John the Baptist’s Seven Spirit-Empowered Services (Luke 1:8-17)
So it was, that Zacharias was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, when his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the Temple of the Lord. There were approximately 18,000-20,000 priests in Israel (Bock, Luke, p. 48; Swindoll, Luke, p. 33), who served in rotation. Even with the subdivisions, […]
William Barclay sobre la fe como lealtad
Si eres predicador, probablemente conoces el nombre William Barclay, autor de la serie comentarista The Daily Study Bible Series [La Biblia de Estudio Diario] Barclay es un recurso fuente peligroso. Por un lado, casi siempre encontrarás comentarios prácticos y perspicaces, y/o útiles para incorporar en los sermones. Al menos, esa ha sido mi experiencia. Por […]
In What Sense Were Zacharias and Elizabeth Righteous and Blameless? (Luke 1:5-6)
During the days of Herod, there was a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. Presumably, Luke had verified this detail, as could Theophilus, emphasizing the historicity of these events. Why did it mean for Zacharias to be in the division of Abijah? Israel had thousands of priests, but only one temple, which created a […]
In the Days of Herod (Luke 1:5a)
Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities opens with the memorable line, “It was the best of the times, it was the worst of times…” Some periods are infamous for their difficulty. Merely naming the age evokes the hard times that people experienced, as with the Irish Potato Famine, the Holodomor, the Great Depression, Vietnam, […]
¿Es la fe la confianza en una persona?
A veces la gente dice que la fe que salva es la confianza en una persona. ¿Qué significa eso, exactamente? John W. Robbins explica a continuación cuándo esta expresión tiene sentido y cuándo no: “Mucho antes de que los teólogos neo-ortodoxos pensaran en decir que la fe es un encuentro con una persona divina en […]
Luke’s Method (Luke 1:1-4)
In the last blog, we explored Luke’s purpose in writing his Gospel, and I suggested it was quasi-apologetic—meant to stabilize or to reinforce faith in Christ. Now we can ask a second question: what was Luke’s method in writing his Gospel? The prologue gives us five clues. Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to […]
Four Ways Jesus Fulfills the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17)
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matt 5:17). Jesus said that He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. In other words, the Lord was giving a purpose statement for His ministry, and whenever someone does that, you […]
The Purpose of Luke’s Gospel (Luke 1:3-4)
People write books for specific reasons, and understanding those reasons can help you understand a book as a whole. So why did Luke write his Gospel? What was his purpose? Consider a contrast: John’s Gospel was written with what you could call an evangelistic purpose, where the “good news” is about how to be individually […]
La seguridad eterna explicada de manera sencilla
¿Qué significa estar seguro de mi salvación?” Esa es una pregunta que me hacen a menudo. La gente quiere tener la seguridad de ser salva, pero a menudo está confundida. ¿Qué significa seguridad? ¿Cómo puedes tenerla? ¿En qué se basa? ¿Hay alguna diferencia entre la seguridad falsa y genuina? Y si es así, ¿entonces qué? […]
Tácticas de presión y la Santificación
Por mucho tiempo, la industria del diamante ha sido arruinada por la violencia y explotación. Esa trágica realidad ha motivado esfuerzos para descubrir maneras de hacer diamantes sintéticos. Recientemente, unos científicos alemanes descubrieron una manera de hacer un diamante con mantequilla de maní! Durante unas semanas, una enorme cantidad de presión fue aplicada a la […]