Believers

I tend to use the word believers for ἐκκλησία primarily because the word church had become a not-for-profit corporation managed and operated by believers.  It helps me study the Bible as if it pertains to me, rather than as a search for bylaws and provisions for the...

Romans, Part 90

Paul wrote believers in Rome (Romans 15:28, 29 NET): Therefore after I have completed this [contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem[1]] and have safely delivered this bounty to them, I will set out for Spain by way of you, and I know that when I come...

Father, Forgive Them – Part 4

I have attempted to cleanse Jesus’ words of the crime/punishment motif I think the translators of the NET and NASB superimposed upon them, so that his mercy—planning the offspring of vipers’ escape from being condemned to hell—shines through (Matthew 23:33-35 NET;...

Father, Forgive Them – Part 3

Jesus said (Matthew 23:33-36 NASB): You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? “Therefore (Διὰ τοῦτο; See: Table1 below), behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of...

My Deeds, Part 3

There is a table representing my unstudied view of the relationship of the clauses of Revelation 2:26-29.  I’m considering the clause, who continues in my deeds until the end, because it tugs the hardest at me to return to my own works.  I’ve begun to try to...