Category: Reflections Articles

Consider this text: “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel” (Deuteronomy 25:5-6). This duty of the second brother is the basis upon which the Sadducees argued that there is no resurrection in Matthew 22:23-33).

The Sadducees posited a hypothetical example of a widow of all seven brothers, none of which gave her an heir, which “proved” that the very idea of a resurrection was untenable. Consider, very religious people arguing vociferously from ignorance. That is what Jesus, in a decidedly pointed response, told them! “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven” (Matthew 22:29-30). Continue reading “Marriage Duty and the Resurrection” →

Most are familiar with the narrative in 1 Kings of the prophet Elijah and King Ahab. In 1 Kings 17:1 we read, “And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” At first glance one might think that Elijah was acting with hubris, making the claim that he could and would control the rain in Israel. This was not so at all.

First, there was a reason Elijah proclaimed this to Ahab. In the previous chapter we read of the ungodliness of this king of Israel. “Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him” (1 Kings 16:30-33). Continue reading “A True Troubler” →

In his letter to the Romans the apostle Paul spoke of the failure of Israel to repent at the appearance of the Christ. Even so, under that New Covenant, God promised salvation to a remnant. Paul wrote, “Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:5).

Later in the chapter, Paul turned his attention to the Gentiles. The salvation of the Gentiles was a primary concern of Paul. It was a component of his mission, given by the Lord at his conversion. The preacher Ananias was sent to Paul by the Lord, who told Ananias, “Go, for her is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Continue reading “The Grafted Branches” →

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2). This was the initial state of God’s created universe.  A big question is asked by many — How much time passed between this statement by Moses in Genesis 1:1-2, and the word “Then” which begins the third verse. The answer is, nobody knows. It has not been revealed.

What we do know is that the week of creation described by Moses in verses 3-31 was described by Jesus as being part of the beginning. Jesus said in Matthew 19, “And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female,’” (4). The idea that billions of years passed between verse 2 and verse 3 does not jibe with Jesus’ words. However, a relatively short time, whatever it might be, does no damage to Jesus’ claim that God instituted marriage at the beginning of His creation. Continue reading “In the Beginning” →

In Romans 1 the apostle Paul wrote about a society (the Romans) who didn’t like to think about God. They “suppressed the truth” (18), “they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful” (21), they “changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man” (23), they “exchanged the truth of God for the lie” (25). Paul summarized their attitude by writing, “they did not like to retain God in their knowledge” (28). He made it clear to his readers that because they acted this way, God “gave them over” to the debasement they preferred (28).

This has happened many times throughout history. It happened in Israel. Hosea recorded God as saying, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (4:6). I dare say that this is a large cultural problem in our day as well. Continue reading “Some Just Don’t Like Thinking About God” →

There is an interesting passage in Romans 13:11-14, which describes our preparation for eternity in the presence of God.  Paul wrote, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

The text clearly indicates the imperative of preparation. It also shows that Christian preparation is found in holy living and obedience to God. Paul uses phrases such as “cast off the works of darkness”, “put on the armor of light,” “walk properly,” a walk not characterized by “revelry and drunkenness” … “lewdness and lust” … “strife and envy.” Finally, to make “no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Continue reading “Put on Christ” →

The prophetic book titled “Jonah” begins with a command of God to the prophet. “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” We are familiar with Jonah’s response.  Instead of obeying the voice of God, “Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord” (2:3).

Tarshish was the opposite direction from Nineveh.  But there is nothing in scripture that indicates that God is not to be found there. It is doubtful that Jonah, a prophet of God, really thought that he could flee to a place where God could not reach him. In Psalm 139, David wrote:

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.”

                                                                         (7-10)     Continue reading ““From the Presence of the Lord”” →

We are familiar with the two sons of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was born to Sarah’s handmaiden, as she gave Hagar to Abraham as a wife. Isaac was the son of promise. The one God promised to Abraham and Sarah as their heir, and the beginning of His fulfillment of the promises He made to them.

In Galatians 4 the Holy Spirit revealed through the pen of Paul that the two sons of Abraham represent something else. Two covenants. As Ishmael was born of a bondwoman according to the flesh, he represents the first covenant “from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage” (25). In this metaphor, we have a bondwoman (Hagar) representing Mount Sinai, and her son (Ishmael) corresponding to fleshly Jerusalem, which under the Old Covenant, remained in bondage.

In contrast, “the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all” (26). Here Sarah is the freewoman who coincides with that Jerusalem which is above. Therefore her children, represented by Isaac, are free. In that she is “the mother of us all” (26), this text clearly establishes the all encompassing nature of the New Covenant of Christ. As Paul wrote earlier in the book, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (3:26-29). Continue reading “The Old and New Covenants” →

In 2 Timothy Paul predicted perilous times that would come in the last days. “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

We need to recognize that these are the times to which Paul refers. Not exclusively this decade or generation, rather the intent of Paul’s reference to “the last days.” In both the Old and New Testaments the phrase is used to refer to the present dispensation, what we might refer to as the Gospel Age. Christ has come and His rule will continue until “He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:25-26). At the end of this era Jesus will come and the final judgment will be visited upon mankind. As Peter put it, “both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). Truly these are the last days. Continue reading “Personally Perilous Times” →

There are many warnings in scripture regarding the consequence of departing from the straight path. It stands to reason that it is both possible and consequential to stray.  If not, the warnings are extraneous.

One example is the call to Christian growth found in Peter’s second epistle:

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,  to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,  to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.  For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-11).

A simple reading of this text reveals why it is important to live a righteous life. It is not something that you merely should do, but something God’s requires! Consider the bold sections of the text, and their significance:

1. If you add these characteristics you will not be barren nor unfruitful. If you don’t add them, you may . So what? Well, Jesus said that unfruitful branches are gathered and thrown “into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:6).
2. You can forget you were cleansed from your sins. To be enlightened but lose what you have brings a need for renewal that is impossible (Hebrews 6:4-6).
3. If through adding these characteristics your call and election can be made sure; then not adding them can bring uncertainty. That is why Paul told the Philippians to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).
4. Adding these characteristics precludes stumbling, and provides an abundant entrance into heaven. But our names can be blotted out (obliterated, erased)  from “the Book of Life” (cf. Revelation 3:5), if we do not overcome.  If sins can be erased (Acts 3:19), then our written names can be erased from the Book of Life in the same way.

This is the reason for the warnings. Heed them and live! Ignore them to your own eternal peril!

We know that the church belongs to Christ, created for us that we might serve Him as He desires. He established His church, accomplishing it by dying on the cross for those who He chose through the gospel. Jesus gifted to us our salvation, as He Himself paved the way to heaven through His own resurrection from the dead. Consider Paul’s words, “‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. (Now this, ‘He ascended’ – what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)’” (Ephesians 4:9-10).

The Holy Spirit used the word church (ekklesia), referencing God’s people, in two basic ways in scripture. The first is referred to as the universal use of the word church.  It is that to which Jesus refers when He promised in Matthew 16:18, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” In this sense it refers to the relationship that each saved person has with Christ when He comes to Him in faith. “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them … And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:41,47). Simply put: every person who has been saved in the past, is saved now in the present, or will be saved before the Lord comes again, — he or she is added to His church. This references our relationship with its privileges. There is no passage of scripture than activates this universal church in any way. Continue reading “What Christ Gave the Church” →

We have long shown that the preponderance of God’s teaching on Christian living has application to the relationships we find in the home.  Not much is written or said in the Bible about the husband/wife or parent/child relationships. There are some passages, one of which we appeal to today, but understand that the teaching of Christ to love God and love your neighbor bears many truths that will help us to know how families are to treat one another.

When the Holy Spirit does reveal truth about the family relationship, three main points are seen.  The husband must LOVE, the wife must SUBMIT, and the child must OBEY. Continue reading “Three Needs for the Family” →

The book of Nehemiah describes an interesting day in the lives of the remnant who returned to Jerusalem out of Babylonian captivity. The wall protecting the city had been finished, and the Jews had gathered at Jerusalem. Chapter 8 relates a reading of the law by Ezra, followed by the keeping of the Feast of Tabernacles. Chapter 9 picks up the narrative. The children assembled on the twenty-fourth day of the month and fasted “in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads” (1). These were signs of mourning as the sins of Israel weighed heavily upon the people as they woke spiritually. Verse 2 says, “Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.”

For a quarter of the day they read from God’s law. Another fourth was taken up in their confession of sin and worship to God. After half the day was over the Levites addressed the assembly, sharing the history of Israel.  They emphasized God’s graciousness despite the consistent rebellion of the people which led to their demise as a sovereign nation. I would suggest a reading of the address in verses 5-38 of the chapter. Continue reading “The Confession of Sin” →

God made a covenant with Abraham, noted first in Genesis 12. This covenant included the promise of a great nation, and a land in which they would dwell. This land — Canaan — was given as an inheritance to the Israelite nation. Under that Old Covenant, the Jews were Abraham’s seed and heirs. “So the LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass” (Joshua 21:43-45).  In fact, the very word is used to describe this gift. “These are the areas which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan” (14:1).

Things have changed with Christ. No longer is the physical Jew the heir of God’s promises. As Paul explained in his epistle to the Romans, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God” (Romans 2:28-29). Continue reading “The Value of Heirship” →

John’s third epistle is a personal letter to his beloved brother Gaius. There is a reason why John is known as the apostle of love. His greeting of Gaius is a wonderful example of John’s true devotion to others. “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers … I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (2,4).

Further, a good portion of his letter is a commendation of the hospitality Gaius showed to other Christians, notably those who were traveling as ministers of the gospel of our Lord.  John wrote, “We therefore ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth” (8). Continue reading “Diotrephes the Prater” →