When the apostle Paul moves from his explanation of the gospel to drawing out the practical implications in Romans, he starts with this: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Rom. 12:1 ESV) …
In Malachi chapter 1, God pointed out a major problem with the worship that the people of God were bringing to him. The people of Judah had returned to their homeland after many years in exile. They had rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem and had resumed the worship required in the law …
There is a line in a famous Christmas carol, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, that says that Jesus is “risen with healing in his wings”. You’ve probably sung that line countless times and never really understood what you have been singing. Wings? I don’t remember that bit in the Christmas story! Charles Wesley, who wrote …
I’ve just finished reading a thorough and very interesting historical account of China’s Great Leap Forward in 1958-62. The book is called ‘Mao’s Great Famine: The History of China’s Most Devastating Catastrophe’ by Frank Dikotter. It’s a harrowing read at times. In an attempt to bring China’s industrial output in line with the developed countries …
The local church should be a radically united group of people, the kind of community that cannot be found anywhere else. We have such unity because of Jesus that this should flow into real unity between diverse people in our churches. It is not always like this. The Galatian church was deeply divided. It was …
One of the wonderful benefits we have as Christians is to be sons of God. Trusting in Jesus is not only a matter of having our sins forgiven, though it certainly includes that. It also means that we are adopted as sons of God. We are in God’s family, loved, secure, and with a certain …
The Bible has a storyline to it. It is not like a news website where you choose the articles you want to read and the order doesn’t matter. The order of the Bible does matter. It is more like a novel than a dictionary, a building storyline of God with his people that develops over …
There was a major public disagreement in the church in Antioch in Galatians 2. Peter, who had previously eaten meals with the Christian Gentiles in the church, withdrew because of the opinions of a part of the Jewish church community. Paul confronted him publicly about this because it was splitting the church and not showing …
Paul often refers to the Old Testament in his letters, and he uses a key verse from Genesis at key points in his argument in both Romans and Galatians. It is Genesis 15:6. Let’s have a look at this verse in its original context: After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram …
If you asked someone who was not a Christian to describe what Christians are like to you, you would get a range of answers. On the negative side, some might say that we are hypocrites or bigots or judgemental. On the more positive side, others might say that Christians tend to nice or friendly or …