My Thoughts on 2023

The good news of the Bible is that God wants to give us eternal life (Romans 6:23).  Going to heaven is not something we earn, nor is it something we deserve because of our sins.  Sin in a nutshell is disobeying God (1 John 3:4), and everyone has done it (Romans 3:23).  The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), the spiritual death which is eternal separation from God in hell (Revelation 21:8).  Yet God still offers us hope through His gift of eternal life, made out of love through the death of His Son (Romans 5:8).  Jesus lived a sinless life and died on the cross to take our place, to pay the price for our sins (1 John 4:9-10).  What wonderful love God has for us!… Read More My Thoughts on 2023

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Hebrews: The Answer to Judaism

The only reason Judaism exists is due to the Jews’ rejection of Jesus Christ as their Messiah.  Judaism was a religion inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16).  Its purpose was to prepare Israel for the coming of the Messiah and his new covenant (Gal. 3:23-26).  However, the majority of Israel could not accept this common preacher from Nazareth as being their Savior.   A minority of them followed Jesus due to the divinely inspired teaching of his apostles and prophets, including the writer of Hebrews.  However, the Jews severely persecuted them.  It is against this background of tribulation that the writer of the Hebrew epistle wrote by inspiration, showing us that one of the main purposes of the letter was to encourage Christians of a Jewish background to remain loyal to Christ in the face of hardship (Heb. 10:32-12:13).  In order to do this, God inspired him to show his Jewish readers the superiority of Jesus Christ and his new covenant over the Judaism.… Read More Hebrews: The Answer to Judaism

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Zechariah: The Heavy Stone

A biblical case could be made that Jerusalem and Judah symbolize the New Testament church in this prophecy.  The New Testament writers spoke of Christians in terms that would have fit the Jews of the Old Testament (cf. Rom. 2:28-29; Gal. 3:29; 6:16; James 1:1; Lk. 22:30), thus showing that under the Christian era it is Christians, not ethnic Jews, who are God’s chosen people.  In like manner, the writer of Hebrews described “the church of the firstborn” as “the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22-23; cf. Rev. 21:2; 19:7; Rom. 7:4).… Read More Zechariah: The Heavy Stone

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