Jesus has so far affirmed Pharisee soteriology. God first loves an individual. In response to God’s love, the individual cares to keep God’s Law. If a person keeps God’s Law, that person is righteous. God’s love is what brought the person into righteousness (i.e. saved the person). When the person kept the Law, that was... Continue Reading →
Seeing the Kingdom of Heaven
Have you ever seen God? Some of you will answer by telling me how you see God working or how you see God in nature or people. Those things are not God Himself. I will venture to guess that you have never seen God. Yet, we believe He is. A vast majority of people on... Continue Reading →
Jesus as Prophet and The Personal Salvation Debate Among Jews in the First Century
In these notes, I first show the point of John 3:1-2 by offering a biblical apologetic for Jesus as having the authority of a prophet to reveal new revelation. Then, I explore the theological environment of First Century Judea in order to provide historical context for Jesus's conversation with Nicodemus. It is no surprise that... Continue Reading →
On Salvation and Reprobation
From the debates between Paul and the Gnostics through the ancient dialogue between Augustine and Pelagius to the exchanges between Luther and Erasmus or Calvin’s disciples and those of Arminius to the more modern upheaval between the New Calvinists and Free Willists, the doctrine of election has dominated Christian discussion. Election is the doctrine that... Continue Reading →
Encouragement for Those Who Have Been Betrayed
https://feeds.castos.com/733p8 Betrayal comes in many forms on this earth. Betrayal can come even from people with good intentions. You’ve heard the old adage, “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” Betrayal hurts. People we feel should support us shoot us down or stab us in the back. Unfortunately, betrayal is still a part... Continue Reading →
Daily Devotional: Exodus 18:1-16
After their flight from Egypt, while Israel is at the Mount of God, Jethro brings Moses’s wife and children to the encampment. Jethro, a Midianite priest, heard about what Yahweh had done to Egypt. As if there was a doubt in his mind about Yahweh, he exclaims “Now I know that Yahweh is greater than... Continue Reading →
God is Building Something
In Ephesians 1, Paul writes about the unconditional love of God in Christ. He makes immediate application to himself, saying that he thanks God for the saints because God has unconditionally chosen and adopted them. Because God loves and accepts His people unconditionally, we also love and accept one another unconditionally. The truth is simple,... Continue Reading →
Equality at the Cross
In the Old Testament, we saw that God created men and women as equals in order to fill the earth and rule over it (Genesis 1:26-28). After humankind sinned and God promised never again to destroy or curse the earth on account of humanity (Genesis 8:21-22), God chose a nation and gave a Law. The... Continue Reading →
On Men and Women: Considering Mosaic Law
We have now seen manhood and womanhood from Genesis 1-3. The principles we saw in the narrative drive the distinctions we see between men and women in the remainder of Scripture. The most basic truth we have received is that men are the direct picture of God in relationship to His creation. Women are the... Continue Reading →
On Men and Women: The Blessing of Genesis 3
After people are created, they live in a luxurious garden (the literal translation of Garden of Eden). It is a paradise, but people sin against God. I am not going into all the details of the text, here, because we have a specific focal point–Biblical manhood and womanhood. There is much to be said about... Continue Reading →