The subject of crowns and rewards for the Christian is not a salvation doctrine. Salvation is a gift according to Ephesians 2:8-9 and other scriptures: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of...
Someone once said, “The book of Revelation is not hard to understand—it is hard to believe!” What they meant by the words “hard to believe” could be open to interpretation, but one thing is for sure: Revelation is trustworthy because the author is Jesus...
It has been my privilege to be part of an international group studying the Scriptures by Zoom. Just recently, we began a study of the Gospel of Matthew. What a blessing this has been! In the opening verses of chapter 1, we have the genealogy of Jesus Christ, which...
Jesus of Nazareth is the unique, one-of-a kind Person in all of history. Having witnessed His miraculous calming of the sea, His disciples asked in wonder and amazement, “What kind of a man is this?” (Matt.8:27). Jesus clearly and directly claimed to be God when He...
Since the time of the early Church, saints have had difficulty being alert to participating in the work of the Lord and supporting His workers. Paul says that only the Philippian assembly gave financially to provide for his practical needs as he went forward with the...
All of the attributes of God taken together tell us who He is. They are all there in perfection and in harmony with each other. However, there is something different, not more important but different, about His holiness: Holiness is the only attribute of God that is...
The Lords response to the rich young ruler who came to Him was, “There is none good but One, that is, God” (Matt. 19:17). The word He uses signifies moral quality, good in contrast with evil. It is sometimes said of people: for example, Joseph of Arimathea (Luke...
When Naomi and I were engaged to be married, a brother in Christ offered us this advice: “The world will work relentlessly to separate you.” This warning alerted my wife and me to our need for constant maintenance of our relationship. Since the Scriptures use marriage...
The purpose of all patterns and types in Scripture is to declare the glory of God through metaphoric form. The pattern of order for the Church to follow is for this purpose—it declares God’s wisdom and grace in the Church (Eph. 3:9-11). God is presently using the...
The universal body of Christ provides immediate “membership” to believers in Christ (Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; Eph. 4:3-4). This world-wide universal body of Christ is composed of all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The local church assembly needs not to offer...
Perhaps the most serious consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic is the impact on the church. Almost every local church has experienced some degree of division over differing opinions and reactions. This is regrettable to say the least, particularly in light of Paul’s...
Dating back to the early church, believers have questioned their relationship to the Mosaic Law (Acts 15:1-31, Gal. 2:1-21). While Bible believing Christians would agree that the Law cannot save them, some still believe that we must follow the Ten Commandments as our...
The Lord’s Table and the Lord’s Supper These two phrases are often used interchangeably in assembly circles. This begs the question, are they both referring to the same thing? Do we gather on a Sunday at the Lord’s Table to observe the Lord’s Supper or is there a distinction? Context A proper interpretation of any […]
The Christian’s Security and Assurance in Christ That “Salvation is of the Lord” is a good thing, for if man had any part in it, it would be inherently unstable (John 2:9). If being saved were a cooperative effort between humans and God, then our moral frailty would engender eternal insecurity within us. Thankfully, well-known […]
The apostle Paul commenting on the perfect deity and humanity of the Lord Jesus wrote “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh…” (1 Tim. 3:16) W.E. Vine defines the word “mystery” as being “outside the range of unassisted natural comprehension and can only be made known by […]
“For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So, then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Romans 14:10-12 Believers will not face the judgment […]
The wonderful effect of God’s grace is that a sinner can cry out to God for salvation and receive forgiveness of sins. But in salvation, God does more than just forgive. He saves people from their sins and begins the process of changing us from a sinner having a desire to sin to a saint […]
God is the sovereign Lord of the universe and the centrality of divine Lordship is a prominent theme in the Bible. Scripture reveals that God possesses absolute authority and rule as King. He is the living God, the eternal King. “But the Lord is the true God, He is the living God and the everlasting […]
In numerous verses, the Bible declares or assumes itself to be the Word of God. The fact that this Book claims to be the inspired Word of God cannot be denied. It is the constant claim of the New Testament and Old Testament writers, and of Christ Himself. Now, why is this an important subject? […]
It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 13:11 The prophets and the apostles preached the coming kingdom of God (Dan. 2:44, Acts 28:31). But it was Christ Jesus that revealed the mystery phase. 1. What is the Kingdom of God? “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done […]