"…the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." —1 Tim. 3:15
The logical conclusion we drew from Num. 20:10-12 last week was this: TO “BELIEVE” = TO “OBEY.” But does the New Testament agree with this conclusion? Indeed, it does. Let us consider John 3:36, for instance: “Whoever BELIEVES IN the Son has eternal life; but whoever DISOBEYS the Son shall not see life…” It must be
So many times in the Bible, man is admonished or expected to “believe in” something or someone. In John 3:16, for instance, we are informed that whoever “believes in” Jesus Christ will have eternal life. Such statements seem as plain as could be—but are they? Here is the question we must ask: What does it
One of the most popularly debated verses in the New Testament is Mark 16:16. After giving the great commission—that followers of Christ are to preach the gospel to all peoples as they go about in their everyday lives (15)—the Lord answers, as it were, an unspoken question: “OK, so as we are going and preaching the
“PROVE ALL THINGS; HOLD FAST THAT WHICH IS GOOD.” 1 THESSALONIANS 5:21 As we have emphasized in the last few installments, one of the keys to correct Bible interpretation is the use of valid logic and reasoning, just as we would (and do) in normal, everyday conversation. Consider, for instance, Acts 2:38: “And Peter said to them,
“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thess. 5:21). That’s what the apostle Paul admonished the Christians at Thessalonica to do. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit [i.e., teacher], but prove the spirits [i.e., teachers], whether they are of God [i.e., whether they are speaking the truth]” (1 John 4:1a). That’s what
God blessed mankind with two immutable gifts (among many others): 1. Objective reasoning; 2. The ability to reason objectively. Since such is the case, obviously God had a reason for giving man the gift of reason. That reason is simply this: He expects us to use it! Yes, God expects and require that we abide by
Did you know there are over 30,000 various “Christian” “churches” in the world today? Did you know that—in the New Testament (NT)—there is only ONE church (Matt. 16:18; Rom. 12:4,5; 1 Cor. 12:12,13,20; et al.)? That leads to this eternally important question: HOW DO I KNOW WHICH CHURCH IS THE CHURCH? In the New Testament—especially in the
Are you a member of the body, or a citizen of the kingdom? WAIT! Whew, that was close… Before you answer, we have to consider what these two designations mean. Just hold your little horses for a minute… MEMBER OF THE BODY In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul has an extended discussion on the body of
Parents often ask questions to their children that are just plain silly. For instance, when a child spills a drink, a parent may hotly demand, “Why did you do that?” Clearly, it was an accident, and there was no “why” to it! But still we ask. Then there is my personal favorite, the mother of
In Part 1, we began by noticing that God is asking many of us, “Where art thou…on the mission field?” Beyond all doubt, that applies to far too many of us; and the evidence heavily supports it. But there is yet another time when the Lord may direct toward us the question, “Where art thou?” It is a time