Opening the Bible – Page 47 – A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green

John And Commandments (2)

In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, (1 John 5:3). Some friends of ours (Mark & Carol), were headed home Sunday after attending church and eating out. They live in a rural community, so they were traveling on a somewhat isolated stretch of road whenContinue reading “John And Commandments (2)”

Assurance And The Spirit

“And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” (1 John3:24) “This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.” (1 John 4:13) John tells us not once, but twice, that the proof we’reContinue reading “Assurance And The Spirit”

Assurance And The Disciples

When John writes of keeping commands (2:3,3:22,24,5:3), doing what is right (2:29,3:7,3:10), and not sinning (2:1,3:6,9,5:18), he is speaking directionally. Everyone is headed toward something and the disciple is headed in the direction of His Father. God is both the light (v. 5) and in the light (v. 7), (think of our sun, it is lightContinue reading “Assurance And The Disciples”

Working For The Lord

Can you guess what the following statistics (from Karl Thompson) have reference to? It’s something that occupies: 14 % of your total life, 21 % of your total waking hours, 23.3% of your life during the years you’re actually you’re doing this, 35% of your waking hours during those years you’re doing this, 50% ofContinue reading “Working For The Lord”

I See Trouble On The Way (3)

Historically speaking 1. If the man of lawlessness represents a pronounced escalation of evil and apostasy, is there any way for us to identify it? Can we look back at some point in the first century (or afterward) and say this is what Paul was talking about? Are Paul’s words even meant to be takenContinue reading “I See Trouble On The Way (3)”

I See Trouble On The Way (2)

Unpacking the text 1. He tells the Thessalonians that Jesus will not return “until the rebellion occurs, and the man of lawlessness is revealed” (2:3). So, we have two things to work with—the rebellion and the revealing of the man of lawlessness who is also referred to as “the man doomed to destruction” (v. 3).Continue reading “I See Trouble On The Way (2)”

I See Trouble On The Way (1)

Some preliminaries After working with 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 a bit, I caught myself thinking that it would have been okay with me if this particular text had never made it into the biblical canon! It could be like the letter Paul alludes to in 1 Corinthians 5:9 that served its purpose in the first centuryContinue reading “I See Trouble On The Way (1)”

Worthy Of His Calling

Part of Paul’s prayer for the disciples at Thessalonica is that “our God may make you worthy of His calling” (2 Thessalonians 1:11). He prays the same sort of thing for disciples everywhere (Ephesians 4:1; Philippians 1:27; Colossians 1:10). Interestingly, this passage is singular in the sense that this is the only text where God’sContinue reading “Worthy Of His Calling”

When the Church tries to be Cool (3)

Paul agrees with the Corinthians that his message is lacking in cool rhetorical flourishes that the Greeks esteemed. He is proud that it centers upon the cross–even though the Corinthian culture deems it fit for the fool rather than the cool (v. 18, 22). Paul will accept such a conclusion—but only when the terms areContinue reading “When the Church tries to be Cool (3)”