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A Worthy Resolution

I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Corinthians. 2:2) The recipients of these words were the members of the Corinthian church. They had become divided into competing factions, with some declaring, “I am of Paul,” and others, “I am of Apollos.” Such sectarianism, though addressed in the first century, remains a persistent danger within the church, even in contemporary postmodern contexts. Tragically, similar divisions continue to surface in many churches today, often because believers lose sight of a foundational truth: ultimate allegiance belongs not to human leaders but to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. He is the author and finisher of our faith, the One who purchased the church with His own blood, bore the penalty of sin, and accomplished redemption and reconciliation with God. Accordingly, the church bears a serious and ongoing responsibility to safeguard the integrity of its life and witness. This includes mai...
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All Things Work Together for Good

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.   (Romans 8:28)   The promise of Romans 8:28 has been a source of deep comfort to Christians for centuries. Our focus today is on the opening phrase of that promise: We know . Scripture provides abundant evidence that this confidence is well‑founded. Through his own experience, Paul affirmed that in every ci rcumstance of life, God is actively at work for the good of those who love Him. The same God who shaped Paul’s life had a clear objective for him—to conform him increasingly to the image of Jesus Christ. Paul learned this truth, and we can learn it as well, through several avenues: Sickness (2 Corinthians 12:7–10) …Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself. Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it wou...
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The Inspired, Infallible, and Inerrant Word

  All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16).   Our primary and final safeguard against false teaching is the Word of God. Verses 16 and 17 of 2 Timothy 3 are among the most important and significant in all the New Testament. They clearly declare the Source of Scripture and thus the Scripture’s authority. Second Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:21 for the basis for our conviction that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God. Paul points out three important truths here: First, all Scripture is God-breathed. When Paul writes in that all Scripture is inspired , he is saying that the entire Bible and every word in it originates with God. Tom Constable correctly states that the Bible “does not merely contain the Word of God or become the Word of God under certain conditions. I...
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Loving Christ

  The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him (John 14:21).     But believing is not simply a matter of mental assent. Being related to Jesus Christ implies obedience, If you love me, you will keep my commands (John 14:15). The two articular participles here, has and keeps , imply far more than having a list of Jesus’ commandments so that one can recite them. They mean that the believer fully grasps His commands with the mind. I fully agree with Gerard Borchet when he says, “I would suggest that the two verbs taken together mean that the commands or the expectations of Jesus for his disciples are fully integrated into the way those disciples live. It is not a matter of following a few rules. It is a way of life. That is the reason the reference to “commands” here is tied so closely to loving Jesus.” 1 The p...
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A Living Sacrifice

  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (Rom.12:1 NKJV).   In the last four chapters of Romans Paul takes up the matter of our duty as children of God. He kicks this chapter off by dealing with the believer’s consecration. We learn here that consecration is not only the will of God, but also the reasonable service of every believer.      Paul first makes an appeal to a consecrated life. Therefore refers to the believer reckoning himself dead to sin and alive unto God as established in the previous chapters. Beseech means “to entreat; to supplicate; to implore; to ask or pray with urgency.” In the context here it is better to consider the word not as a command. Paul is urging believers to respond willingly from within themselves rather than be influenced or even forced by apostolic au...
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Crucified with Christ

  I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).   Galatians 2:20 provides a succinct statement of the very heart of the Christian’s new condition. The believer has died so far as the law is concerned because he has been crucified with Christ . Crucified with is used figuratively, describing the identification of the believer with Christ in the theological aspects of His crucifixion. The tense of the verb is perfect, which looks at an action that occurred in the past, but which produced effects that continue. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, God identified every believer with Him, therefore believers were crucified with Him; they died to the law when Christ died on the cross. The penalty demanded by God’s broken law was satisfied by the crucifixion and its effects have never c...
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Key Figures in the Tribulation (Part 3)

  His Career      The career of the Antichrist can be broken down into four stages. These stages or phases characterize his progression and ultimately his demise. Prior to the Tribulation     According to Daniel 7, the Antichrist ( “ little horn” ) will come out of the revived Roman empire which means that he is coming from the West. At this stage, he will most likely be the political leader of a powerful western country, powerful enough to enter into a covenant with Israel and guarantee her safety. The restored Roman empire will result from the coming together of a western federation of nations, which appears to take place after the beginning of the tribulation. We may very well be witnessing the initial stages of this prophecy as we witness the coming together of many western European countries who have forged a federation or union socially, politically, and economically.      According to Revelation 6:2, early in the...
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