The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazirite (Numbers 6:1-2)
The Hebrew word referred to is נָזִיר nazir (Strong’s 5139) means pure; therefore, a Nazirite is one given in devotion, or one who is consecrated. It is the principle of being separated or set aside for God’s exclusive use.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. (Hebrews 11:1-2)
Thus, begins chapter eleven in the book of Hebrews. The chapter’s burden is to cite those ancients for their faith, thereby making the point of the criticality of faith as the fundament to any human being’s relation to God. And this to the apostate Jews who were slipping away from faith in Christ as the persecution of the early church quickened.
The Bible is always counter cultural, because culture is humankind’s creation. Currently, there is no better example of this than the perception of marriage and within that, the role of men and women. In this post, I examine Scripture to seek how God views partnership in marriage.
Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Ephesians 5:22-24)
Women today are in revolt and who can blame them? Men have let them down is so many ways in the workplace, within wider society and especially within personal relationship. Feminism is the world’s pushback to men vacating the moral stage, where women seek to redress the tyranny of men in which most often women are their victims. And nowhere is this abdication better seen than within the home, where men are both absent and/or controlling, leaving women to raise children largely unsupported.
Can any Christian take pride in their actions. Paul suggests you can. In this blog post, I examine what the Bible tells us about pride and its flip side, humility and how both qualities reveal on what, and in whom, men and women find their security.
Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else… (Galatians 6:4)
Greek word translated is καύχημα; kauchéma (Strong’s 2745) and means ‘boast’; properly, it is the grounds for boasting; in other words pride, self-glorification or exultation.
Pride is almost always a negative quality in Scripture but in his letter to the churches of Galatia, Paul, within a narrow definition, says a person can take some credit for their actions. This is an important point, because the follower of Christ is not a puppet, God continues to grant license to make poor decisions along with wise ones, and do evil along with good.
If faith is commitment before knowledge, then doubt is inevitable. The most famous of doubters is Thomas the twin, one of Jesus’s disciples, but John the Baptist also came to doubt Jesus as the Christ. How given his own anointing could he doubt? In this post, I examine, doubt, where it arises and how it is part of faith.
In this post I examine why Jesus had to born of a virgin. Scripture does not give a single definitive answer, but the explanation is to be found when both the Old and New Testament are considered together.
Many people believe in angels but have difficulty in believing in God. Some are sure they have been rescued or guided from peril by them. Throughout the history many people of different faiths and cultures speak of divine messengers, but what does the Bible tell us angels? In this post, I examine Scripture on the subject of angels.
Hell is not a subject for polite conversation. Surely, in these modern times, free of superstition, the concept of eternal damnation is not only offensive but ludicrous? Of course, for any that are atheist, Hell has no meaning. But for the Christian, on what do they base this assessment of irrelevance? If the Bible is wrong on Hell, then how is ‘right’ on Heaven or Paradise? Some Christians avoid speaking about Hell, while others deny Jesus’ teaching on the subject. In this post, I examine what the Bible has to say about Hell.
Scripture suggests that a man or woman will regret nothing about the circumstances of their lives but will rue their decisions in response to them. In this post, I examine what God would have us know about eternal regret.
It is in the nature of men and women to ‘boast’ of their achievements, to take pride in their homes, possessions, even their family; their success in business or for their intellectual recognition; the internet and social media is full of people who are ‘self-made’ and who relish the independence they have gained. Men and women measure their status by how influential they are, or delight in executive positions as the heads of powerful corporations and governments. And Scripture does not proscribe boasting entirely.
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.(Galatians 6:14)
God Breathed Words 