In his book The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman says that husbands and wives have different ways of expressing and receiving love. We know that God loves us, but what is his love language? What honors and pleases him?
Church-goers are fond of labeling each other as “liberal” or “conservative.” But these words mean different things to different people. And neither label is in the Bible.
Romans 1 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.…
Job 9 Then Job answered and said: 2 “Truly I know it is so, But how can a man be righteous before God? 3 If one wished to contend with Him, He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
In his dedication to Judaism, young Saul of Tarsus (later to become the apostle Paul) always did his best. He wanted to prove his moral and spiritual excellence to God. As a Christian he did his best for an entirely different reason (Tit. 3:12-15).
Why do so many healthy and prosperous people feel empty and discontented? Maybe they don’t understand that joy is God’s gift for those who yield to his leading (Phil. 4:4).
A man in the Corinthian church was living with his stepmother – and the congregation was proud of it! Paul urged the church to drive out the wicked person. But why? His inspired instructions give us two reasons for removing a stubborn sinner from our fellowship (1 Cor. 5:1-13).
God commanded the people of Israel to set aside the seventh day of each week as a time for rest and worship. The Sabbath honored God as Creator of the world (Exod. 20:8-11). But the resurrection of Jesus ushered in a new creation, and his triumph over death didn’t come on a Sabbath.
Many church-goers seem to think that grace is for enlightened sinners living in sin and that good deeds are for stuffy people trying to earn eternal life. This is a serious misunderstanding. Good deeds spring from grace as surely as water flows from a well. And if a brother refuses to accept this, the church…