Is true religion a matter of the heart, or does it have to somehow affect the way we live our lives? Is Christianity merely a philosophy, a world-view, a way of thinking about things? Or …
The Epistle to the Romans #4
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know you not, that so many of …
The Absence of Holiness
In spite of all we say about grace—in spite of all we know about salvation by grace through faith and not of works—we still find warnings in the Bible about things which, if not followed, …
Christian Origins #86 - James
There is one simple principle in the Bible that explains nearly everything. It crops up in various places and is usually ignored because it seems so unreasonable and runs counter to what we would expect. …
Christian Origins #85 - 2 Timothy
I suppose when a man knows he is going to die, a lot of things come into focus. Things start taking on more realistic value. Money, possessions, and property all diminish sharply when you know …
Christian Origins #84 - Hebrews
When you get on an airplane to go somewhere, do you have faith that you are going to get where you are going? Sure you do. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t get on the airplane. …
Christian Origins #83 - Hebrews
One of the most puzzling things about the Bible, at least to the modern mind, is animal sacrifice. Why kill an animal because you have done something wrong? I used to wonder why God couldn’t …
The Epistle to the Romans #3
All of us go through stages of learning in our Bible study. Each time we read something like Paul’s letter to the Romans, we see it with new eyes. Unless, of course, we feel as …
A Day of Thanksgiving
As we approach Thanksgiving Day this year, and we look forward to being with family and friends, to good food and good football, it might be a good time ask, not why we do this, …
Without Thanksgiving
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View PostChristian Origins #82 - Hebrews
One of the strangest revelations in the Book of Hebrews is that the Tabernacle that Israel carried around the wilderness was a model of something that existed in Heaven. And not only that, but that …
Christian Origins #81 - Hebrews
It is tempting to think of religious ritual and ceremony as so much mumbo-jumbo that means next to nothing. Especially if it was done in a language you didn’t even understand. As a stranger who …
The Epistle to the Romans #2
The second chapter of Romans begins with a Therefore. Any time you see that in Paul’s letters, you need to pay attention, because it means what follows depends on what has just been said. Paul …
On Prayer and Fellowship
What did the First Christians believe about prayer? Did they believe that it really mattered; that it changed outcomes? Or did they believe that God carried out his will regardless of how they prayed? Sometimes …
Christian Origins #80 - Hebrews
I know this is going to sound crazy. And it is going to be hard to explain why it should be so. But the entire structure of the worship of God in the Old Testament …
Christian Origins #79 - Hebrews
Is it possible that sometime in your life you have encountered God and didn’t even know it? The writer of Hebrews tells us to [b]e not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained …
Christian Origins #78 - Hebrews
Of all the things we know about God, one of the most disconcerting is that there is no place to hide from him. But let me put your mind at rest on something. God is …
Christian Origins #77 - Hebrews
One of the greatest pieces of symbolism in all the Bible is the Jordan River. It has captured the imagination of hymn-writers and theologians, generation after generation. When I was growing up, my father sang …
The Epistle to the Romans #1
Back in the good, old days in the heyday of Biblical scholarship (especially those German schools of scholarship) lots and lots of people were doing computer analyses on Paul’s epistles and said, Well, we don’t …