Soul Time

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living [g]person. Genesis 2:7  NASB Living person – You’ll notice the little footnote in the NASB text.  The footnote reads “Or soul,” but that is about as misleading as you could get.  God does not…

Sunburned (5)

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1 NASB Weary – Exhausted. Ever feel like that? Physically and spiritually. Just too tired to go on. Just want to sleep,…

What About Paul? (1)

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. Romans 7:14 NASB Flesh – Yesterday we looked at some words from John that appear to be gnostic at first blush. We found that John’s Hebraic orientation must be considered in the exegesis of his statements. But…

Body of Evidence

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Romans 12:1 NASB Spiritual service – What images come to mind when you read these two words?  Do you get a pang of guilt because you…

Raising Your Hand

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Romans 12:1 NASB Present – When I was a child in elementary school, every morning the teacher took attendance.  This was not an informal process of…

Paul the Platonist? (2)

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. Romans 7:18 NASB In my flesh – It’s true, isn’t it? We know what the right thing to do is, but we do the wrong thing…

Paul the Platonist? (1)

For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 2 Corinthians 5:1-2 Earthly tent – Mas. Chagigah…

Top Heavy

For the body is not one member, but many. 1 Corinthians 12:14 NASB Not one member – Everyone is familiar with Paul’s analogy of the body. In his letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul goes to great lengths to impress upon this rowdy bunch that their lives must reflect the compassion, grace and obedience…

Who Do You Think You Are?

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV You – What a lot of confusion is caused by the failure to recognize the difference between singular and plural? In this verse, Paul…

Extended Effects

we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8 NASB Absent – Investigating the Greek verb, we come upon a rather interesting remark: “ekdēméō, endēméō. These two terms denote being abroad and staying at home. Not used…