Christians talk a lot about God’s mercy and grace, and with good reason. We all need that mercy and grace, because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”[1] But Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book The Cost of Discipleship, pointed out that God’s grace does not give Read more…
A couple of weeks ago I talked about what is necessary for salvation. I pointed out that if mere belief were enough, then Satan and his demons would be bound for Heaven, for they don’t merely believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, or that he rose Read more…
1 Corinthians 13:4-7: “Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, it does not rejoice Read more…
Most of the New Testament was originally written in Greek, the language of business, commerce, and government in the eastern Roman Empire. Greek has four words that can be translated as our English word, “love”: eros, storge, phileô, and agape. Eros refers to sexual love—the mutual attraction between the sexes. Read more…
Of the 613 commandments in the Old Testament (per Jewish tradition), Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. (Mark 12:28-30) But what does this really mean? The New Testament was written predominantly in Greek, and Greek has at Read more…