Paul’s Paradigm

All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness;  2 Timothy 3:16  NASB Scripture – What does Paul mean when he uses the Greek term graphḗ?  Before we can answer that, we need to know something about the wider meaning of the term in the first century.  graphḗ…

Extra-terrestrial

It was also about these people that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord has come with [n]many thousands of His holy ones, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” …

Where We Live Now

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 NASB The powers – “An idolatrous culture is one that sees reality in terms of impersonal forces. A Jewish culture is one that insists on the ultimate reality…

The Borrowed Text

If you say, “See, we did not know this,” does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work? Proverbs 24:12 NASB Weighs – How much of the Bible is borrowed from other cultures, even…

Eat, Drink, Man, Woman

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden . . .” Genesis 2:16 ESV Surely eat – “It is primarily in the way in which we gratify physical needs that the seed of holiness is planted.”[1] Is Heschel right? Is holiness really about how we…

Trading Spaces

a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. Hebrews 8:2 NASB Tabernacle – “The man of the archaic societies tends to live as much as possible in the sacred or in close proximity to consecrated objects. The tendency is perfectly understandable, because . . . the sacred…

Antibiotics

for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your…

And God Said

The word of the Lord which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. Hosea 1:1 NASB Word of the Lord – If I asked you, “What is God’s word?” how…

Inspired vs. Sacred vs. Canon

It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, Jude 1:14 NASB Enoch – According to some theological schools of thought, Scripture is the only true basis for interpreting Scripture. In other words, if I want to…

Sinless Perfection

For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,  2 Timothy 3:2 NASB Unholy – Describe the unholy person. Write down his character traits (or flaws). What you will end up with is a list of culturally conditioned spiritual and behavioral attributes. And you won’t come…