“Do you think that these Galileans were sinners beyond all the Galileans?” Luke 13:2 Beyond – How do we know who is really a sinner? Well, the answer is obvious, isn’t it? We just look how they died. If they were really bad, then they die in horrible ways. After all, God doesn’t punish the…
“and I will cut him off from among My people. So you will know that I am YHWH.” Ezekiel 14:8 Cut Off – The Hebrew phrase that describes acknowledging my sin as the first step in repentance is ha-karat ha-chet. Literally, this is “the sin that cuts off.” These words tell us that unless and…
You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the law; you have fallen from grace. Galatians 5:4 Fallen From Grace – What does “fall from grace” mean? Do you think it’s about denying the Lord? Or about some hideous sin? Not according to Paul’s comments to the Galatians. Falling…
And the man called the name of his wife, Eve, because she became the mother of all living. Genesis 3:20 Eve – Of course, we know that the name Eve is a corruption of the real text. The man did not call her Eve. He called her by the Hebrew name Havvah. Why is it…
Then stand firm in the freedom with which Christ made us free, and do not again be held with a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 Freedom – Are you free? Don’t be too quick to answer. It depends on your concept of freedom. In order to understand what Paul says about freedom in Christ, we…
June 22 “If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And to you shall be its desire, and yet you may rule over it.” Genesis 4:7 Desire – Friedrich Nietzsche was a godless man, but godless men may still see quite clearly the…
“If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And to you shall be its desire, and yet you may rule over it.” Genesis 4:7 Sin – The first time we read the Hebrew word hatat (sin) is here in the story of Cain. …
and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6 To Be Desired – What…
No one serving as a soldier tangles with the affairs of this life, so that he might please the one enlisting him. 2 Timothy 2:4 Tangles – You’re in the army now! If you’re committed to following the Messiah, you made a voluntary decision to join His ranks. That decision has some very big implications. …
I remember those days in high school when the “new math” was introduced. We carried around brown paper covered texts full of strange language, believing we were on the verge of enlightenment. Most of the time we were just confused. All of the familiar ways of handling problems with numbers were displaced, inappropriate. The old…
