Thought from today’s Bible reading from Jeremiah 10-13.
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil” (Jeremiah 13:23, NIV).
Some wrongfully use this verse to argue that man is born in sin and cannot get out of sin without some direct operation on his heart from God. This is not what the passage is teaching.
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Jude said that we must “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3). There are many ways in which the faith may come under attack, requiring us to contend for it.
But there is another threat to the faith that requires us to contend for it. This threat was mentioned by Jude in the next verse:
“For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4).
Thought from today’s Bible reading from Hosea 1-7.
“What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud and like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:4-6).
As the wise man said, “Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy man?” (Proverbs 20:6). It is one thing to claim to be loyal to the Lord. It is quite another to actually be loyal.
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from 2 Kings 18:1-8; 2 Chronicles 29-31; Psalm 48.
Hezekiah was one of the righteous kings of Judah. He did something interesting as he attempted to purge the land of sin.
“He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.
“He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. For he clung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses” (2 Kings 18:3-6).
After just a few weeks of Paul preaching in Thessalonica, the gospel had been received by some of the Jews and “a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women” (Acts 17:1-4). In an effort to try to silence this message, the Jews intended to capture Paul and Silas. When they could not find them, they took Jason and some of the brethren and brought them before the authorities in order to accuse them.
“When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, ‘These men who have upset the world have come here also; and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus’” (Acts 17:6-7).
Thought from today’s Bible reading from 2 Chronicles 28; 2 Kings 16-17.
“In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes” (2 Kings 17:6).
After a long period of trouble and instability in Israel, the people were finally taken away from their homeland, the land that God had promised their fathers, and relocated by force to Assyria. Why would God bring this upon them? The text goes on to list the reasons why they were punished in this way.
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Amos 6-9.
“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and to those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria, the distinguished men of the foremost of nations, to whom the house of Israel comes” (Amos 6:1).
God was sending a message through the prophet Amos of the coming judgment against Israel. Yet these people were oblivious to the danger. They had other matters to focus on besides divine punishment for sin.
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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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