Thought from today’s Bible reading from John 14-17.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
There are many people who claim to love Jesus. But how many are diligent to obey Him? Many in the religious world reject the necessity of obedience. They might say that obeying His commandments is good, but not something that the Lord requires. But notice what Jesus later said:
“You are My friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14).
Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 26; Mark 14.
Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before His betrayal. Some have interpreted His prayer to mean that Jesus was praying that He might be able to avoid the cross. Notice what Jesus said as it was recorded by Matthew:
“And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will’” (Matthew 26:39).
Some read of this desire for “this cup” to pass from Him and conclude that Jesus, in a moment of weakness, desired to escape the cross. In other words, though Jesus came to this world to save sinners, when the time was near for Him to offer the sacrifice, in an act of human weakness He wanted to abandon the mission. Can this possibly be true of our Lord?
Mark, in his gospel, offers us an inspired commentary explaining what Jesus’ words meant:
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 23; Luke 20-21.
Calvinism teaches that salvation is unconditional and that grace is irresistible. The reason for this is that man (allegedly) has no free will. Therefore, man would be unable to make the decision on his own to serve the Lord. Many passages refute this idea. One such passage is the following:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!” (Matthew 23-37-38).
Jesus had just condemned the Pharisees and scribes for various sins. He concluded with this lament. Notice what Jesus said here about salvation:
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Luke 18:15-19:48.
There were many who did not understand why Jesus would associate with tax collectors and sinners. Yet the reason why He did was because of the mission He had in coming to earth. Notice the example of Jesus with the tax collector Zaccheus who climbed a tree in order to see the Lord as He passed by.
“When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, ‘Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’ And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.’
“Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost’” (Luke 19:5-10).
Those who grumbled about Jesus meeting with Zaccheus may have been right that the tax collector was a sinner. But this was the type of person Jesus came to save. When others grumbled earlier on a similar occasion, Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Luke 16:1-17:10.
Many people in religion have the notion that if we say that any act of obedience is required of us in our salvation, we are somehow trying to earn our salvation. Yet this is not the case. Jesus made it clear in the following passage that obedience is necessary, even though obedience will never result in one earning his salvation.
“Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done’” (Luke 17:7-10).
Even if we do everything that the Lord expects of us, we should not think that we have earned anything from Him. After all, we are His servants. Therefore, it is expected that we will obey. Each time when we perform an act of obedience, there will still be more for us to do to follow.
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Luke 14-15.
“When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, ‘Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’” (Luke 14:15).
Jesus had just given instructions regarding wedding feasts and other social meals – when invited, exercise humility; when inviting, exercise compassion. This prompted someone to make this statement about the kingdom of God. It certainly is true that it is a great blessing to be part of God’s kingdom. But as Jesus pointed out in the following parable, many will choose the things of this life over the things of the kingdom.
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 17; Mark 9; Luke 9:28-62.
Even though His disciples did not completely understand what He meant, Jesus told them beforehand what was going to happen to Him.
“For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, ‘The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later’” (Mark 9:31).
Jesus was going to be killed. He knew this would happen. Peter would later say that this was part of the “predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). This was the reason why Jesus came to the earth in the first place – to die on the cross.
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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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