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.
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.
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.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. (2 Peter 1:10)
In this post on my blog ‘God-breathed Words’, I take a look at temptation and find that both the original Greek and Hebrew words in the Bible have a range of meaning that includes ‘test’, ‘assay’, ‘prove’ and ‘trail’.
When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15)
God Breathed Words 