Peter addresses his persecuted, exiled readers (1 Peter 2:11) in today’s Bible reading and tells his readers to submit to every human authority. Some time ago I commented on the historical context around the middle of the First Century. I mentioned Nero was the Roman Emperor at the time. Under Nero’s reign, Christians were persecuted far beyond…
In today’s Bible reading, Paul tells Timothy what to look for in church leaders. I don’t know that Paul’s checklist is so much a checklist as it is a reminder that character matters. And character matters … a lot. I find it interesting how Bible teachers and commentators read their Bibles. Many modern Bible teachers look at…
Paul paints a pretty grim picture of fallen mankind in today’s Bible reading*. We saw him paint the same picture a few weeks ago in the beginning few chapters of Romans. But God …. He says we were dead. He says we were alienated from God. He says we lived according to our fleshly desires (that’s all we had!). He…
One of the issues we must deal with as believers is the tension between liberty and love, or freedom and maturity. Believers are not under the Law, but under Grace. But this doesn’t mean that we can do anything we want to whenever we want to. The tension comes when we consider the fact that…
Paul continues developing his thoughts on justification by grace through faith in today’s Bible reading. He says, “So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone.” Romans 5:18 (CSB) Each of us is responsible for our own sin, yet each of…
Again, I’ll highlight what I have said before, that when you see a word or phrase repeated in close proximity in the Bible, it’s a signal of its importance. In today’s Bible reading, Paul uses reconcile five times in only three verses. (2 Corinthians 5:18-20) The word reconcile is used in accounting. You may have reconciled your checkbook to make sure that…
