A Good Death

May it never be!  How shall we who have died to sin still live in it?  Romans 6:2  NASB Died – Let’s talk about death.  Not a pleasant topic, but an inevitable one.  In Greek thought, death (thanatos) is a natural process that happens to all living entities.  While there is a certain type of…

Manna From Heaven (4)

November 12  What say we say then?  Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase?  Romans 6:1  NASB Sin –  YHWH is a God of order.  The Genesis account of creation is a bugle blast sounding order in the cosmos.  Everything that YHWH does demonstrates ordered purpose.  And the patterns that YHWH puts…

Manna from Heaven (3)

What say we say then?  Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase?  Romans 6:1  NASB Sin –  Having investigated this word for the last two days, we should have come to the conclusion that sin is defined by the culture that uses the word, not by some dictionary definition from another historical…

Manna from Heaven (2)

What say we say then?  Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase?  Romans 6:1  NASB Sin – “The wisdom writings usually have a more intellectual than religious view of sin. By instruction we come to know what is fitting in relation to God and how to apply it to life (as distinct…

Manna from Heaven (1)

What say we say then?  Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase?  Romans 6:1  NASB Sin – The Hebrew word manna literally means “What is it?”  This food that fell from heaven completely bewildered the Israelites.  Their language expresses this surprise.  But today we don’t give a second thought to the actual…

The Asylum (2)

What say we say then?  Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase?  Romans 6:1  NASB Increase – “Obviously, that standpoint is congenial to the notion that sin does not affect or pollute the deepest being of a man.  It only impinges on the periphery of our living.  Sin does not break down…

The Asylum (1)

What say we say then?  Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase?  Romans 6:1  NASB Increase – I guess a “little” grace isn’t enough for some.  God pours out His favor (in Hebrew, hen).  He lifts away the deserved punishment.  He designates us “Not Guilty.”  He calls us His adopted children.  But…

Contagion

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned –   Romans 5:12  NASB Death – Why do we die?  Before you quickly respond, “Because we are sinners,” let’s examine the cultural thinking during the time when Paul wrote these…

Exit Wound

At the entrance, sin lies in wait.  Talmud, B. Sanhedrin 91b. In wait – Commenting on Genesis 4:7, the rabbis note that sin takes opportunity to entice us from the moment of entrance into the world.  “To be born is to leave the simplicity, the ‘sincerity,’ of life-with-mother and to cross a threshold into a…

The “Do-over”

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them, . . .”  Leviticus 4:1-2 NASB Unintentionally – The book of Leviticus provides atonement for unintentional sins. …