Delight in the Lord—Even the Parts You Don’t Comprehend Are there parts of God you don’t understand? Does this frustrate you? It shouldn’t. Don’t let what you don’t know weigh you down. We should accept that we can’t fully know our Lord—at least not in this world—that we can’t yet understand God. Yet some people […]
The Choice Is Ours: We Can Turn to God or Away Free will is the understanding that the things we do are done on our own accord. Our actions are voluntary and not forced. Given this, we have the free will to follow Jesus or not. Though he wants us to follow him, he doesn’t […]
We Are His Servants The next word picture for God, is him as the master and we as his servants. With God as our master we see him as being in charge. He is the boss and directs our activities (1 Samuel 3:10, Matthew 6:24, Matthew 10:24, and Matthew 25:21). Extending this image to us, […]
In Three Things About Sin, the prescription for sin is to deal with the temptation before it gives way to sin. It’s like getting a vaccine; preparing now to avoid a bigger problem later. The Bible teaches us three things about temptation; they’re in the form of promises that we can claim and rely on. […]
Embrace the Paradox of Choice versus Destiny A theological conundrum is the concept of free will versus predestination. While the Bible teaches that we have the ability to make our own choices (we have free will), it also says that things are predetermined (predestined). Which is it? It is both, presenting us with a delightful […]
Discover the Truth About Our Creator’s Sovereignty Most people recognize God as sovereign. Yet they may not have a good understanding of what that word means. And because of their misperception, God often gets blamed for things he didn’t do. Sovereign in the Bible The word sovereign shows up 295 times in the Bible, mostly […]
Our Right Standing with Christ Frees Us from Rules, but Don’t Abuse This Freedom Jesus’s sacrificial death releases us from the obligation of Old Testament laws. We have freedom in Jesus and don’t need to follow rules. Instead, we follow Jesus. Yet we need to guard against getting carried away with our freedom. The Bible […]
God Already Knows the Outcome of the Choices We Will Make People debate the issue of free will versus predestination. That is, do we make our own decisions or has God predetermined the outcome? The answer is yes. Both have an element of truth to them. And they can comfortably coexist without being in conflict. […]
In the story of Jonah, we see God’s sovereignty at work, with God exercising control over nature. Here’s what God does: Furthermore, God’s sovereignty allows him to show mercy towards the people of Nineveh and not destroy them as he had originally planned. However, God does not exercise control over Jonah, allowing him to do […]
We Have the Right to Choose, but God Already Knows Our Decision Some people insist that God gave us free will to make our own decisions, that we hold our future in our hands. Others claim our future has already been set, that God charts our course, with the outcome predestined. Which is it? Both. […]