“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:2 NASB Repent – “He, who truly repents, is chiefly sorry for his sins. He, whose repentance is spurious, is chiefly concerned for their consequences. The former chiefly regrets that he has done evil; the latter that he has incurred evil. One sorely laments that…
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are…
You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination. Leviticus 18:22 Abomination – Yesterday we commented on Feinstein’s insight that the prohibition against homosexuality “is at its core an appeal to the emotions.”[1] We noticed that the real issue for contemporary society is the lack of cultural…
You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination. Leviticus 18:22 Abomination – The contemporary view on the choice of homosexual relations is a thorn in the side of religion. Since the culture is moving in the direction of “the right to love whomever you wish,” any…
But Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn. Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years.” Genesis 29:26-27 NASB The other – Leviticus 18:18 presents…
The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die,’” Leviticus 21:1 NIV Ceremonially unclean – YHVH gives instructions for His priests. These are not instructions for everyone. These instructions detail exactly…
And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. Ruth 1:8 NASB Mother’s house – Naomi’s exhortation is not only self-serving, it is completely out of character with societal protocol. How…
Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. Galatians 3:24 NASB Tutor – My friend Jerry, a devoted Catholic priest, once told me that an addiction was the way we stayed alive while God was engineering our redemption. Anesthetizing the guilt and shame…
But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. Matthew 5:39 NASB Resist – “The command ‘do not resist evil’ (5:39) is not to be taken simply to refer to personal hostilities or village-level animosity. The word ‘resist’ is…
If two sit together and words of the Law are spoken between them, the Divine Presence rests between them. Pirke Avot 3:2 Divine Presence – Does this passage from the works of the Jewish sages sound familiar? It should. Yeshua uses the same idea when he speaks about two or three gathered together. Did you…
