Are You Blameless and Above Reproach?
originally published in the July-August, 2014 edition of Grace in Focus Elders are to be Blameless There are only seven uses of the Greek word anenkletos (blameless, above reproach, irreproachable) in the New Testament. Three of these uses refer to one of the requirements of an elder (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:6) or a deacon […]
For the Sake of His Name
originally published in the July/August 2015 edition of Grace in Focus The expression “for My [or His] name’s sake” occurs eleven times in the New Testament, in all four Gospels (seven times), Acts (once), John’s first and third epistles (once each), and Revelation (once).1 It is not found at all in the epistles of Paul, […]
Shine Your Light, Not Your Religion
There is a sense in which everything we do as human beings takes place in the sight of men. But, surprisingly, the simple Greek phrase emprothen tōn anthrōpōn, that is, before men, occurs just six times in the entire New Testament. What is most surprising, however, is that each occurrence comes from Jesus Himself. Let’s […]
Ecclesiastes and a Judgment of Works
There are some people who have the mistaken idea that people in the OT received eternal life by works. Often, this erroneous view maintains that a person in the OT had to keep the Law of Moses. Of course, nobody believes a person could have kept the Law perfectly, but if a person in the […]
Three Gospel Studies
Study I: Four Simple Observations from the Evangelistic Ministry of the Lord Jesus I recently did a Logos software study revealing four facts which, while simple, have significant implications: 1. Jesus Christ did not spend a lot of time convincing unbelievers that they were sinners. 2. The Lord also did not spend much time convincing […]
Confession in the New Testament
The word homologeō, often translated confess, is found quite regularly (23 times in the Majority Text) in the New Testament, but it may be surprising in what sense it is used most often. We are accustomed to thinking of confession in relation to confessing sins. But surprisingly confession of sins is mentioned only three times […]
Why the Emphasis on “Father” in John’s Gospel?
The first member of the Trinity is referred to as the Father throughout the New Testament. However, while we might expect the usages to be fairly uniform from book to book, they are not. There are less than ten uses in most of the books of the New Testament. Luke and 1 John have over […]
The Fight of Faith
While everlasting life is a free gift received by faith alone in Christ alone, that does not mean believing that message is easy. On the contrary, coming to faith is often a struggle. In fact, the New Testament often describes faith in terms of a fight. The verb agonizomai, from which we get the idea […]
Keys to Kingdom Greatness: An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount
Keys to Kingdom Greatness: An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount. By Steve Elkins. Coppell, TX: Allie Grace Publishers, 2014. 428 pp. Paper, $19.95. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) is the longest extended discourse given by Jesus in all of the Gospels. Over the centuries, it has generated more diversity of interpretation […]
For the Sake of His Name
The expression “for My [or His] name’s sake” occurs eleven times in the New Testament, in all four Gospels (seven times), Acts (once), John’s first and third epistles (once each), and Revelation (once).1 It is not found at all in the epistles of Paul, Peter, James, Jude, or the book of Hebrews. I was interested […]