Posts from September 2021

A concerned preacher in another town contacted me recently regarding an article posted on our website in which I listed the following lesson from Galatians with accompanying scripture references from that book, “Justification is by faith, not law in general or the Law of Moses in particular (2:16-21; 3:1-14, 21-23; 4:1-5; 4:22-31).” The brother asked me to clarify that statement, especially in light of passages that speak of the New Testament being a law, such as Galatians 6:2, “the law…

I know of no congregation of the Lord’s church that can claim perfection. If churches are composed of people, they will have their problems. It is true that we are saved people (Acts 2:47), holy people (1 Pet. 2:9), and sanctified people (1 Cor. 6:11). But we are also weak people (Matt. 26:41) who are not above sin (1 John 1:8). But these weaknesses and sins do not necessarily mean that God has cast off the congregation wherein these weaknesses…

Names have always been special to God. In Scripture we often find God using names to convey ideas. For example, the prophet Hosea assigned names to his children that stood as indictments of Israel’s sins (Hosea 1:3-9). The Almighty would even change a person’s name to teach a lesson. Abram became Abraham. Sarai became Sarah. Jacob became Israel. Cephas became Peter. Saul became Paul. Sometimes fathers would call their children by names that were calculated to reveal something about the…

There are clear warnings in Scripture not to love sleep too much, for such inordinate desire can lead to laziness and poverty (Prov. 20:13). On the other hand, our wise God created us as creatures that need sleep to survive. So we must balance our need for sleep with our need for productivity. David wrote in Psalm 3:5, “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.” In Psalm 4:8 we find these words, “I will both…

Following their banishment from Eden’s paradise, God blessed Adam and Eve with two sons, Cain and Abel. Moses records that both offered sacrifices to God, but only Abel’s offering was accepted (Gen. 4:3-4). Cain’s was not (Gen. 4:5). Cain allowed his anger and resentment toward his brother to grow so much that seized an opportunity and murdered Abel in cold blood (Gen. 4:8). Sometimes lost in the circumstances surrounding this first murder is a statement by God that reveals one…