You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Psalm 139:5 NASB 1995 Behind and before – Remember that interesting idea of engineered accidents (yesterday)? Well, there’s another implication to the suggestion that God’s invisible hand is maneuvering your life into kairos moments. We looked that this further implication several years ago. Perhaps…
So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 NASB Free – Consider the strangeness of this statement. Oh, you might have heard it so often that it doesn’t seem strange to you anymore, but pause just long enough to notice the verb eleutheróō. It means “to set free.” The apostle…
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 NASB Trust – Movies have plots. They are usually accompanied by subtle forewarning clues. There are no extraneous persons in the story. That incidental character who just happens to…
But as for me, I will wait continually, and will praise You yet more and more. Psalm 71:14 NASB But as for me – The Mosaic Code seems to exhort fundamental conformity and compliance. After all, how much freedom can a man enjoy when there are rules for everything: what to eat, what to wear, how…
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 NASB For freedom – Paul is not a Stoic. That won’t mean much to you unless you know something about the Greek concept of freedom. To put it as simply as…
So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. John 8:36 NASB Free – eleutheróō. “To set free.” The Greek verb is contrasted to being a slave. To be set free is to be redeemed from slavery. This is not merely a political act. To be really free is to experience independent self-determination. …
Remembering Freedom Won
“ . . . and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:32 NASB Truth – It’s time to write your autobiography. Well, no, not really. Did you ever think about the illogical assumptions of an autobiography. First, of course, is the fact that the real meaning of a life can’t…
So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 NASB Free – Janis Joplin sang the theme song of an entire generation: “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.” Some days I think she was right. John uses a Greek verb with particularly dense meanings. Eleutheróō in the Greek world had…
But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. James 1:25 NASB Liberty– Translators could just have easily written this as “the law of freedom.” The Greek word is eleuthería, a word…
