Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. James 4:17 NASB Right thing – What is the right thing to do? Ah, doesn’t that depend entirely on your particular view, your culture, your environment? Is there such a thing as universal “right,” an ethical demand…
“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5 NASB Knowing good and evil – Read the text again. What does the serpent claim will happen? Sometimes we think that the serpent offers eternal life (“You will be like God”), but that…
So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 1 Kings 3:9 NIV Right and wrong – The translators of the NIV completely ignore the Hebrew connection between Solomon and Adam. I suspect it is deliberate. The Hebrew text…
How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You, which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, before the sons of men! Psalm 31:19 NASB Have stored up– Do you like treasure hunts? Does finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow appeal to you? Well, according…
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 NASB Good – Now the hard part. Obviously, Paul doesn’t say that all things work together for your good. Your good is not the issue. What God does is what…
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20 NASB Woe to those – hoy ha ‘omerim. “Woe to those who call.” Isaiah’s pronouncement pushes us back to Genesis. And it’s not just Havvah who stands before…
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18 NASB Not good – God looked at His own work and decided it wasn’t good enough. Don’t you find that a bit surprising? Doesn’t God create perfectly? But here we have evidence…
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 NASB Causes – “God is the God of the entire cosmos; God has to do with every creature, and every creature has to do with God, whether they recognize it…
Ransom me from human oppression, that I may observe Your statutes. Psalm 119:134 (Robert Alter translation) Human Oppression – What is human oppression? The Hebrew is ‘oseq ‘adam. We easily recognize the second common noun, ‘adam, but what about the first, ‘oseq? Don’t spiritualize this. The word is “concerned with acts of abuse of power…
“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, . . .” Luke 6:27 NASB Do good – If you read this passage only in its Greek translation, you might conclude that doing good is essentially about benefiting the other. The Greek kalos is about what is…
