“Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious” (Psalm 66:1-2).
Singing is a way for us to praise and glorify God and is a regular practice in our assemblies. If we are going to glorify God through our singing, it is important that we do it in the right way. This requires certain things from the songs, the singers, and the song leaders. Let us consider some points that will help us sing in a way that glorifies God.Continue Reading
“Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7).
Periodically, it is good for us to evaluate what we do in our service to God in order to make sure we are doing what we should do with the right attitude to the best of our abilities. In this article, we are going to look at one aspect of our service to God – our giving on the first day of the week. This is not about examining the total amount that is contributed by everyone assembled in a congregation; rather, it is about individually examining ourselves by the standard of God’s word.
With this in mind, let us use the New Testament to help us consider the following question: What should characterize our giving?Continue Reading
During the days of the judges, the tribe of Dan “was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in” (Judges 18:1). Five men were sent to spy out the land and find a place they could take as their possession. As they searched the land, they found a suitable target – the city of Laish.
“Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were in it living in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no ruler humiliating them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone” (Judges 18:7).
“Then they…came to Laish, to a people quiet and secure, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burned the city with fire. And there was no one to deliver them, because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone, and it was in the valley which is near Beth-rehob. And they rebuilt the city and lived in it. They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born in Israel; however, the name of the city formerly was Laish” (Judges 18:27-29).
The concept of justification is of major importance in the gospel. But what does it mean to be justified? Thayer defines the word as declaring or pronouncing one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be.
In the New Testament, justification is about God recognizing us as being righteous or right before Him. This divine recognition is key. We are not righteous simply by declaring ourselves to be righteous. We may claim it, but that does not make it so. How then can we be justified? The New Testament mentions several things by which we are justified. We will notice them in this article.
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One of the ways that Jesus is described in the New Testament is as a mediator. Paul wrote, “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). It is important that we understand what this means. Let us consider what the New Testament teaches about Jesus as our mediator.
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When Peter asked Jesus a question about how often he should forgive his brother, Jesus answered and told him to forgive his brother “seventy times seven” times (Matthew 18:21-22). His point was not that we should keep a record of the number of times we forgive someone and then after the four hundred and ninetieth time we refuse to forgive them again. Instead, Jesus’ point was that we should always be ready to forgive.
After Jesus answered, He used a parable to explain His answer. In the parable, He showed that we must forgive because we have been forgiven. There are several lessons to be learned from this parable about forgiveness.
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“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.’ But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:13-17).
The passage above is often cited to emphasize the uncertainty and brevity of life. It also teaches us the importance of remembering our dependence upon God (“If the Lord wills…”). In this article, we are going to consider four lessons from this passage. Forgetting these lessons will always lead us into sin. We will notice how that happens.
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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.
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