Category Grace & Mercy

Grace is the extension of a benefit we do not deserve or earn, ‘unmerited favour’ from someone who owes us nothing.
Mercy is the witholding of a penalty we do deserve, or the retention of some negative consequence we otherwise might experience.
God in Christ has extended His grace to us in offering us a way to be reconciled to Him Whom we have offended, and inviting us back into His favour when we are the ones who have caused the rift.

Rather than executing justice for our sin, God has taken our penalty upon Himself in the body of Jesus Christ, so that if we receive Him, we may go free, and gain eternal life.

What is “This” in Ephesians 2:8-9

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 (AV) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:

8 (ignt) τη γαρ χαριτι εστε σεσωσμενοι δια της πιστεως και τουτο ουκ εξ υμων θεου το δωρον

9 (AV) Not of works, lest any man should boast.

9 (ignt) ουκ εξ εργων ινα μη τις καυχησηται

(for full parsing, please see the following link: https://scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/NTpdf/eph2.pdf)

To what does the word “this”, touto  in the Greek, refer in Ephesians 2:8-9? Every pronoun must refer to a noun used in the same context, usually prior to the use of the pronoun, though not universally so, or to a concept expressed in relationship to its use...

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Whose Ears and Eyes Does Jesus Say are Closed in Matthew 13:10-16

Matthew 13:10-16

10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, ‘Why speakest thou unto them in parables?’

11 He answered and said unto them, ‘Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which says, “By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they...

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Jesus’ Invitation in Matthew 11:25 – 30

Looking at Matthew 11:25-30, notice a few things:

“Come unto me all who labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus was speaking to the crowd; His invitation is to ‘all’.

“Take my yoke upon you and learn of me…” something they must choose to do for themselves.

My Strong’s concordance notes re: 1014 are interesting: “will; to will, to be willing, to be disposed, minded, intend.” But when you look at the other ‘will’ 2309 thelo / theleo etc., it says “to determine; as an active option from subjective impulse” and calls attention to 1014, stating 1014 ‘properly denotes passive acquiescence in objective considerations”. In other words, the 1014 “will” found in 11:27 has the sense of allowing something to come about...

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Why Does God Allow Evil?

You ask why a good God would allow a negative circumstance to happen; but what would you recommend as the alternative?

 Most negative circumstances are direct results of human decisions. While it is true that we can be negatively affected by decisions made by others, which may seem “unfair”, the fact remains that those were human choices, and choices made contrary to God’s right – ness.

 So, should God interfere in the decisions of men to prevent every choice that may have a negative impact on other people? Some have said that God should have “stopped” Hitler, or Pol Pot. He should have “stopped” the dozens of school shooters, He should “stop” the drug lords.

 How exactly should He stop them? Wipe them out? When should He wipe them out: when they begin to ‘go bad’? Should He prevent the...

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A Short Gospel

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God….” Romans 3:22 

“the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23 

“for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life….He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only begottenSon of God.” John 3:16,18 

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.” John 14:6 

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:12 

“Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heav...

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Father Glorify Your Name

John 12:28       “Father, glorify Thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

Some people have come to believe wrongly that when the Bible refers to God ‘glorifying His Name’, that it refers to some strange situation in which God proclaims His own greatness to Himself. This unbiblical idea is bizarre; and has been a stumbling block to some unbelievers who, having believed that God spends His time praising Himself, consider such a being to be the epitome of arrogance.

The verb “to glorify” means to bring glory or honour to someone or something. While we may express the glory of something by speaking its praise, we do not bring honour to it or show its honour simply by speaking...

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The Cup Christ Drank

What was the cup which Christ came to drink?

Some say Christ’s cup was separation from God the Father, but Psalm 22 says the Father did not turn His face away from His Son on the cross, but withheld His hand until His afflicted Son spoke the word – “It is finished”.

Some say it was the cup of God’s wrath poured upon Christ for men’s sins, but when James and John asked to have the right and left-hand positions in Christ’s kingdom, answering that they were indeed prepared and able to drink of the same cup that Christ drank, Jesus affirmed that they would indeed drink of the cup that He drank. But no man bore the wrath of God for the sins of men other than Christ. No disciple bears God’s wrath for his own sin, much less for the sins of the world...

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The Preaching of Sin

Even with the hurting Jesus spoke of sin, because without sin, the message of the gospel is meaningless. If we had no sin, we would not be enemies of God, we would not be under His judgment, we would not need reconciliation with God, nor salvation from His justice. 

Most people are not murderers, rapists, bank robbers, and child abusers. Most people’s sins are of the ‘milder’ sort: lying, gluttony, jealously, gossip, laziness, cowardice. We don’t see ourselves as ‘bad’ people because we don’t see our sins as ‘bad sins’. Consequently, most people expect God to freely allow them access to His glory on the basis of their being ‘good’ people, and do not see a need for Christ to save them...

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What Did Jesus Say About Salvation

John 3:3         Jesus … said unto [Nicodemus], “Truly, truly I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jn 3:16           For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Jn 3:18-21      “He that believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And this is the condemnation: that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed...

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Christmas Meditation 2

That He gave His only begotten Son:

A twig comes forth from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots shall be fruitful. The Spirit of YHWH rests upon Him: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the YHWH; He delights in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears, but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and corrects with equity the meek of the earth, and He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the belt of His loins and faithfulness the belt of His heart.” Is 11:1

“Behold the angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream, saying ‘...

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