Monthly Archives: June 2010

Who is Jesus? Why does it matter?

Posted on by
Reply

Jesus Christ ministered in a corner of the Roman Empire known as Palestine. He rather explicitly claimed to be the Son of God, as well as the Son of Man described in the book of Daniel.

He offended the religious leaders of his day. They subjected him to an illegal trial and committed judicial murder by crucifixion. On the third day, as he had claimed before hand, he rose from the dead, appeared to his disciples, then ascended into heaven.

The earliest books of the New Testament describe Jesus’ life and ministry and explain his eternal significance. Before the end of the century, false teachers went around denying the entire explanation.… Read the rest

Grace: free, or unavailable

Posted on by
Reply

Simple Simon met a pie man. We know that rhyme. He had no money, so he got no pie. That’s how the world works. If Simple Simon were around today, he could possibly get free food at a soup kitchen, but people find that humiliating. No one wants charity. How different it is with God! He operates not on working and earning, but grace. The feast is free, or else you can’t have it.

Before the days of brand-name bottled water, or even treated water distributed by municipalities, anyone who thirsted could drink water for free. They only had to find it.… Read the rest

The violence of Jesus: cleansing the temple

Posted on by
Reply

We probably all have our favorite images of Jesus. In a well-known scene from Talladega Nights, Ricky Bobby preferred to pray to the Baby Jesus. Others of us might be drawn to the healer, the teacher, the man who loved children. I suppose all of the favorite thoughts come under the heading “gentle Jesus, meek and mild.” So what about the violent man who upset tables and drove the money changers out of the temple?

It is one of the few incidents in his life mentioned in all four gospels: Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, Luke 19:45-46, John 2:13-22. According to the synoptics,  Jesus erupted after his triumphal entry.… Read the rest

Identifying and dealing with false teachers

Posted on by
Reply

Besides his  epistles to churches, Paul wrote four of them to to three individuals: Philemon, Timothy, and Titus. 1 Timothy begins with a warning about false teachers. These are not just men who somehow disagreed with Paul. They taught things that could only drive a wedge between the people who believed them and the grace of God.

Sound doctrine enables righteous people to remain righteous. Righteousness does not come through anyone’s own effort. It is a gift that we can receive only by faith. The law is like a medicine to apply when the moral nature is diseased.

Some people, with no understanding of righteousness by faith, and no interest in understanding, taught that Christians can only be righteous by following every detail of the Mosaic law.… Read the rest

Strength in teamwork

Posted on by
Reply

“Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” — Ecclesiastes 4:12

As John Wesley frequently said, “The New Testament knows nothing of solitary Christianity. The Scriptures refuse to believe that there could be such a thing as un-churched Christian.” God expects Christians to meet together, but even more than that, he encourages teamwork. That’s one way that they get the strength to carry out work for the kingdom.

Sometimes two seemingly unrelated incidents in Scripture can shed light on the meaning of a third. Paul’s experience in Athens and Jesus’ preparations for  his last visit to Jerusalem may seem unrelated, but they both illustrate the truth of the quotation from Ecclesiastes about strength in teamwork.… Read the rest

Redeemed from the curse of the law

Posted on by
Reply




“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” — Galatians 3:13-14 (NKJV)

What, exactly, is this curse of the law that we are redeemed from? Check out Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. Both chapters begin with a blessing that the people would obtain for keeping up their end of the covenant. Both chapters enumerate the dire consequences of failing to keep the covenant.  In both cases, the curse is about three times longer than the blessing.… Read the rest

The most popular of 100 posts on Grace and Judgment

Posted on by
Reply

It hardly seems possible, but since beginning this blog at the end of October 2009, I have posted more than 100 Bible studies and devotionals. Allow me to reminisce a little and highlight the most popular posts so far.

Who are you calling evil?
Jesus prefaced a comment saying, “If you, then, being evil. . .” But no one took offense at him. Wouldn’t most of the audience be offended today?

Prayer that really works
I have learned that instead of asking for my will to be done, I can ask God to conform me to the image of Jesus. When I ask for a blessing, I keep an open mind about what it is.… Read the rest

Moses’ presumption

Posted on by
Reply

“And Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hands.’” — Exodus 17:9 (NKJV)

Among the many gifts God gave Moses, his rod was a tangible object that he could use any way he chose in order to release God’s power. He usually used it wisely and with great effect. Sometimes he did not use it wisely, and it got him in trouble.

His best-known mistake came when God told him to speak to a rock so that water would come from it.… Read the rest

A personal lesson in the fullness of grace

Posted on by
Reply

It’s hard, for me anyway, to discuss anything in Romans without it coming across like a theology lesson. Well, it is a theology lesson, but it’s very practical theology. I can testify that it can become very personally real as well.

Paul tells us we have peace with God through Christ—whether we feel like it or not. It’s an outcome of the very nature of God. God expelled sinners from the Garden of Eden and chased them from his presence, but not before he told them of his plans to redeem them from sin.

In Wesleyan terms, prevenient grace started right then and there.… Read the rest

The flood: grace and judgment on display

Posted on by
Reply

Here’s the quickie narrative of the flood that almost everyone knows: God made people and got mad at them, so he decided to wipe them out. He liked one fellow, though, so he made him build an ark and collect pairs of animals. Everyone else drowned, but when the floodwaters subsided, the few people and animals on the ark repopulated the earth.  

On the surface, that sound like overkill. I mean, surely there must have been some nice folks that died along with the bad guys, right?  To many people who understand only that much of the story, God must be some kind of angry, capricious monster–at least until gentle Jesus meek and mild came along.… Read the rest