In Ephesians 1:7 redemption is immediately followed up with forgiveness. Redemption deals with the price that was paid to set us free from the penalty and slavery of sin, which opens the door to the “forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” In forgiveness all the sins with their eternal consequences are […]
Isaiah prophesied over Israel of a time when they would be in captivity in a foreign, pagan land and they would feel dejected and forsaken. In 40:27 they seem to be in that place feeling that God no longer saw them and no longer answered their prayers. But in chapter 41:13 God gives this assurance […]
No less than seven times in John’s gospel did Jesus identify Himself as “I am”, I see these powerful statements linking Him with God the Father who in Exodus 3:14 indentified Himself to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM”. As “God manifest in the flesh” 1 Timothy 3:16, Jesus is everything God the Father […]
“But the fruit of the Spirit is…faith” Galatians 5:22 KJV. Today we are again looking at the fruit of the Spirit called faith that is implanted in us by the Holy Spirit Himself. Colossians 2:7 says, “rooted and built up in Him (Christ) and established (stabilized) in the faith, (truth and truthfulness of God) as […]
“But the fruit of the Spirit is…faith” Galatians 5:22 KJV. Many of the newer versions use faithfulness instead of faith; the original King James translators separated faith and faithfulness which come from two different Greek words, their definitions however being very compatible, perhaps even complementary, with each other. Faith and faithful are distinguished by only […]
As we continue our journey into God’s orchard in Galatians 5:22-23, the first fruit we come to is Love. Love is very characteristic of the Christian life; it is the quality of which Jesus said to His disciples, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” […]
2 Corinthians 1:10 says, “Who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us.” This verse seems to allude to three stages of salvation, “delivered us” being the moment we were “born again” and sins power over us was broken; “does deliver us” […]
Our focus of attention in Mark13:32-40 is drawn once again to being watchful and prepared for the return of Jesus. Since several parables focus in this area it underlines the importance of the message. Here Jesus speaks about a man going abroad who committed his business affairs into the hands of his servants during his […]
In Luke 7:36-50 Jesus has been invited to dinner at a Pharisees house when a sinner woman (possibly a prostitute, at any rate a known sinner) shows up at the banquet room; according to H. H. Haley “an oriental banquet was a sort of public affair” so in accordance with that culture she had the […]
In Matthew 25:1-13 we have recorded one of Jesus well known parables. Keep in mind that a parable is a story of earthly activity with a spiritual meaning, and all the details which are part of the earthly side of the story need not necessarily apply to the central theme, which in this parable is […]