Paul gave the believers at Thessalonica the commandments of God regarding personal purity. The word commandments is a military term. It refers to orders handed down from superior officers. We are soldiers in God’s army, and we must obey orders. Paul reminded these new believers that sexual immorality does not...
Today our Lord as our High Priest is seated because His work is completed. There were no chairs in the Old Testament tabernacle because the work of the priests was never finished. Each repeated sacrifice was only a reminder that none of the sacrifices ever provided a finished salvation. The...
Epaphras is an example of a New Testament person who not only won people to Christ, but taught them the Word and helped them to grow. He also prayed that they might become mature in Christ. When danger threatened the members of the church, Epaphras went to Rome to get...
Dr. A.W. Tozer used to remind us that the invisible world described in the Bible is the only “real world.” If we would only see the visible world the way God wants us to see it, we would never be attracted by anything it has to offer. The great men...
Christians are like sheep in more ways than one. Sheep tend to flock together, and God’s people need to be together. Like humans, sheep are notoriously ignorant and prone to wander away if they do not follow the shepherd. Sheep are defenseless, for the most part, and need their shepherd...
Paul warned the Gentiles that they were obligated to Israel, and therefore they dared not boast of their new spiritual position. The Gentiles entered into God’s plan because of faith, and not because of anything good they had done. Paul was discussing the Gentiles collectively, and not the individual experience...
God does not shelter us from the difficulties of life, because we need them for our spiritual growth. In Romans 8:28 God assures us that the difficulties of life are working for us and not against us. God permits trials to come that we might use them for our good...
Paul’s favorite name for believers was brethren. He used it at least sixty times in his letters. Paul saw the local church as a family. Each member was born again by the Spirit of God and possessed God’s divine nature. All were part of God’s family. It is tragic when...
A fruitful life is a happy life. It was in a context of teaching about fruitfulness that Jesus said to His disciples, “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11). For what kind of spiritual...
Submission to God and others is an act of faith. There is danger in submitting to others; they might take advantage of us. But we can trust God. His mighty hand that directs our lives can also direct the lives of others. God never exalts anyone until that person is...