Posts from April 2020 (Page 2)

A common error concerning God’s grace is to equate it with salvation. Grace is not salvation. Grace is God providing a plan to render to man what man can never hope to accomplish on his own, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared unto all men, teaching us…” (Titus 2:12). God grace is manifest an appropriated in the following fashion: 1) God’s GRACE provides to man 2) God’s LAW, which man 3) by FAITH OBEYS, thereby receiving…

“Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceits” (Prov 26:4-5). What appears to be contradictory is not. There is a time to answer a fool and a time not to answer a fool. Today’s reading illustrates how Jesus practiced both principles. An illustration of the former principle of answering fools is seen in verses 41-47, wherein the Jews…

We live in a post truth age. By “post truth age” I mean that in Western societies people are more likely to accept or reject an argument based on their emotions and personal beliefs rather than upon objective facts and truth. This makes our work in carrying out the Great Commission even more difficult. Lest we lament that no others have ever endured such obstacles, we should be reminded that the Lord faced such attitudes concerning the nature of the…

What did Jesus mean when He said we must eat His flesh and drink His blood? After Jesus crossed to Capernaum, those who had been fed came looking for Him, asking, “Rabbi, why did you come here?” (v 25). We start getting to the heart of the matter when Jesus said, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you” (v 27). The Jews…

The burdens of Rome and the local sectarian religious hierarchy made life difficult for Israel. There had been no word from the Lord, no prophet, and no miracles for more than four hundred years. The Maccabean rebellion two centuries earlier delivered Israel from the Greek empire, but it didn’t provide permanent freedom for God’s people, primarily because such was never God’s intent. Subsequent rebellions were squashed with the insurrectionists reduced to memories of failure (Mark 15:7; Acts 5:36-37). But when…

Given the current religious climate, I borrowed some thoughts from Wendell Winkler on the matter of worship. One of his “signature sermons” was based on a single verse found in today’s reading. In John 4:24, we have a single sentence that speaks volumes about worship: “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” From our text we can learn the following: God is the author of worship. Man has never been at liberty…

“Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). This is one of the most well-known, yet most misunderstood, texts in all the Bible. Folks who miss it are in good company because Nicodemus did not understand it. But Jesus explained Himself in verse 5, yet many still do not understand. One reason for this error is the failure to recognize the language. Verse 5 teaches the exact same thing as verse 3. There is…

In most any biblical discussion of teetotalling vs social drinking, the seminal event of John 2 is broached. The pro-alcohol proponent usually claims that Jesus made alcoholic wine at the wedding feast, but the evidence and tenor of the text tells a difference story. First, there is the overall biblical view of the casual use of alcohol. The testimony of Scripture is decidedly negative toward the non-medicinal use of alcoholic beverages. Solomon sought to gratify himself with wine and determined…

John’s Gospel is unique among the four. Rather than being written to a specific audience, John presents Jesus as the Son of God. Chapter one sets this tone from the very first verse: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” From this point forward, John works his way through a few days in the life of Jesus to bring his audience this summary, “And truly Jesus did many other signs…