Tag: expository

  • To Hell With You

    To Hell With You

    Jesus has proved Himself a capable Rabbi. He has warned the crowds not to be like the Pharisees and scribes. Now, He speaks directly to the Pharisees and scribes in order to rebuke them because of their hypocrisy. There are occasions on which one should not be polite but, instead, call out injustice. While it…

  • Christian Contentment

    Christian Contentment

    Paul has instructed those married to unbelievers to remain with them. He revealed that God hates all divorce and instructed people to, instead of seek their own freedom, to love their spouses. In such a revelation, we discover that love is not about me seeking what is right for me but, instead, long-suffering with others…

  • “I’m Fully Who I Am”

    “I’m Fully Who I Am”

    Paul has addressed sin in the local church, from porneia to pugnaciousness. Now, he explains why sin is so bad. Have you ever wondered, when reading through Scripture, why God has certain rules and considers certain things to be sin? How can that be a sin when it makes me so happy? It doesn’t hurt…

  • The Lamb’s Victory

    The Lamb’s Victory

    Satan could not devour Christ. He failed to consume Israel. Now, he is persecuting the church. He calls the first beast, worldly nations represented by Rome, out of the sea. The first beast establishes the second beast, the imperial cult or some national leader like Caesar. The whole world, those whose names are not written…

  • When Someone Personally Offends Me

    When Someone Personally Offends Me

    As Paul addresses the division and immaturity of the local church at Corinth, He comes to the subject of personal offenses, quarrels, and lawsuits between members of the congregation. Immediately preceding his instruction concerning personal offenses, Paul instructed the church about church discipline and excommunication. Church discipline was to be practiced when a so-called brother…

  • Entrapment and Hypocrisy

    Entrapment and Hypocrisy

    The chief priests and elders have challenged Jesus’s authority to teach and act the way He has in the temple complex. In response, Jesus told three parables directed at the chief priests and elders in view of the crowd. In response, the chief priests and elders, now identified as Pharisees, plot together to entrap Jesus.…

  • The Lamb VS The Beast

    The Lamb VS The Beast

    Satan is persecuting the church. Worldly nations are under his influence. State institutions and leaders direct the public to worship the worldly nations and bear the marks of those nations. How are true Christians identifiable in the context of such worldly nations and institutions since we are theocratic revolutionaries in the midst of the worldly…

  • Covenant Church Membership

    Covenant Church Membership

    Paul has made known the benefit of Christian judgment in light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He criticized the local church body for withholding judgment when judgment was needed. He continues by clarifying his position on the matters of church discipline and excommunication from the body. 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 9 Ἔγραψα ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ…

  • Pharisaism: The Religion of the Degenerate

    Pharisaism: The Religion of the Degenerate

    Jesus is in the temple complex speaking directly to the chief priests and elders. This is Jesus’s third parable against them in view of the public. Matthew 22:1-14 22.1 Καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς πάλιν εἶπεν ἐν παραβολαῖς αὐτοῖς λέγων·  2 Ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ βασιλεῖ, ὅστις ἐποίησεν γάμους τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ.  3 καὶ…

  • Porneia

    Porneia

    After sharing his heart, Paul now jumps in head-first to the filth that is the church at Corinth. His first priority when addressing specific matters (he has addressed general matters up to this point) is the immorality present within the local church congregation. 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 5.1 Ὅλως ἀκούεται ἐν ὑμῖν πορνεία, καὶ τοιαύτη πορνεία…