The “Magna Carta,” and “Bill of Rights,” give testimony to the fact that Americans, and Britons, especially, have historically treasured the ideal of “freedom.” But despite such historic love of freedom, are we really free? Continue reading
Tag Archives: obedience
Do You Have the Fear of God?
When God tested Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice to him his only son, Isaac, Abraham obeyed in faith. “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense” (Hebrews 11:17-19).
It was not God’s intent that Abraham actually slay his son, but God sought to test the extent of Abraham’s faith and see if he indeed had in him the fear of the Eternal (Genesis 22:10-12). Abraham proved that his fear of God was genuine, because he obeyed (Genesis 22:15-18; 26:4-5).
To fear God means to regard him with awe and deep respect, to see him as exalted and holy, just and righteous, to love him without reservation. Such fear comes from the heart. Because God is righteous and just, the fear of God is to hate evil (Proverbs 8:13). As Christians, we must overcome sin and put it out of our lives. Having a genuine fear of God, as we’ve described, enables us with God’s help to do that. If you truly hate evil you will abhor it and want to put it away from you (Proverbs 16:6).
Do you have the fear of God? We will discuss how that can be determined. One way to test yourself is ask yourself, do I hate what God hates? Do I hate evil?
Continue readingBe Filled With Righteousness
Jesus said he who hungers and thirsts for righteousness will be filled (Matthew 5:6). How can this promise be fulfilled in you?
What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? If you hunger for food you sense a need for it and have a strong desire, a craving for it. Similarly if you thirst you sense a need for drink and have a strong desire for it. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness is a metaphor for longing for it, strongly desiring it, craving it (Psalm 119:20; 40).
What is righteousness? Continue reading
For What Are You Thankful?
Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner, and yet we hear very little if anything on the radio or TV concerning preparing to give thanks, or about the original intent of Thanksgiving Day celebration. About the only thing we are likely to hear on TV or radio are advertisements from grocery stores selling turkeys, etc. Magazines are typically no better, as they usually just focus on the thanksgiving meal, and are concerned only with how to make this Thanksgiving the most decadent ever, or perhaps on how to trim calories from the meal.
It is significant that this holiday has not been commercialized to death like Halloween and Christmas. Thanksgiving, unlike Halloween, Christmas and Easter does not have its origins in pagan antiquity. It was created instead out of an earnest desire to thank God for the very things necessary for life. Thanksgiving has little more impact on Americans today than Labor Day does, being reduced to little more than a speed bump between Halloween and Christmas, with many just using the holiday as an excuse to over eat. Continue reading
Did Jesus Teach ‘Different Commandments’?
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Français Are the commandments Christ taught different from the ones revealed in the Old Testament, as some allege? The Sabbath, tithing and certain other laws, the reasoning goes, are not included in the commandments Christ was referring to when he said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). This idea is hardly a new one. It was taught by second century teachers such as Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, and numerous others who followed down through the centuries. But what does God’s word say? Did Jesus teach a different set of commandments? Continue reading
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