Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. (Genesis 6:14)
Jesus says that
The word translated ark is תֵּבָה tebah and it means a box or chest, which is why it came to English translations in this fashion; ‘ark’ derives from the Anglo Saxon ærc for casket – as clearly, God only tasks Noah to build a sea-worthy vessel, not a boat or ship.
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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.
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So, when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? (Romans 2:1-3)
Paul’s epistles were not originally arranged in chapters, and ‘therefore’ links to the text in chapter 1. Verses 18 onwards to the chapter end (v32) Paul describes the godless and lawless in the most explicit terms – and yet, he tells the reader to not sit in judgment.
This echoes Jesus’ own words from the ‘Sermon on the Mount’:
‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you…’(Matthew 7:1-2)
God is faithful and keeps his promises – even when humankind cannot. To save his creation, he had to make a covenant and populate both sides of the agreement. Jesus was God made flesh to ensure God the Father had no cause for default, but the cost was the separation, expressed in the Cry of Dereliction. To understand this process, it best to look to the previous biblical covenants, only then will the radical design of the ‘New Covenant’ emerge.
Is life a mere accident? Does human life have meaning, if so how and through whom? Science has answered many questions about the ‘how’ but not the ‘why’. But as beings that seek identity and purpose, failing to answer why there is life is more than unsatisfactory, for it leaves humankind in an existential vacuum that few can bear. Attempts to fill that vacuum include the accumulation of wealth or experiences, frenetic activity or developing addictive, destructive lifestyles. But nothing ultimately works – the gaping hole remains a chasm at our very core.
In this post, I attempt to explain that only when we face the fact that we are creatures and we have a creator, and moreover, wish to restore the relationship with our creator that life has meaning.
While warrior cultures like that of the Vikings sought a heroic death, today death is feared or ignored. Western medicine is given over to the pursuit of protracting life, even at the expense of its quality. For humankind, however, death was not and is not God’s intention but is the result of men and women’s rebellion.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…(James 1:2)
The Greek word translated here is χαρά chara (Strong’s 5479) and it means gladness, delight and extreme joyousness.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom… (Proverbs 9:10)
Often in the modern church, ‘fear’ is said to be ‘respect’, ‘awe’ or ‘reverence’. Indeed, fear is thought to be incompatible with love. How could any fear a god which, through grace, offers salvation and eternal life? How could anyone keep the first commandment to love God, and yet fear Him at the same time? The answer lies in the rest of the verse from Proverbs:
….and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
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