2 Corinthians 5:10,11a, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror [phobos] of the Lord, we persuade men"; Philippians 2:12b, "...work out your own salvation with fear [phobos] and trembling." 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear [phobos] in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the on

Almost all Christians, us included, use the word “communion” to denote the act of partaking of bread and wine (juice), a symbolic act we do every month out of remembrance of the Lord’s sacrifice on our behalf. Every time we take "communion" we know we should be remembering the night before Jesus' death, when He sat down with His disciples to teach them about what was to befall Him, and the significance of that coming event. The bread, He claimed, is His body; the wine, His bl

Revelation 2:2-5 I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I a

There's been a lot of discussion about who the "unbelievers" are in 2 Corinthians 6:14-15, and it is interesting that so many are absolutely convinced that Paul must be talking about the "unsaved."  Why is that? Is the description "unbeliever" always reserved for the unsaved only? What do the Scriptures show us? The Greek word for the verb “believe” is 'pistos,' which is also the Greek word for the noun "faith."

“Father Abraham” can often seem like a far-removed biblical persona that rests in the pages of religious history; he can sometimes seem more like an ancestral figurehead of a race of people (and a faith of people) than a real human being. He is the man whom God gave the precious promises to regarding the the restoration of man to his created purpose, and he is the man who fathered two separate, opposing sons, from whom came the Middle Eastern people who are still at war all t

The Scriptures begin with a marriage relationship (Adam and Eve) and end with a marriage relationship (Christ and His bride). Throughout this panoramic picture of marriage we can learn much about how we are to govern our lives today in faithful obedience to God’s Word. Adam and Eve are a type of Christ and His Bride. The “first man Adam” was put to sleep, then a part of his body was removed and God formed for him a wife, who was presented back to him. The Last Adam, Jesus, wa

1 Corinthians 9:26-27 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. This verse seems to allude to something the I have been thinking about recently. Paul makes mention of ...

I have recently been struck by two vastly different ways of studying the Bible, and have come to the conclusion that the majority of Christians have been taught to simplify (albeit unintentional for the most part) their interpretative skills when delving into the Scriptures. It is apparent that the passage of time has allowed many man-made [&hellip;]</p>

Matthew 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."

There is a philosophy that (it appears) most Christians hold, which states something to the effect that since God set amongst His people Israel the many prophets that proclaimed wrath and calamity concerning those who were being disobedient to the Word of God, that this somehow places an obligation upon the Church to head out into the world and do the same. This is absolutely not the right course to take. In fact, this type of behavior has been disastrous in an evangelical se