“Understanding Romans: A Verse-by-Verse Analysis” is now available on Amazon.com as a paperback, ebook or audiobook. It is also available on Audible.com. Here it is on Audible.com: https://www.audible.com/pd/Understanding-Pauls-Epistle-to-the-Romans-Audiobook/B081BDSZ3Z?qid=1574033666&sr=1-3&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=YTXMC5CJW29020SNRDVS&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_3
September 23rd, 2019
What Does God Require?
Jesus was asked this very question in the sixth chapter of John’s gospel. The people asked him, “What shall we do that we might work the works of God?” The Amplified translation makes their question even more clear: “What are we to do to carry out what God requires?” If you asked this question to most Christians you would probably receive answers like these: do good things, live a holy
June 26th, 2019
Reimagining Christianity
When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…” he is suggesting that it is possible for us to imagine things that are incorrect – we are capable of misconceptions. And, as it turns out, there are in fact, many things we imagine about God, and about Christianity, which are not true at all. For instance,
May 9th, 2019
God’s Work, Not Yours
In Titus 3:5 the Apostle Paul writes, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us…” The word “saved” used in this verse is a word that implies rescue. Imagine for a moment that you are on the Titanic. The ship has gone down, and you are floundering in the icy waters of the Atlantic. Then a rescue ship appears and pulls
March 29th, 2019
The Christian Life is Meant to be Easy
In the eleventh chapter of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” The first thing I notice about this passage is
February 17th, 2019
God is Not Keeping Score Anymore
I think that many people visualize God as a grey-bearded old man sitting up in heaven with a feather quill pen writing down all our sins and transgressions on a huge scroll, with the thought in mind that, even though we might have thought we “got by with it”, he saw what we did and will get even with us sooner or later. In reality, however, nothing could be more
February 17th, 2019
Do We Pay for What We Have Done?
A few years ago as I was walking out of a church, a man said to me, out of the blue, “Well, I know we all have to pay for what we’ve done…” I don’t know what he was talking about, or what specifically was on his mind, but it struck me that this is exactly the way many people think: that we all have to pay for what we’ve
February 17th, 2019
Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God
In 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached a now-famous sermon entitled, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. Edwards was guilty of propagating a common falsehood, that is, that God is angry because of sin. This misrepresentation of God continues in our day. On 9/11 I heard two prominent ministers interviewed on television. They both agreed that 9/11 was God’s judgment upon America because of sin. God is not judging America
February 17th, 2019
Getting Rid of the Fear of God
In his first epistle, the Apostle John has a lot to say about our relationship with God, which he describes as a relationship based on love, specifically God’s love for us. He writes that “we love him because he first loved us.” Our love for God, therefore, is merely a response to his love for us, because, as John says, he loved us first. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul tells us
February 17th, 2019
The Exchanged Life
It seems that we are always trying to change something about our lives. Whether it is a diet or an exercise program or quitting bad habits or starting good ones, we seem to have an instinctive sense that changes need to be made in our lives. We succeed or fail in our attempts at self-improvement according to the degree of our own human strength and will-power. Unfortunately, we bring this