A ministry of the Word
These posts deal with holiness and righteousness. God our Father is all holy and all righteous. These posts, therefore, address holy and righteous conduct in light of the Father’s nature and our new nature through Him.
When Paul is brought before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem to provide his defense, Paul chooses to defend Christ rather than himself. He makes no mention of the Jewish charges being brought against him. He does not try to justify his ministry. He chooses to defend Christ by recounting the narrative of his conversion to demonstrate …
There are two very difficult lessons that I have learned in ministry: the first tells me that the state of "personal conviction" is a very dangerous thing and must not be entered in too lightly, and the second tells me that those who avoid personal convictions will sink into a state of “personal apathy” and …
In my first screencast, we talk about the fear of the Lord and how this is the beginning of knowing the nature and person of God. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2A3H3iSOkk Proverbs 9:10 (CSB) — 10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 2:1–5 (CSB) — …
1 John 2:28–3:10 (CSB) — 28 So now, little children, remain in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right has been born of him. …
Continue reading "Theological Reflections: 1st John 2:28 – 3:10"
This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister. This introduces us to the concept that conduct exposes certain spiritual realities, and prepares us for John’s discourse on the supreme spiritual …
Continue reading "The Children of God vs. The Children of the Devil: 1st John 3:10"
Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice sin, because God’s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God. John unapologetically repeats his assertion that the nature of God is the foundation of Christian life and experience. We display the nature of …
Children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. John’s tender affection for his readers causes him to remind them of the peril of their situation and to be on guard against those who want to lead them astray by convincing them that the …
No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. This verse is the natural deduction of the previous proposition regarding Christ’s mission and sinless nature. John has already talked about God’s Word abiding in his readers (1st John 2:14) and their need …
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness. The beloved apostle brings his epistle to its apex by identifying what differentiates the children of God from the children of the Devil and confronting the gnostic dichotomy between “sin” and “lawlessness” that many believed made it possible to “be righteous” while living in …
Greed has gone largely unaddressed in Western Christianity because it has such a powerful grip on our culture and it can sometimes be difficult to identify, but we have protected greed by veiling it in heavy cloaks of subjectivity so that no one can confront it without being condemned as “judgmental” and “divisive”. Indeed, this …
