Opposing Moses It may surprise you to see Jannes and Jambres in our discussion of Old Testament sinners and saints. This is because they don’t appear in the Old Testament. They show up in the New Testament and then only once. Yet the reference ties them to Moses, so this places them in the Old […]
Discover What Paul Says about His Protege I earlier stated that Paul is the author of the letter to Philemon. This is correct, but not exclusively so. Timothy is also listed in the opening credits. While we don’t know Timothy’s degree of involvement, the letter does state that it is from Paul and Timothy. This […]
When We Don’t Get Credit for What We Do As a child someone told me that Paul wrote the book of Hebrews. This has stuck with me, and I still consider Paul as the book’s most likely author. But as I look for confirmation of this early lesson, I find little support. Though initially attributed […]
God’s Holy Spirit exists in those who follow Jesus Before Jesus leaves this earth to return to his father in heaven he promises his disciples that they will receive the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, who Father God will send them. The Holy Spirit will teach them all things and remind them of what Jesus said […]
Paul Sends Timothy to Check on the Church in Thessalonica The missionary Paul and his crew wonder how things are going with the church they started in the city of Thessalonica. He can’t send them an email, follow them on social media, or give them a call. His only option is to dispatch someone to […]
When Paul writes to his protégé Timothy, he instructs Timothy to warn the people not to quarrel over words. Isn’t that what most theological debate is, people arguing about words? People who claim to follow Jesus end up arguing about the meaning of certain words. They build their own theology around their understanding of these […]
As covered a few weeks ago, the book of Jude contains three cryptic references to ancient non-biblical texts. In addition, Jude also includes references to biblical accounts. The first is in verse 6, where Jude mentions angels who abandoned their role and their home. This is likely a nod to Genesis 6:1-4, which talks about […]
Training for the Best In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he contrasts physical training (which is good) to spiritual training (which is better). I wonder, how often do we pursue things that are good, while pushing aside God’s things that are better? That’s something to think about next time we’re working out or pursuing some leisure […]
Living in the Prophetic In Paul’s letter to Timothy he talks about a prophecy that he made regarding Timothy. (A prophecy is a God-inspired foretelling of the future.) Often we think of a prophecy as being about some grand, distantly future event—like the end of the world or major catastrophe—but that is not always the […]