm with Thomas that Jesus is both our Lord and our God. We believe that Jesus rose from the dead and that he gives eternal life to those who trust in him. We can experience resurrection from spiritual death because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. His resurrection guarantees the resurrection of every believer. Read More ...
Don’t be among those who despise and reject Jesus. Don’t hide your face from him; don’t despise him; don’t insult him. God has laid your iniquity upon Jesus in order to save you from your sins. If you want him to bear your iniquity and intercede for you, you must repent of your sins and trust in Jesus as the “lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Read More ...
The church should be a place of warm personal relationships and close friendships. We should be abundant in our expressions of love, unity, and friendship. Read More ...
Christianity is a received faith. We don’t change it or update it. There is nothing new or improved in the Christian faith. We retain what we were taught, especially when we have learned them from faithful believers. Read More ...
If the evidences of salvation are present, then you can be assured of your salvation. If the evidences of salvation are lacking or questionable—especially if you are guilty of the sins he mentions in this context—then you may be disqualified—a reprobate, one who fails the test. Read More ...
Imagine if Paul wrote us a letter in which he stated his plans to come and visit us. I wonder what we would need to clean up in preparation for his visit. What problems would we want to resolve before he got here? Are there any sins of the spirit or of the flesh that we would need to repent of? Now is the time to repent. Read More ...
Following Paul’s pattern here, we must continue to serve God by serving others, even when they are unloving, disloyal, and unappreciative. We continue serving even when we have to spend our own resources, even when we feel spent in the process. We can do that because, ultimately, we are serving God by serving such people. Our highest goal is to serve God, and sometimes that requires serving others who are not so nice. But we persevere, we continue to serve because we love the souls of men. Read More ...
I recently read an article that reflects the passage we are looking at today. The author, a former pastor wrote: When we presented some changes [to the church by-laws] that…