Romans 2
Both Jew and Greek have no excuse for their sin and God will judge all because he shows no partiality...
Keep ReadingJames 4
One of the things I have been learning recently is how quickly the Lord can humble us. One moment I can feel strong and able and in a swift moment the ability to do things for myself is taken away for a season. It is truly humbling to know and remember how frail we are as humans even though there are moments when we think we are on top of the world. One of the main things that we see in this chapter is the call James gives to the church to humble themselves. The reason they need to humble themselves is because there seems to be a lot of problems at this church. Let’s take a dive. ...
James 2
This chapter at first glance seems like it will contradict the teaching of justification in faith alone because of what James says in verses 14-26. James is not teaching something contrary to scripture, but I think what can be summed up is the commandment to “love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Taking the chapter as a whole, I think that loving your neighbor as yourself will help with both the sin of partiality and showing works that derive from our faith. Let’s dissect this....
Philemon
Philemon is the third shortest book in the New Testament and being that we are covering the entire book in one shot I will write a little longer than usual. Philemon is probably a man that is wealthy, first because only wealthy people had enough room in their houses to gather multiple people, secondly because he owned a slave. I think it is important to keep in mind that slavery back then was very different to what it used to be as we know it now. According to Benjamin Gladd “In the Greco-Roman world, slaves were granted many rights, such as worshiping, marrying, and making money.” I think it is also worth noting that this book does not condone slavery as we have seen in the very early stages of this country. What we have in this book is a runaway slave and a master who have both been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and what we will see is how the gospel plays a part in that relationship. Some scholars think that Onesimus was either in charge of finances or stole something from Philemon according to (v.18). Onesimus must have done something which caused him to run away from Philemon and he fled to Rome where he came in contact with Paul providentially. It is very possible that Onesimus knew who Paul was and sought him out or Paul knew of Onesimus and called for him. It is not sure but one thing we know is that when Onesimus came to Paul somewhere down the line he got saved (v.10). It seems like once Onesimus was saved he grew immensely very quickly by the way Paul speaks of him. So, what can we glean from this book? Two things....
Matthew 28
The Resurrection...
Keep ReadingMatthew 27
The Crucifixion of Christ...
Keep ReadingGenesis 41
Joseph was cast out of his home in Canaan; Jesus voluntarily left his home in heaven. Jesus was likewise falsely accused. Jesus likewise did not defend himself. Jesus likewise was abandoned by those that he had helped in the time of his greatest need. Much more than Joseph, Jesus suffered alone. And in a much greater way, Jesus experienced the lowest form of humiliation, d...
Keep ReadingGenesis 40
More than any of the other patriarchs, Joseph’s life parallels the life of Christ. Today and tomorrow we will focus in on the similarities in terms of humiliation and exaltation, and see how it relates to our salvation. For chapter 40, our focus will be on the process of humiliation suffered by Joseph....
Keep ReadingMatthew 26
The Steadfast love of Christ...
Keep ReadingMatthew 25
Parable of the Ten Virgins & The Final Judgement...
Keep ReadingGenesis 39
Today’s focus will zone in on two aspects of what is taking place in the life of Joseph. Sexual Purity and False Accusations...
Keep ReadingGenesis 38
Today we are going to wade into the murky darkness of the sinful life of the fourth son of Israel. The events described in this chapter are disturbing and repulsive, revealing the hard heart of a rebel. If you examine the internal components of any finely crafted machine, you are going to see that every last element exists for a very significant reason. I know nothing abou...
Keep ReadingGenesis 37
In our text this morning, we see the negative results of bad parenting. Much of the division that existed between Joseph and his brothers directly resulted from the favoritism that Jacob showed to the offspring of his favorite wife. (For those who are tabulating, this is just one more reason why polygamy is always bad.)...
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