There are a few passages in the Pastoral Epistles that warn against “maligning the word of God.” I thought it would be profitable to look at those passages so as to understand the setting in which Paul used them, as well as the different examples he uses to make the same point, which should ultimately provide for us a direct line of application for our context.
First the passages that Paul uses and the context.
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They …

The shocking call of Jesus.
The way Jesus commenced his ministry was quite distinct from other teachers of his day. In fact it was remarkable that Jesus called others to follow him, and did not merely teach that they should be devoted to God. Studies from this period reveal to us that, “rabbis did not summon others to follow them. Instead, would-be disciples sought rabbis out and asked to serve as their disciples.”
But Jesus was different, he is the one who initiated the call, and further, he didn’t wait for a …

The following is a section of notes from Dr. Schreiner’s course “Theology of the New Testament.” This was a fascinating quote that he pulled from Günter Klein (who was a Bultmannian, so read through that lens). Still, there is much to agree with in his view, especially for many Christians’ political agendas in our time. Note the bold highlights (me), and the way that Jesus treated the “most explosive political question of his day.”
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Jesus did not believe kingdom could be inaugurated by human agency, contra the Zealots (Mark 4:28).
Jesus focused …

Here is a giveaway you’ll want to enter!! See details below:
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Reformation Book Giveaway
     
It has been a while since I hosted a book giveaway! This week I’d like to offer two books to my readers as a special Reformation Book Giveaway. Each of these books is suited for children, but would make a good addition to the reading list of many parents I know, too. I enjoyed reading through each book, especially after my recent “Survey of the Reformation” series I taught for our adult SS class.
The books to be won …

Gregg Allison commenting on the Spirit as creator and sustainer of unity in the community of faith:
“Churches do not have to attempt to create unity among their members; the Spirit provides that for them (Eph. 4:3). What must instead happen is that churches are to work hard to maintain that unity, which seems to be fragile and undergo breakdowns because of the sinfulness of church members (Eph 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19).
Mindful that they are natural enemies who have been brought together not naturally but by the grace of God through …

“Here we see two conditions that, in the Scriptures, always go together, for it is in knowing and serving the Lord that the people of God find blessings, and are freed from masters that bring harm, not good. As Israel forsakes the Lord she ends up serving others, whether Philistines, the Midianites, the Assyrians or the Babylonians, masters that oppress. Jesus’ words ‘no one can serve two masters’ is that everyone will serve one, a truth that Paul addresses foundationally in his claim that unless one is a servant of …

I started reading Beeke’s excellent book Parenting By God’s Promises some time ago and have just recently picked it back up. It’s quite a hefty read, weighing in at over 300 pages, but it’s loaded will valuable wisdom to parents. I’m in the second part of a section where he talks about the parents job of prophet, priest, and king. This section on parent-priests focuses on the life of Job and how the Scriptures say of Job,
when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and …

 
What would you include in your last letter?
If you were in Paul’s position, under house arrest in Rome, where we find him while writing a letter to Timothy at Ephesus, what would you have included in the letter to one that you considered a “son” in the faith?
I wonder, knowing the end was drawing near––as Paul did––and that this would mostly likely be the last letter to Timothy, if we would have written on the topics Paul chose to address? I think if we are honest and can look …

I stumbled across this 9Marks leadership interview yesterday as I was searching for a copy of Polity: Biblical Arguments on How to Conduct Church Life for my pastor, though sadly, it is no longer listed on their site for purchase. I do hope they plan to offer this volume in the future. It is a real service to Baptist Churches. The interview of the same title of the book actually uses the book a lot for jumping off points into the discussion of what Polity is.
It was a helpful interview, …

Here’s a paragraph from Luther’s The Bondage of the Will, responding to Erasmus:
If you speak of the internal clearness, no man sees one iota in the Scriptures, but he that hath the Spirit of God. All have a darkened heart ; so that, even if they know how to speak of, and set forth, all things in the Scripture, yet, they cannot feel them nor know them : nor do they believe that they are creatures of God, nor any thing else : according that of Psalm xvi, 1. “The …