What is the best way to start studying the Bible? There are a multitude of ways you can study the Bible and one of those ways will be suited to you. The secret is to just start. The very first thing you do when you sit down with your Bible is not to open it randomly and point, but to pray. After you pray, then open to a specific book. A good place to begin is in the Gospel of John which was written to show us the love Jesus has for us, our need for a Savior, and how to mimic Jesus’ life after we become Christians. Those are general instructions. Let’s be more specific and answer two questions: What do I pray? How far do I read?
READ MOREWhat is lordship? The Greek word we see in Scripture for the word lord is “kyrios.” It is a title of honor and respect for one with authority. It can be used and translated as master, sir, and lord. This word has been given as a title for God (LORD) and for the Messiah, Jesus (Lord). In reference to the Godhead, it signifies the complete and ultimate rule and reign of our Sovereign Creator. So, what is lordship?
READ MOREWhat does “divinity of Jesus” mean or what does it mean that Jesus is divine? 2 Peter1:2-3a says, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things pertaining to life and godliness.” The Greek word used here for our English word divine is theios (thy-ahs). It is only used three times in the New Testament. Here it is used to mean divine as in godlike and in the other two places it refers to the Godhead or Trinity and is translated as “divine nature.” (See Acts 17:29, 2 Peter 1:4.) Jesus, God the Son, possesses the same attributes as God the Father, and those attributes were just presented differently in Scripture since His glory was clothed in human flesh. We see His divinity in the Gospels.
READ MOREWhat is the Second Coming of Jesus? The Second Coming of Jesus is the end-all to the world and its system as we know it. His Second Coming will be much different than His first coming. He will not come as a meek babe in a manger again. Next time, He will come as a conquering King. As King, He will destroy evil, sin, and death and fulfill the prophecies in Scripture involving our complete and eternal salvation. “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:11, 16). To get a clearer understanding of Jesus’ Second Coming, let’s compare.
READ MOREDid the Virgin Birth actually happen? Yes! The Virgin Birth is the foundation upon which our salvation is built. Without the Virgin Birth, Jesus would have had no way of being able to save us from sin because He Himself would have been born into sin in the same way we were. Without the Virgin Birth, Jesus is not the God-man, He is just a normal man, with no way of connecting us to God the Father. Let’s look at why this is true.
READ MOREThe key word in this question is “practice.” God is eternal and omnipresent, so His presence is a never-ending certainty. Our awareness of that presence is not a never-ending certainty, which is why it takes practice. Olympic athletes, for instance, do not sit on the couch eating ice cream and then one day decide to show up at the Olympic games ready to compete. They spend years training and doing smaller competitions in preparation for the experience. In the same manner, no Christian just wakes up and has suddenly mastered the ability to walk consistently in the presence of Almighty God. We must move toward Him. The first step is what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.” What does that look like and what other steps are there? Click below and let’s find out together.
READ MOREThe Bible promotes worship from Genesis to Revelation. Worship is a gift from the Lord as well as a command. There are many forms of worship; some include being in a church and some do not. It’s been said that worship is anything we do that makes God smile. True worship in Scripture was specifically taught by Jesus in His conversation with the woman at the well. In John 4:24, Jesus says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
To understand the hope of Heaven, we first need to understand the word hope. There are two different words for hope that we see in New Testament Scripture. The Greek words elpizo and elpis. 1) Elpizo is used when expressing a wish or desire for something such as in 1 Timothy 3:14 when Paul says, “I hope to come to you shortly.” 2) The Greek word for hope, elpis, is a word that means confident expectation, or as Pastor Adrian Rogers would say, “blessed assurance” or “divine certainty.” This is the word used when referring to the things of Christ or the things of Heaven. For the Christian, seeing Jesus one day face to face and being with God the Father in Heaven is a divine certainty. How do we know? Jesus is the hope, our elpis, of Heaven and He told us so in His perfect Word. Keep reading and see the validity of our hope of Heaven.
READ MOREThe Bible speaks of two categories of antichrists: 1) The Antichrist (singular), of the End Times, spoken of mostly in the Book of Revelation. 2) The antichrists (plural), being those who misrepresent and/or oppose Jesus or lead people away from Him through heretical teachings. The Greek word for antichrist is antichristos and means the adversary of the Messiah. Antichrists have been in opposition to Jesus Christ since the time He walked this Earth, pushing and prodding to move people away from the truth of the Gospel and preparing the way for the Antichrist of Revelation. “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18).
READ MOREThe Bible has much to say about worldly desires. It gives us warnings about submitting to those desires and instructions on how to battle them. It also shows us how God views us if we choose to pursue worldly desires or if we choose to deny them. The Bible says it is a matter of love. Who or what do you love most—the Lord or the world? The Apostle John said it best in 1 John 2:15-17,” Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” Let’s look together at some of the warnings and instructions the Bible gives us.
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