SeekLife

The Bible speaks of many things as gifts that we are given by God, and when we get a gift we tend to think that the gift is for us. For our own good or benefit. But when we examine scripture, and the purpose of gifts, we discover that there is a broader purpose for the gifts that God gives us that goes far beyond ourselves.

In Jesus final week, He was posed a series of questions that were designed to trap Him. One of the more famous was a question about paying taxes to Caesar. We often look at this exchange and understand it simply as saying to pay taxes, but when we examine this exchange closely we discover that there is much more going on in His response.

The concept of Sabbath is usually understood as taking a day off. Catching a nap, watching something, just relaxing in general. But the Bible speaks of resting in another way. A way that is much more than simply a day off.

Repentance is extremely important to the life of the believer. But just how does one go about repentance? Before describing the process, however, we need to understand the definition of repentance.

Repentance is something that we hear a lot about in religious circles, but just how important is repentance anyway?

1 Timothy 5 tells us to not be hasty in laying hands on others. This is often understood as meaning that we should be hesitant to pray for others as the idiom of "laying hands" is often used in connection to prayer. But when we examine the context of this verse we discover that the context of the passage does not support this understanding of the idiom. So what does it mean?

When Judah recommended to his brothers that they sell Joseph into slavery we often look on in disgust and judgment. How dare they do this, and how dare Judah recommend this course of action? Why not take him home as Reuben suggested. But when we stop and examine all of the possibilities we discover that Joseph being sold into slavery was the best possible option given the circumstances.

When we read the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, it is easy to assume that God accepted Abel's sacrifice and not Cain's because Cain did not offer a blood sacrifice. The idea is that Cain's sacrifice was not legitimate and so God did not accept it. But when we read the text in the original language we find that this is not the case. Cain's sacrifice was arguably more legitimate than Abel's according to the various descriptions of sacrifices in the Bible. This story is not about Cain giving the wrong thing. It is about something much deeper that we can all learn from.

Jesus fulfilled the law. But does this mean what many understand it to mean?

It is often said, "line upon line," is the way that we are meant to interpret scripture based on Isaiah 28.

God wouldn't allow good people to go to hell. But that's the thing. We are not judged or condemned by our works. It is our very nature that condemns us, which is why we must be born again into a new nature that comes from God.

Romans 10:4 states that Jesus is the end of the Law for all who believe. But just what does this mean when we compare this snippet to the context of the surrounding passage?

When people find out I am pronomian, one of the most common questions I get is, "but what about Galatians."

When attempting to interpret the Torah, what is the best way to do so? Well if we look to how the authors of the New Testament handle the Torah we find that they use certain principles in their interpretive technique. Principles that I call, the Law of Extrapolation.

As a Pronomian I get a lot of questions about how I strive toward keeping the Law. One of the most common is the question of which of the laws of the Torah still apply to the modern believer. The answer to this question as I see it might surprise you.

Many sectors of Christianity have taken a stance that discards the Torah, or the Law of God. But is this stance accurate? Should we discard the Old Testament as unnecessary or non-applicable? Should we embrace an antinomian view of the Bible, or should we instead see the Torah as Paul describes it in Romans? Holy, and Righteous, and good.

When we hear of praise and worship, our culture has trained us to think of music. But should praise and worship be limited to a musical expression? What do these words mean anyway?

We often hear it preached that God forgives our sins. How much have we considered the statements that God forgives based on how much we forgive? Just how important is it to forgive those around us who have harmed us?

In John 13:34 Jesus states that He is giving a new command. The fact is that this command looks suspiciously like Leviticus 19:18. How is this a new command? To discover that we need to go back just 20 verses and examine another command that Jesus gave to His disciples at the Last Supper.