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Romans 5:10 (AV) “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Much attention is given to the fact that we received forgiveness through the death of Jesus, and it I good and right that we…

Romans 5:9 (AV) 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. The blood of Jesus justified us. The wages of sin is death. Our death could never have paid the price because our violation was infinite and our life was finite. The blood of Jesus is…

Romans 5:8 (KJV) “8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” When we commend one person to another, we give our favorable view of them and present them in their best light. That God would introduce us favorably to His love is a great…

Romans 5:6 (KJV) “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” What God did for us through Jesus is amazing. Anyone who knows anything about the Christian faith knows that Jesus died for our sins. This can seem distant and impersonal to some. It can be difficult to…

New Testament Circumcision Genesis 17:10–11 (AV) 10This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. God established…

Romans 5:1 (KJV) “1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” Justification means that we stand blameless before God having been acquitted of all charges. We are not guilty. Since this is the case, we are at peace with God. Trusting God for righteousness completes the reconciliation…

You are Free Because of Jesus Jesus did some pretty awesome stuff. Colossians 2:9-19 has some amazing, and truly profound things to say that shed a little light on this. Colossians 2:9–15 (NASB95)9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He…

Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart – Part 2 In part one, I talked about some of the bad beliefs I once held and how they impacted my relationship with Father. We saw that Father is not at all like I had imagined Him. We saw in a parable—a story with a teaching…

Welcome to the New You! Forget what you once were. That has no bearing on who you are now. I can say this with complete confidence. How? you ask. Ephesians 2:4-7 tells us that:God is rich in mercyGod has great love for usEven though we were spiritually dead His great love compelled Him to make…

Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart – Part 1 Proverbs 3:5–6 (AV) 5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. I have had some bad beliefs over the course of my life. From an…

Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart – Part 2 In part one, I talked about some of the bad beliefs I once held and how they impacted my relationship with Father. We saw that Father is not at all like I had imagined Him. We saw in a parable—a story with a teaching…

Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart – Part 3 We have seen that God is not an angry sadistic autocrat in the sky waiting to punish us and make us suffer. We have seen that He is love, and we examined what scripture says we can expect from love. In this final segment…

Ephesians Chapter Five – Part 5 Text in parentheses in Bible quotes is mine. Okay, this section is a big one. Are you ready for all the submit, love, and respect language? You may have heard this taught in some pretty awful ways. Ways that elevate one gender and denigrate the other. I am here…

Ephesians Chapter Five – Part 4 Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” As believers we are always filled with the Holy Spirit. I think what is in view here is a recognition that we are continually being filled by the Spirit. Jesus spoke of…

Ephesians Chapter Five – Part 3 Now we come to a part of Ephesians chapter five that has sometimes been misused. In this part of the letter Paul addresses two states of being—in light and in darkness. Text placed in parentheses in scriptural quotes is mine. Ephesians 5:11-13 (KJV) 11 And have no fellowship with…

Ephesians Chapter Five – Part 2 This section of Ephesians five, taken by itself, might instill doubt and fear. The enemy will certainly use it to that end at every opportunity. As with any scripture passage, it is crucial that we keep in mind its context within the greater book or epistle, and the audience…

Ephesians Chapter Five – Part 1 Ephesians 5:1-2 (KJV) 1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. The enemy would love for us to understand…

Romans 14 – Part Six (The End) We have seen that we are safe at the judgment and that we have freedom. We found that we are not to use our freedom is ways that cause others to speak ill of our faith or that cause others to stumble in their own faith. Now we…

Romans 14 – Part Five We have seen that judgment is the Lord’s purview and that no one will be left out. We have also seen that those who are in Christ are simply ushered into the kingdom. The account they give of themselves is simply that they are in Christ. Jesus is our advocate,…

Romans 14 – Part Four Romans 14:9 “9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record that “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” (see Matthew 22:32, Mark 12:27, and…

Romans 14 – Part Three Last time we examined Paul’s use of food that had possibly been used as a sacrifice to an idol as an example of tolerance and how the life of Christ in us prompts us to behave. In this part of our text Paul’s example turns to religious observances. Romans 14:…

Romans 14 – Part Two In Romans chapter fourteen, Paul talks about Christlike interactions with people who believe differently from us or who simply struggle with faith. In this installment we will begin looking into some of the examples he gives. As we do, it is good for us to remember that his culture and…

Romans 14 – Part One The fourteenth chapter of Romans has a lot to say to us as we face this tumultuous world. It speaks to us where we are and calls us to the place we deeply want to be. In John 16:32–33 (AV)Jesus said “32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come,…

Sabbath in the New Testament The idea of sabbath has been contentious in some parts of the Church. In the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament, or Covenant) the Sabbath was a cessation from labor of any creative kind. According to Rabbinic tradition, this included things such as weaving or separating two threads, tying or untying,…