With the recent court rulings in California over same-sex marriage, this debate has once again come to the forefront of our society. Whenever a political or social hot topic overlaps into matters of spiritual consequence, Christians can find great opportunities to talk with others about the Scriptures. With this issue in mind, let us be reminded of a few things and be ready to teach them to others.
Continue Reading
The U.S. Constitution specifies three separate branches that make up our government: legislative, executive, and judicial. These branches of government are not unique to the United States. Every government will carry out these functions in one way or another.
When it comes to the rule of God, His government performs the same legislative, executive, and judicial functions. Isaiah wrote, “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us” (Isaiah 33:22). We live under a different covenant today than the Israelites did at the time of this writing. They were part of God’s kingdom in the nation of Israel. We are part of Christ’s kingdom today in the church. But even today, when we examine the rule of Christ, we see that Jesus completely and sufficiently carries out the role of each branch of government in His kingdom.
Continue Reading
After Paul obeyed the gospel and went about preaching to the Gentiles, he was viewed by many of his Jewish brethren as a traitor. When he came back to Jerusalem, a group of Jews stirred up the crowds against him, intending to kill him. He had to be rescued by the Roman cohort that was present in the city. Before being led away, he was given opportunity to make a brief defense for himself before the Jews. As he began, he started by highlighting what they had in common.
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today” (Acts 22:3).
Zeal for God – the eager and intense interest in pursuing Him – was a characteristic that Paul had in common with the Jews. It is important that we, as Christians, also have a zeal for God and the things of God. But zeal alone is not enough. That is plainly seen in this passage. Both Paul and the Jews were zealous, even sharing the same object of their zeal – God. But the Jews viewed Paul as an enemy. So intense was the division between them that the Jews were beating Paul, intending to kill him, when the Roman soldiers arrived (Acts 21:31-32). When Paul reached the point in his defense where he talked about his work in preaching to the Gentiles, they cried out, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!” (Acts 22:22). Both were zealous for God, yet they were on opposite sides of this conflict. How?
Continue Reading
This month marks the beginning of the 6th year of Plain Bible Teaching. I want to thank all those who have visited the site over the first five years. I hope you have been able to use some of the material here to learn and grow in the truth, and also to share this with others who would benefit from it.
Continue Reading
Should we be able to describe faithful Christians as radical, liberal, or institutional? If you have followed the writing and teaching that I have done, you will probably expect me to answer this question in the negative. After all, we are to be conservative and non-institutional, right?
When we use labels such as these, we generally use them in regard to certain erroneous positions, issues, and movements. Yet when we change the context, we can make the case from the Bible that, in certain ways, Christians are to be radical, liberal, and institutional. So let us consider some other ways we can use these terms.
Continue Reading
One of the fundamental responsibilities that a man has is to “provide for his own,” or else “he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). Those who preach the gospel are certainly not exempt from this responsibility. But how is a preacher to make a living?
Paul explained to the brethren in Corinth that God has a plan for preachers to earn an income: “So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14). This is God’s design – a man devotes his life to proclaiming the gospel and he receives support for his labor. But how does he receive this support? In the New Testament we read of three different ways in which a man can receive support for his work of preaching.
Continue Reading
Our society tries to portray the rich and the poor as two completely opposite groups. Obviously, these groups differ greatly with respect to their possessions or income. However, the Bible speaks of a common bond between them that is far more significant than the differences between them.
The Proverb writer noted, “The rich and the poor have a common bond, the Lord is the maker of them all” (Proverbs 22:2). In God’s creation, one economic class does not hold a superior status over the other. In fact, Peter told Cornelius and his household, “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him” (Acts 10:34-35).
Continue Reading
What does “propitiation” mean? How is “justification” connected to salvation? What does “sanctification” look like in our day-to-day lives? The Bible uses some powerful words to describe God’s plan to save mankind. However, these words are not always easy to understand, especially when they are not part of our everyday vocabulary. This book explores key Bible terms that unlock the message of the gospel.
Big Words in the Bible examines five important words – Propitiation, Reconciliation, Sanctification, Justification, and Resurrection – using plain language to see how the Scriptures describe these concepts and how the apostle Paul employs them in his letter to the Romans. This book also contains an appendix with eleven additional articles to explore these topics further.
Whether you are new to the Bible and want to grow in your understanding or want a simple way to explain these core gospel doctrines to others, this book will be helpful. With a focus on the Scriptures, Big Words in the Bible helps break down these fundamental topics to shed light on the life-changing message of the gospel and the salvation found in it.
Available in print and digital format.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
If you have further questions about using any of the material on this site, please contact me.