So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Romans 10:17 NASB Hearing – If you were Paul, the Jewish rabbi Sha’ul, what Hebrew word would you have in mind when you wrote the Greek verb akoe (to hear)? There can only be one obvious answer – shama. But as soon as…
and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.” Joshua 2:9 NASB I know – How did Rahab know? How did she know that these men…
“These things I have spoken to you, that you may be kept from stumbling.” John 16:1 Kept From Stumbling – Yeshua does not want you to be scandalized. That’s the Greek word here – skandalizo – “to cause to offend or stumble.” In this context, Yeshua explains the process of faith so that we won’t…
But the righteous shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:4 But – Once more the vocabulary is simply an appended vav. The word for the righteous (tsadik) becomes ve-tsadik (the vav is appended). Context determines the translation and “but” seems appropriate because the text is about a contrast. However, that isn’t quite enough for us…
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 5:1 Justified By Faith – It’s extremely unfortunate that Cardinal Hugo and Joseph Athias divided the Bible up into chapters (introduced about 1240 AD) and Arabic numeral verses (introduced in 1661). While such conventions became necessary for technological…
Sometimes I think we get the idea that God leaves us in the dark on purpose. We have the bump-into-things view of faith, like walking through a room with the lights off. This morning my wife and I read our devotional page from Oswald Chambers’ book. We talked about our current situation. Nothing seems to…
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 Assurance – From 300 BC until 1500 AD, this word was about something very different than “assurance.” But when Martin Luther accepted this translation suggestion his friend Phillip Melanchthon 500 years ago, the landscape of this word…
“and you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man do, he shall live by them. I am YHWH.” Leviticus 18:5 Live By Them – Is there a more important Hebrew phrase? Hardly! God provides an answer to the question, “What does it mean to live by faith?” “Wait,” you say. “This…
But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? James 2:20 NASB Useless – According to this translation, James doesn’t say, “faith without works is false belief.” He doesn’t say, “faith without works is carnal.” He doesn’t say, “faith without works is hypocrisy.” According to this translation, he says…
“O woman, your faith is great; be it done for you as you wish.” Matthew 15:28 Faith – If love is what we all want, rejection is what we all fear. There is nothing quite as damaging as being told that you don’t belong. “Don’t bother me. Can’t you see I’m busy?” “What are you…
