Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, Philippians 2:1 NASB Consolation – What’s the Difference? Paul already used the word paraklesis, the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew naham, a word for comfort, so why…
Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, Philippians 2:1 NASB Encouragement – Do you need encouragement? According to Paul, only one kind of encouragement will actually make a permanent change. That is encouragement in…
that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, Philippians 2:15 ESV Without blemish – Are you ready to be sacrificed? Are you ready to climb onto the altar like Isaac? Are you ready…
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 NASB Without blame – Are we making excuses or striving for a result? We all know the phrase, “It’s not my…
“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:4 NASB Prayer – Okay, we get the idea that someone in leadership has to serve. We understand that diakonia must be evident in the lives of those who lead. The assembly of believers is a hierarchy of service. Its…
But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:60 NASB Dead – When do you think you will be born? When will God start what He has finished with you? It’s nice that the NLT adds “spiritually…
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; Romans 3:23-24 NASB Sinned – Paul (Sha’ul) grew up in the rabbinic tradition. He considered himself a strict adherent to Torah. That means he knows hatta’t and…
When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” Genesis 19:15 NASB Punishment – Something happened about the time of the Babylonia captivity. The principal word for “sin” changed. Hatta’t was replaced by…
And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.” Genesis 18:20 NASB Sin – What is sin? According to the Hebrew word, hatta’h, sin means “to commit an offense against someone with whom one stands in an institutionalized community relationship.”[1] Notice that sin assumes a set…
