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…
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. Romans 12:6a Berean Study Bible Gifts – Paul introduces the subject of gifts with the word chárismata. The Greek text does not designate these as spiritual gifts. Church doctrine often views this word as though it is confined to the spiritual realm, but that is an extension…
For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ Romans 12:4-5a NASB Function – Even in Greek it’s hard to miss the implication here. The Greek word is praxis. The implication is that each member…
“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares YHWH, “plans for welfare and not calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NASB Hope -Did you know that this famous passage in Jeremiah is connected to Paul’s remarks about transformation in Romans 12? Probably not. When we read this verse,…
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,” James 1:2 NASB Joy – What is joy? According to the ancient Greeks, joy is the unbridled experience of self-being, the manifestation of the fullness of who we are as the culmination of our existence. It is that feeling that arises when we no longer are…
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”Genesis 1:6 NASB Separate– When did the alienation between God and world begin? Are you likely to answer, “At the Fall”? Certainly sin entered the world at that point, as Paul reminds us, but alienation…
Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 1 Corinthians 6:18 NASB Flee– Paul is quite direct in his instructions to believers when it comes to the sexual atmosphere in ancient Corinth. Run away! Don’t try to take a stand for what is right. Don’t try…
Remove the false way from me, and graciously grant me Your law. Psalm 119:29 NASB Remove– Okay, I admit it. I make lots of mistakes. I do know a few things, and sometimes I get them right, but most of the time these little adventures into the language and culture of ancient people is just the best…
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6 NASB Righteousness– Let’s have a conversation about the process of converting language from one culture to another. It’s not just the translation of the words that matters. It’s the way the language fits into the patterns of living when the worldview changes. …
You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; Hebrews 12:4 NASB Resisted– Are you resisting sin? Are you striving to follow the Way? Is it working? Ah, maybe not as well as you would like. The problem isn’t lack of understanding. The problem is intensity in motivation. And that doesn’t…
