Category: Bible Insights

Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.

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Bible Insights

Are We Really Supposed to Always Forgive?

Forgive

In the post on forgiveness, I cited the instructions of Jesus: when someone treats us wrongly we are to first confront (“rebuke”) them about the issue.

If they apologize or acknowledge their error (“repent”), then we are to forgive them.

From this, we can infer a three-step process:

  1. We confront
  2. They apologize
  3. We forgive

Which evokes several questions:

  • Must apology proceed forgiveness?
  • If the offending person refuses to apologize are we still expected to forgive?
  • What about us and Jesus, do we need to apologize ( “confess” and “regret”) to him before he will forgive us?

Frankly, I don’t know the answers to these questions. Although this passage implies one set of answers, other verses in the Bible suggest the opposite.

Could the real answer to each question be “maybe?” Perhaps God wants to keep us from turning his words into a simple three-step procedure.

Instead he gives us guidelines to study, interpret, and apply as appropriate.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Luke 16-18, and today’s post is on  Luke 17:3-4.]

Read more about the book of Luke in That You May Know: A 40-Day Devotional Exploring the Life of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Bible Insights

What Did Jesus Have to Say About Forgiveness?

forgiveness

Once when teaching his disciples, Jesus addresses forgiveness.

He says when someone treats us wrongly we are to first confront (“rebuke”) them about the issue. If they apologize or acknowledge their error (“repent”), then we are to forgive them.

Although Jesus literally says we are to do this seven times, there is actually no limit to forgiveness.

What a great picture of God’s mercy towards us—endless, unconditional forgiveness!

[Luke 17:3-4, Matthew 18:22]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
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​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

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Bible Insights

After We Hear God, We Must Obey Him

obey God

In the post “Hear God” we looked at Jesus’ instruction to “hear the word of God and obey it.”

“Hear the word of God” is usually understood to mean “read the Bible,” but it might be more correct to comprehend it as meaning “listen to the Holy Spirit.”

Regardless, the concluding part, to “obey,” is the critical aspect.

When it comes to obeying the Bible, we do so selectively. We take some parts literally and some figuratively.

We discard some commands as no longer being relevant and we interpret others from the perspective of modern society. We may obey the Bible, but I fear we all obey it in part.

Then there’s obeying the words, the promptings, of the Holy Spirit. This can be even more confusing. Did we hear correctly? What if we only heard part of the message?

Did we understand it fully? Do we interpret the words literally or figuratively?

While we may not hear everything, everything we do hear from God, we should obey.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Luke 10-12, and today’s post is on  Luke 11:28.]

Read more about the book of Luke in That You May Know: A 40-Day Devotional Exploring the Life of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Bible Insights

Hear God from the Bible and the Holy Spirit

hear God

Once when Jesus was wrapping up a teaching, he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” What exactly does he mean?

Hear God from the Bible

In our culture, we often consider “the word of God” to mean the Bible. So the common understanding is we need to read the Bible and obey it.

However, the part of the Bible about Jesus (the New Testament) didn’t exist at the time, so he couldn’t have been telling the people to read and obey something that hadn’t yet been written.

Hear God from the Holy Spirit

But since Jesus is both man and God, he could have used “hear the word of God” as a euphemism to mean “hear me.” While we can’t directly hear Jesus today, we can hear from the Holy Spirit he sent to us.

So maybe Jesus means he wants us to hear the Holy Spirit.

For some people it’s easy hear God and for others it’s nonsensical, while for the rest this is feasible but difficult and confusing and infrequent.

Yet, we may need to pursue listening to the Holy Spirit if we are to truly “hear the word of God.” (Learn how to hear from God.)

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Luke 10-12, and today’s post is on Luke 11:28.]

Read more about the book of Luke in That You May Know: A 40-Day Devotional Exploring the Life of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Bible Insights

The Power of the Finger of God

Power of the Finger of God

The phrase “the finger of God” occurs four times in the Bible.

The first is when the Egyptian magicians cannot duplicate the feats God is doing through Moses and they say, “This is the finger of God.”

The second and third times are when God gives Moses the Ten Commandments inscribed on stone tablets. What tool was used to etch the message in stone? None other than “the finger of God.”

The final use of the phrase is recorded by Luke. Jesus, when verbally sparring with his detractors, says his power to cast out demons is “the finger of God.”

So “the finger of God.” is sufficient to perform wondrous acts that cannot be duplicated, etch messages in stone, and empower Jesus to cast out demons.

If the finger of God can do all that, imagine what the arm of God can do—image what all of God can do.

Now that’s powerful.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

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Bible Insights

Jesus Knew and I Don’t

Jesus knew

In continuing with the story of Jesus driving the demon out of the mute man there’s an interesting phrase. It is “Jesus knew their thoughts.”

(In another account about Jesus, the Bible says, “Jesus knew what they were thinking.”)

This suggests a divine power as being a part of Jesus’ human existence. Perhaps this is why it’s been said Jesus was fully man and fully God.

This is a difficult concept to grasp. It’s hard to conceive of divinity and humanity coexisting in one entity. Logic would suggest Jesus could be either fully man or fully God, but he couldn’t simultaneously be both. Yet he was.

While it may be frustrating to some over not being able to understand this, I am not so affected. This is one more mystery of God, which cannot be fully grasped. It reminds me I am finite and he is infinite, I am limited and he is not.

God’s awesomeness allowed Jesus to be man and God at the same time. And when I think about this, I am in awe—and perhaps that’s the intent.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Luke 10-12, and today’s post is on  Luke 11:14-28.]

Read more about the book of Luke in That You May Know: A 40-Day Devotional Exploring the Life of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Bible Insights

The Power to Drive Out Demons

power to drive out demons

After Jesus is criticized for driving out demons, he addresses his detractors. In doing so he makes a curious statement. He asks, by whose power do you drive out demons?

Implicitly, Jesus was not the only one with the power and ability to drive out demons. In considering this, a bunch of questions come to mind:

If others were also driving out demons, why were the people so amazed when Jesus did it? Perhaps Jesus was more effective at it, did it easier, or exhibited more compassion, grace, and power.

Whatever the explanation, this was one more reason why people were drawn to him. He simply was like no other.

What was the source of their power? We could debate whether or not this power came from God. It certainly could have—or it could have been Satanic.

Recall when Moses was performing miracles before Pharaoh, for a while the magicians matched Moses using “their secret arts,” but eventually they could not.

In the people’s criticism of Jesus, they could have merely been projecting the source of their power onto him.

Is the power to drive out demons more normative and accessible than we believe? I think the answer is yes. Jesus did it, others did it, and therefore so can we.

Even though we may not see this happen, doesn’t mean it can’t. And that’s something to seriously contemplate.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Luke 10-12, and today’s post is on  Luke 11:19.]

Read more about the book of Luke in That You May Know: A 40-Day Devotional Exploring the Life of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Bible Insights

We Often Criticize What We Don’t Understand

criticize

Once Jesus drove a demon out of a man. The man had been mute, but when the evil spirit was exorcized, he began speaking.

The people should have been in awe of the power Jesus displayed. They were not.

Instead they chose to be critical. Some questioned the source of his power and others insisted he does another miracle as if the first wasn’t enough.

Things aren’t much different today. When someone comes along with a variant understanding of God, lives life in a different manner, or walks with a greater degree of spiritual power, the common response is criticism.

People tend to fear what challenges their status quo, to vilify what is different. They criticize what they don’t understand. It was done to Jesus two millennia ago and it’s still being done today.

Instead of looking for what makes us different, the better response is to focus on how we are the same. Pursue unity; avoid division. Celebrate diversity and embrace variation.

I think that’s what Jesus would want us to do.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Luke 10-12, and today’s post is on Luke 11:14-16.]

Read more about the book of Luke in That You May Know: A 40-Day Devotional Exploring the Life of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Bible Insights

Pray for the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit

For much of my life when I would stumble upon a confusing section in the Bible, I would rush through it to reach something else that made more sense. Lately, I’ve been doing the opposite.

When I reach a confusing passage, I linger, seeking to dig deeper, contemplate more fully, and discover hidden truths.

Such is the case with Luke 11:13. Jesus is wrapping up his teaching on prayer, about how to pray, what to pray for, and God’s goodness in answering our requests, when he throws a curveball.

He concludes by saying God will give the Holy Spirit to all who ask.

Wait, where did that come from? Jesus was talking about praying for our daily needs, for food, and for forgiveness and protection from evil and stuff like that, when suddenly he mentions praying for the Holy Spirit. Why?

I’m still contemplating this, but have a few initial ideas:

  • Of all the things we can pray for, asking for the Holy Spirit (his guidance, filling, control, or whatever word you wish to use to understand his functioning in our lives) is perhaps the most important request we can make.
  • We need to first have the Holy Spirit to properly form all our other prayers.
  • We can be assured Father God will give us the Holy Spirit when we ask.
  • Our parents know how to give us what is good, even more so with God, who knows the best gift is the Holy Spirit.

I suppose there’s validity in each of these statements and I suspect there’s, even more, we can glean from this verse. I will continue to meditate on it and encourage you to so the same.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Luke 10-12, and today’s post is on Luke 11:1-13.]

Read more about the book of Luke in That You May Know: A 40-Day Devotional Exploring the Life of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Bible Insights

Jesus Says to Ask, Seek, and Knock

Jesus

Jesus told us to ask in order to receive, to seek in order to find and to knock in order for the door to be opened.

ask -> receive
seek -> find
knock -> open

God responds.

This seems straightforward: ask, seek, and knock. But what is the door that will be opened? Is it a door to heaven? Or perhaps a door to eternal life?

Can it be more general, suggesting the realization of whatever we prayed for? Whatever the open door means, one thing is clear: God responds.

Later on, Jesus turns this thought around, saying he stands at our door and knocks. If we hear him and let him, he will come in and be with us.

But he won’t force his way in if he’s not invited, but he is there and waiting, ready when we are.

[See Luke 11:10, Matthew 7:7-8, Revelation 3:20.]

Read more in Peter’s devotional Bible study, A New Heaven and a New Earth: 40 Practical Insights from John’s Book of Revelation.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.