by admin | Dec 13, 2013 | Chapter 12, Gifts of the Spirit, Romans, Section Three
If [the gift] is showing mercy (ἐλεῶν, a form of ἐλεέω),[1] he must do so with cheerfulness.[2] This is my gift, the one given to me. It is the way I see Jesus and his Father. It is the way I see the world. It is my bias. Blessed are the merciful (ἐλεήμονες, a...
by admin | Dec 8, 2013 | Condemnation or Judgment?, Section Three
Look, the Lord is ready to devastate the earth and leave it in ruins; he will mar its surface and scatter its inhabitants…The earth will be completely devastated and thoroughly ransacked. For the Lord has decreed this judgment.[1] As I understand the words this would...
by admin | Dec 2, 2013 | Section Three, Torture
Since I faulted Jonathan Edwards for making a bad argument to support the assertion in his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” that “the great and almighty creator and king of heaven and earth” is the superlative torturer, I think it best that I look again...
by admin | Nov 29, 2013 | Exodus, Section Three, The Fear of the Lord
Now when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand – when he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of...
by admin | Nov 24, 2013 | Chapter 12, Gifts of the Spirit, Romans, Section Three
I want to continue with the next item in Paul’s list of the different gifts (χαρίσματα, a form of χάρισμα) we have according to the grace given to us.[2] If [the gift] is leadership (προϊστάμενος, a form of προΐστημι), he must do so with diligence (σπουδῇ)…[4] I want...
by admin | Nov 23, 2013 | Section Three
A Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to dinner. A woman of that town, who was a sinner, learned that Jesus was dining at the Pharisee’s house, and she brought an alabaster jar of perfumed oil.[1] The men reclined on cushions on the floor at a low table. As she...