Article archive
08/03/2009 06:48
Hebrews 1 begins with the contrast of God’s revelation in the past through the prophets but now through Christ. This puts us in mind of John 1:1 in which Christ is presented as the Word. The revealing Word, Christ, surpasses the Law and prophets in making manifest the righteousness of God...
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07/29/2009 13:09
In our last study, we concluded that the epistle to the Hebrews was written in the late AD 60s to the Jewish Christians in Rome. By this time, the Christian community of Rome had probably been in existence for 30 to 40 years. The emperor Claudius had expelled the Jews from Rome in AD 49, but it...
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07/29/2009 13:03
Many scholars believe Hebrews to be the most profound of the New Testament books. The study of the book may yield rich results, but an approach of less than full commitment often leads to frustration. The epistle is not ordered in what we may consider a traditional manner of presentation for...
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07/22/2009 16:06
Romans 13:8-14 provides us not only with a conclusion to chapters 12 and 13, but also the armament with which to tackle Romans 14. The section is divided into two paragraphs, each offering one prong of our two-pronged approach. The first prong reiterates the benefit of love.
Love, remember, is the...
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07/22/2009 16:05
Romans 12 opens with a call to present our bodies sacrificially to God. But that call is based on what Paul has discussed before. Paul’s argument is that since God has accomplished salvation and applies it through faith (Romans 1-8) and since God’s sovereignty controls all creation to accomplish...
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07/22/2009 16:03
We learn from the last part of Romans 9 that God will keep a remnant of Israel although He cries out in Hosea that they (the nation) are no longer His people. Understanding the reason for the dismissal of the nation and the election of a remnant is not only the focus and climax of the Romans letter...
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07/22/2009 16:01
Election, the choosing by God of those to whom redemption will be applied, occurred before the world began. This election involves the “middle knowledge” of God (knowledge of potentiality, as opposed to necessary knowledge—truths not dependent on God’s will—and free knowledge—truths dependent on...
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07/22/2009 15:59
The last post covered three of four key concepts that frame our discussion of God’s application of Christ’s accomplished redemption. Those three and our concluding thoughts about them are as follows:
1. Sovereignty – God’s absolute control, accomplishing His prioritized will.
2. Death –...
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07/22/2009 15:57
Four key concepts exist that frame our discussion of the application of God’s redemption. These four include sovereignty, death, faith, and love.
Sovereignty
As discussed previously, the problem of evil can be presented using three premises.
Premise 1: If God is all powerful, He could prevent...
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07/22/2009 15:54
The problem of evil has plagued Christian thinkers for centuries. Atheists use it to attack the existence of God. Theists grapple with it in trying to understand the balance between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. Some Christians “resolve” the problem with a shrug of the shoulders and...
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