by admin | Apr 9, 2017 | Chapter 15, Romans, Section Three
But I myself am fully convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, Paul continued, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.[1] Though it may sound as if Paul commended Roman believers for their peculiar...
by admin | Mar 31, 2017 | Section Three, What Kind of Carpenter is Jesus?, Who am I?
During my Christmas holiday Grandmother described her simple faith to me: Jesus died to save us from the god of the Old Testament. She didn’t want me or any preacher or any church or the Bible to confuse her simple faith in her simple gospel. It was an eerie...
by admin | Mar 6, 2017 | Paul's Religious Mind, Section Three
My gift is showing mercy. Also, I’m an outsider in many ways. I was persona non grata when I returned to my childhood church, ostensibly because my wife divorced me, but the impossibility of repentance after apostasy (Hebrews 6:4-6) is an ever-present...
by admin | Feb 21, 2017 | Deuteronomy, Section Three, The Fear of the Lord
Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, stole some of the riches [of Jericho which had been devoted to yehôvâh]. The Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) was furious (chârâh, ויחר; Septuagint: ἐθυμώθη, a form of θυμόω; ʼaph, אף; Septuagint: ὀργῇ, a...
by admin | Feb 13, 2017 | Deuteronomy, Section Three, The Fear of the Lord
Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon,[1] Moses’ account of the words yehôvâh (יהוה) spoke to him after all the military men had been eliminated from the community[2] continued. Look! I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his...
by admin | Feb 9, 2017 | Deuteronomy, Section Three, The Fear of the Lord
I’m considering the third occurrence of yirʼâh (ויראתך) in the Bible, the word I’d hoped would distinguish the fear of the Lord from ordinary fear: This very day, yehôvâh (יהוה) said to Moses, I will begin to fill all the people of the earth with dread and to terrify...
by admin | Jan 27, 2017 | Deuteronomy, Section Three, The Fear of the Lord
This very day, yehôvâh (יהוה) said to Moses, I will begin to fill all the people of the earth with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach.[1] This very day was past as Moses recounted Israel’s...
by admin | Jan 18, 2017 | Chapter 15, Romans, Section Three
I’ve considered, For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers.[1] Jesus was the only living descendant of Abraham worthy of the promised land and the kingdom of God at the...
by admin | Jan 12, 2017 | Paul's Religious Mind, Section Three
In the year of King Uzziah’s death,[1] yehôvâh (יהוה) sent the prophet Isaiah to harden the descendants of Israel living in the southern kingdom of Judah (Isaiah 6:9-12 NET): “Go and tell these people: ‘Listen continually, but don’t understand! Look continually, but...
by admin | Dec 29, 2016 | Section Three, What Kind of Carpenter is Jesus?, Who am I?
I spend a large portion of my Christmas holiday with three post-Christian women I’ll call Grandmother, Mother and Daughter because of their relationship to one another. I call them post-Christian because they were all professing Christians at one time. Grandmother...