There are four basic words for love in the Greek language. Eros refers to physical love; it gives us our English word erotic. Eros love does not have to be sinful, but in Paul’s day its main emphasis was sensual. This word is never used in the New Testament. Another...
When the dying Jews looked to the uplifted serpent in the wilderness, they were healed (Numbers 21:4-9). This is an illustration of our salvation through faith in Christ. “Looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) describes an attitude of faith and not just a single act. “To look” means “to trust.” When...
As Christian citizens, we should submit to the authority vested in human government. But Scripture does not say we must blindly obey every law. When Daniel and his three friends refused to obey the king’s dietary regulations, for example, they disobeyed; but the way they did it proved that they...
Laodicea in Asia Minor was known for its wealth and its manufacture of a special eye salve, as well as of a glossy black wool cloth. It was also located near Hierapolis, where there were famous hot springs, and Colossae, known for its pure, cold water. As with some of...
The word covenant not only means “an agreement,” but also carries the idea of a last will and testament. If a man writes his will, that will is not in force until he dies. It was necessary for Jesus Christ to die so that the terms of the New Covenant...
One reason we have cares is because we have an enemy. As the serpent, Satan deceives; as the lion, Satan devours. The word Satan means “adversary,” and the word devil means “the accuser, the slanderer.” The recipients of Peter’s first letter had already experienced the attacks of the slanderer, and...
The evidence of conversion is the presence of the Holy Spirit within, witnessing that you are a child of God (Romans 8:16). Your body becomes the very temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Even though the body is destined to die because of sin (unless, of course, the...
The heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11 are referred to as a “great… cloud of witnesses” in the next chapter. These men and women now in heaven are not watching us as we run the race, like people seated in a stadium; the word witnesses does not mean “spectators.”...
For centuries Greek and Roman philosophers used the term “fishers of men” to describe the work of the man who seeks to “catch” others by teaching and persuasion. Jesus had four, possibly seven men in the band of disciples who were professional fishermen; it was logical for Jesus to talk...
Sexual impurity begins in the desires of the heart. Jesus did not say that lustful desires are identical to lustful deeds, so that a person might just as well go ahead and commit adultery. The desire and the deed are not identical, but spiritually speaking, they are equivalent. The “look”...