Monday: Read Hebrews 9:1-10 Hebrews 9 begins what may come across as boring and irrelevant. What the author says at the opening of this chapter, however, leads to the discussion of the person and work of Christ at the end of the chapter. The primary focus of this chapter is a contrast between the old covenant and the new. The author begins by noting two features of the old covenant: “regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary” (1). The... Read more
I often hear Christians these days disparaging the notion of “social justice.” And I wonder if they know what they are criticizing. Sure, I recognize that historically the “social justice” movement was largely connected with biblical liberalism, which in many ways sought to seriously undermine elements of the biblical story. But what is not seemingly understood by conservatives who lambast social justice today is that many evangelicals and other conservatives have seen the good (and even biblical) elements of social... Read more
Monday: Read Hebrews 6:9-20 In contrast to those who have fallen away (6:1-8), the author of Hebrews now turns to his audience and asserts that he is confident that they have indeed been faithful (9) and, consequently, is “convinced of better things concerning you” (9). After all, he continues, God is not unjust and He will not forget “your work and the love which you have shown toward His name” (10). He then issues them a word of exhortation, “And... Read more
It is very common among modern, western Protestants to describe the biblical story in terms of four parts: Creation (Gen 1-2), Fall (Gen 3), Redemption (NT), and Restoration/New Creation (Rev 21-22). And although I will work with this schema (though I prefer a slight modification by using “failure” instead of “fall”), it should be noted that there are some significant problems with it. One of the problems is that it is assumed that all Christians adhere to this fourfold formula.... Read more
Monday: Read Heb 2:1-4; 6:1-8 Today’s reading is from two passages in Hebrews. They are among the most difficult passages in the NT.[2] The controversy is over whether or not one can lose their salvation. Needless to say, those who advocate that one can lose their salvation appeal to texts like these.[3] It is likely that the author is writing (or speaking: remember that Hebrews was likely a sermon that was written down later) to those who have remained in... Read more
Humanity made to rule! I finished the last post by noting that humanity was made to rule (Gen 1:26). God, as an act of love, gives His sovereign power to humanity and empowers them to rule in his stead! NB: Gen 1:28 adds that in addition to ruling humanity was also to “subdue” the earth; which likely indicates the task of agriculture. Subduing the earth, however, does not indicate that they were given the authority to do as they wish.... Read more
Monday: Read Titus 3:1-15 Paul concludes his letter to Titus with a list of exhortations that Titus is to “remind” those in his churches (1-2). Although the items in the list may come across as basic Christian duties, we must remember that Paul was speaking into the Roman world. In that world, and to a lesser extent even today, it was reasonable to “malign” (2; or “speak evil”) others in order to defend one’s social standing. One’s place in the... Read more
When it comes to understanding the Christian worldview the book of Genesis is critical. Unfortunately, I am not sure that it is critical for the reasons that many Christians have come to believe—reasons btw which I was taught and I taught others for many years. Let me explain. Common approaches to determining a worldview If I were to ask “what is the purpose of life?”, or “what is your goal in life?”, I suspect that many Christians would say something... Read more
Monday: Read 2 Tim 3:1-9 It is critical for understanding today’s passage to recall that the entirety of 2nd Timothy is Paul’s personal correspondence to Timothy with regard to Timothy’s fulfilling his ministerial calling. Paul intensifies the importance of Timothy’s maintaining his faith and continuing his ministerial responsibilities. He warns Timothy of the dangers of false teachers, by making him aware of the crisis that awaits the Church in the “last days” (1). The fact that Paul encourages Timothy to... Read more
I left off last time by asking: What sort of things influence our worldview? The answer is that almost everything affects our worldview. Of course, this starts with our life experiences, as well as the things we were taught when we were young. But, as I will note below, there are other factors also. Now, if life experiences play a role, then you might think that the older we are the more refined our worldview is—after all, I know some... Read more
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