And if any righteous man among them passes from the world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God; and they escort his body as if he were setting out from one place to another near. And when a child has been born to one of them, they give thanks to God; and if moreover it…
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Faith and Love in Ignatius’ Letters
May 16, 2017Ignatius (35-108 AD), the disciple of the apostle John and overseer of Antioch, left us a series of letters written during his journey to Rome to face trial and eventually martyrdom. They were written to various churches along the journey to encourage and instruct them in his absence. As I read through his letters recently, I was struck by…
Continue reading →Why Did Jesus Perform Miracles?
May 8, 2017Jesus’ miracles showed that He was not just a normal man or even a prophet, but that He was and is the Son of God. Showing Himself to be God incarnate through these miraculous signs, Jesus also fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies regarding the coming Kingdom of God, revealing the heart of God towards those oppressed and…
Continue reading →Greek Idiom: God Does Not “Receive the Face” of Man
April 21, 2017In Galatians 2:6, Paul makes an aside regarding those of high reputation in the Jerusalem church. He writes, “What they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality.” In the Greek, this phrase “God shows no partiality” can be more literally translated, “God does not receive the face of man.” This was a common Greek…
Continue reading →Meaning of 1 Corinthians 3: The Testing of God’s Church Builders
April 6, 2017When discussing the last judgment and the consequences of good and bad works, I have heard it often incorrectly taught that your deeds don’t have any affect on your eternal security. If you are a Christian and have good works, congratulations, you’ll get some heavenly presents. However, if your life was defined by sinful living, don’t worry, you…
Continue reading →Are Our Past, Present, and Future Sins Already Forgiven?
April 3, 2017A falsehood spreading among the Christian church today is that at our conversion, Jesus forgives not only our past sins, but also our present and future sins—those we haven’t even committed yet. If you’re paying attention, you’ll hear something along these lines, “Jesus has already forgiven all our sins—past, present, and future.” This is patently false. Now…
Continue reading →Lessons of Forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer
March 28, 2017When Jesus teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Mt. 6:12), we learn that seeking forgiveness is a continual process and that when we ask God for forgiveness, we must already be living a life of mercy towards others. First, through the words of this simple prayer,…
Continue reading →Christians Must Not Deny Jesus When Persecuted (Apostolic Constitutions)
March 26, 2017The quotations below from the Apostolic Constitutions (375 AD) give historical perspective on the attitude of Christians regarding martyrdom and the eternal importance of never denying Jesus. As you can read below, it was taught that those Christians that were unfaithful to their confession risked losing their salvation. The memories of persecution were still relatively…
Continue reading →The Secret to Knowing God More Deeply
March 20, 2017Many Christians are searching for a personal revival. They want to truly know God, experience God, and be a true friend of God. Draw close, and let me tell you a secret. It’s not a secret because God hasn’t revealed it, but because church traditions have too often obscured it. Too often we don’t want to…
Continue reading →Necessity of Continued Obedience for Salvation (Apostolic Constitutions)
March 8, 2017I want to share a series of quotations from the so-named Apostolic Constitutions, compiled and written in the 4th century. The quotations below are based upon an earlier work, the Didascalia Apostolorum from sometime around 230 AD. (Read more at the Wikipedia page and at the Catholic Encyclopedia.) All of these excepts deal with the importance of continued…
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