At this time of year, much of the religious world is focused on the birth of Jesus. Yet do we understand why He was born? Jesus is eternal (John 1:1-2) and is the all-powerful Creator (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17). What purpose did it serve to have Deity come to earth to dwell in bodily form (Colossians 2:9)?
Continue Reading
The Scriptures teach that giving thanks to God is just as important as doing things by the authority of Christ. Paul said, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (Colossians 3:17). The reason why we are to give thanks to God is because He is the source of all blessings (James 1:17).
Continue Reading
The presence of false teachers in the world is a reality that we cannot ignore. Peter warned, “There will also be false teachers among you” (2 Peter 2:1). These were ones who taught “a different gospel,” which Paul explained “is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6-7).
But how is this done? A false teacher does not come in, take away your Bible, and replace it with one that has different content which supports his error. He also does not refrain from citing or quoting Bible passages. Yet he teaches error. How? As Paul said, the false teacher must distort the gospel. He uses a Bible in proclaiming his error. This should not surprise us. Satan even quoted Scripture in tempting Jesus (Matthew 4:5-6). We need to understand how this is done so we will be better prepared to identify, expose, and combat error.
Continue Reading
The Scriptures plainly teach that we are saved by faith (John 8:24; Romans 5:1). But what kind of faith saves us? Is it simply a belief in Christ as the Savior? Is it an obedient faith? Sadly, the religious world is divided over the nature of faith, even though the Scriptures give us a clear answer regarding the type of faith that saves us.
Continue Reading
Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the focal point of the Bible (1 Corinthians 15:3). All that came before pointed to the cross. All that followed looked back to the cross. It is important that we see the cross as more than just an icon and understand what it truly represents.
Continue Reading
The book of life is one of the books that will be opened at the day of judgment (Revelation 20:12). What is this book? How do we have our name added to it? How important is it that our name is found there? Let us notice a few things the Scriptures teach about this book.
Continue Reading
[An important set of elections is taking place in three weeks. As we still have the opportunity to vote in this country, it is important that we cast our votes primarily as Christians, rather than Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. I encourage you to consider the Biblical teachings addressed in this article by Tim Haile. He also has a PDF version available on his website if you are interested. Read this article, consider the passages, and pray for our leaders — both the current ones and those that may soon be elected. -Andy]
Democratically elected representatives and officials make decisions that have a tremendous impact upon our lives. They have the power to pass laws, impose rules, regulations and taxes and appoint judges. Their decisions can either shape civil government after the divine model that is revealed in Scripture (Romans 13:1-10), or they can shape it after the model of the “sea beast” and the “great whore” of the Apocalypse – an intrusive, abusive and invasive government that was both anti-God and anti-man (Revelation 13, 17, 18). Considering how much power politicians have to affect our lives, either for the better or for the worse, it behooves us to do all that we can to elect honorable ones. In a democracy, the voting booth is where one makes his strongest statement.
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.