Category: Jesus Christ

Impetuous Peter! #3

Saturday, February 20, 2021

“And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid” (Mark 9:5,6 KJV).

When in doubt, close your mouth!

For Peter’s second hasty statement, consider Matthew chapter 14: “[24] But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. [25] And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. [26] And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. [27] But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

“[28] And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. [29] And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. [30] But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. [31] And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? [32] And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. [33] Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.”

Christ had been delayed in meeting them (cf. verses 22,23), but He eventually walked out onto the Sea of Galilee. Representative of all the disciples in the boat, Peter was not expecting Him, so he blurted out the conditional statement, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water” (verse 28). Christ gave Peter permission to walk on the water too. Howbeit, as Peter strolled, he looked around at his dangerous circumstances (violent wind)—and, as doubt and fear overcame him, he began to sink (verse 30)! Quick to say he would walk to the Lord, the dear Apostle, when afforded the opportunity, was distracted and literally fell. Thankfully, Jesus grabbed him before he drowned….

Bible Q&A #810: “What is Paul’s ‘lie’ in Romans 3:7?”

Impetuous Peter! #2

Friday, February 19, 2021

“And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid” (Mark 9:5,6 KJV).

When in doubt, close your mouth!

Fisherman Simon Peter, a convert of John the Baptist, first met the Lord Jesus along the Jordan River just north of the Dead Sea (John 1:40-42). Later, Simon was with his business associates, James and John sons of Zebedee, up north on the Sea of Galilee. Luke chapter 5 continues: “[4] Now when he [Christ] had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. [5] And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

“[6] And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. [7] And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. [8] When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. [9] For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: [10] And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. [11] And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.”

Peter whined they had returned emptyhanded after fishing the entire night (verse 5). He was therefore hesitant when Jesus ordered him to let down his nets to catch fish. Upon seizing many fish, however, he knelt before the Lord, confessing, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (verse 8). Peter voiced his regret, as if to say, “I should not have doubted Thee!” Luke 5:5 was just the first of several times Simon Peter articulated a poor choice of words….

Something in Which to Glory!

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

“As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:12-14 KJV).

In what shall we glory? About what shall we boast? In what shall we find value?

Religion produces people who enjoy bragging all about their “dedication to God.” “Look what I did—the ceremonies in which I have participated, the many prayers I faithfully recited daily, how much I put in the collection plate, see how many pleasures I gave up to please God! Come, see how much I love Him!” Dear friends, the Apostle Paul found great value in something—but that something was not what he did. All that human flesh can accomplish pales in comparison to the work in today’s Scripture.

As Lent begins, the time when religionists temporarily (a mere 40 days) relinquish some pleasant food or activity, let us remember that our performance is often non-performance. Once we place ourselves on that treadmill of “do, do, do,” we are guaranteed to fail at some point. Human flesh is simply too weak to maintain 100 percent—that is sin! Even concerning one rule, we cannot keep it perfectly. We mess up eventually.

If ever we believe that our puny works are worth bragging about, let us remember the words of the Apostle Paul in today’s Scripture. While some boast in their religiosity (in the passage, the Judaizers applauding their rite of physical circumcision), and such denominationalists today urge us to obey their church’s instructions so they too may boast in our ability, let us eschew such foolishness. Being imperfect, all their works do not measure up to Christ’s finished crosswork. At Calvary, we find the only sacrifice that will ever please the God of the Bible. If we must boast, let us brag that He did what we could never, ever do!

See our archived Bible Q&A: “Should Christians observe Lent?”

God’s Grace on Parade

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

“…But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20 KJV).

Today, especially here in southern Louisiana, the Catholic festival of Mardi Gras takes advantage of God’s grace. God’s grace abounds even when drunkenness, lasciviousness, and gluttony are committed overtly on our streets for religion. Because we live in the Dispensation of the Grace of God, they can flaunt their sin without being consumed by fire from heaven!

“Mardi Gras,” French for “Fat Tuesday,” is a day when religious people—professing “Christians”—lose self-control (excess alcohol, food, and partying). The following day, Ash Wednesday, they promise to live “holy” for the next 40 days (Lent). A priest will then place ashes on their foreheads proving that God forgave them for that riotous living. Blasphemy!

Regardless of all its biblical allusions (illusions!), Mardi Gras is still evil and anti-God. It was never Christian, originating from pagan Roman festivals, Saturnalia and Lupercalia (interestingly known for riots, drunkenness, gluttony, and fornication, and subsequent repentance).

The Holy Spirit, speaking through the Apostles Peter and Paul, was clearly against Mardi Gras reveling and drunkenness (Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Peter 4:3). So why do professing Christians engage in the very activities that God the Holy Spirit condemned?! As Christians, we should “deny” the activities of Mardi Gras (Romans 6:11-15; Titus 2:11-15).

If I appear offended, I am. Mardi Gras, despite its godly façade, is offensive to the great God and my Saviour Jesus Christ! God’s grace continues to tolerate such foolishness from mankind. Man parades his sin, and God parades His grace, holding back wrath.

Are you a Mardi Gras reveler? I declare unto you the wonderful Gospel of the Grace of God. God did for you at Calvary what you could never do: “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Jesus Christ shed His sinless blood and died to put away all of your sins, Mardi Gras revelry included.

If you rest in Christ Jesus alone as your Saviour, God will save you forever, make a trophy of His grace, and then YOUR life will be God’s grace on parade!

*Adapted from a larger Bible study with the same name. The Bible study can be read here or watched here.

You may also see our archived Bible study Q&A, “Should Christians celebrate Mardi Gras?”

Our latest Bible Q&A: “How could there be two ‘evenings’ in Matthew 14:15-23?”

God is Love

Sunday, February 14, 2021

“…God is love… God is love… We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:8b,16b,19 KJV).

The word “love” is used very flippantly in today’s world. Of the many who speak about “love,” few know what it is. On this Valentine’s Day, we offer sound doctrine from God’s Word to correct the misunderstandings of what love really is. What is love, according to God’s Word?

Today’s Scripture says that “God is love”—God does not simply love, but His very nature is love. What does that mean? In 1 John 3:16, we read: “Hereby we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us:” Our Apostle Paul put it this way: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God’s nature is love—selfless, self-sacrificing!

God’s Word defines love and charity in 2 Corinthians 12:15: “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.” Love is seeking the best interest of others, even if it costs you something (time, energy, resources, et cetera). Charity is love in deed (demonstrated, manifested in action). God loved us, so He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. It cost God the Father His Son, and it cost God the Son His life. What a selfless act!

Our nature in Adam is selfish, but our nature in Christ is not. Paul declares, “the love of Christ constraineth us” (2 Corinthians 5:14). We who have trusted Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, our Christian lives are driven and motivated by Christ’s love for us, not our love for Him. It is this unselfish love of Christ working in us that causes us to look on the things of others, to seek their edification and their benefit, not ours (Romans 13:8-10; 1 Corinthians 10:24; Philippians 2:1-11). This will result in charity, our selfless actions reflecting that love of Christ (2 Corinthians 12:15).

As the lost world observes our Christian service, they will see, “God is love.”

*Adapted from a larger Bible study with the same name. The Bible study can be read here or watched here.

You can see our archived Bible Q&A study: “Should Christians celebrate Valentine’s Day?”

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #13

Thursday, January 21, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

Let us review what we have seen thus far. Pride transformed Lucifer into Satan, and sin divided the angelic host. While some angels remained loyal to God, Hell was prepared for the Devil and his angels. Adam and Eve sinned, destroying their relationship with God and each other. Sin divided them; their marriage irreversibly damaged. Cain and Abel, their first two sons, were split because of sin. Unbelieving Cain murdered righteous Abel, further breaking up the human home. Sinful man, under Satan’s control, corrupted the planet increasingly with violence and killing until the LORD finally judged Earth with the Great Flood. Even after the Flood, man was determined to do what he wanted to do in the Earth. The nations assembled around the devilish Tower of Babel, resulting in the languages and scattering of the Gentiles.

Abraham, instead of relying on God’s grace, worked in his flesh to produce a child. That was not God’s child for him. Ultimately, Abraham’s sin broke up his home between two wives and two sons. Centuries later, 10 out of Israel’s 12 spies overwhelmingly denied the LORD would give the Promised Land to the nation. For the next 40 years, that unbelieving generation of Jews died off in the wilderness wanderings. King Solomon became increasingly attached to pagan women—not only marrying them but also worshipping and serving their idols. Israel lost her political might. Finally, the nation was so apostate she ignored her Messiah (Jesus Christ) when He arrived, and then crucified Him in unbelief! She has now set herself up for the Antichrist, who will come and deceive her yet future. The great majority of her people will thus wind up in Hell and the Lake of Fire.

Sin divided angels, and it divided humans. It still disrupts creation’s relationship with its Creator. Wherever sin is found, wherever sin finds out the sinner, disaster is certain. Let us now focus on the current world situation, especially in the United States….

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #12

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

Christ announced in Matthew chapter 7: “[13] Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: [14] Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (John 5:43).

Since Israel rejected Jesus Christ, now they accept the Antichrist. Consider 2 Thessalonians chapter 2: “[8] And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: [9] Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, [10] And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. [11] And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: [12] That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Most of Israel will perish in that future wrath, leaving a believing remnant to survive and enter God’s earthly kingdom: “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God” (Zechariah 13:8,9).

Israel’s sin will find her out, and split her in twain….

Happy 41st spiritual birthday to my Mom, one of our most faithful readers!

Special-edition Bible Q&A #800: “Did the 12 Apostles ever join the Church the Body of Christ?”

Knowledge of Your Apostle

Thursday, January 7, 2021

“For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office” (Romans 11:13 KJV).

Friend, would you like to have knowledge of your apostle?

John 1:1 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Verse 14 adds, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us….” The triune Godhead is composed of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. It is the Son, however, who functions as the Spokesman, the “Word,” the Communicator. He is Jesus Christ, the God-Man.

In Acts 26:16-18, Jesus Christ told Saul of Tarsus: “[16] But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; [17] Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, [18] To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”

The word “apostle,” from the Greek, means “sent one” (cf. verse 17 above). Consequently, Paul wrote of his special ministry in Romans 11:13: “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:….” Christ commissioned Paul as His spokesman to us non-Jews. Ephesians chapter 3 amplifies: “[1] For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, [2] If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:….” God’s instructions to us are “the Dispensation of Grace,” Paul’s writings of Romans through Philemon.

We study the entire Bible, since all the Bible is for us, for our learning (Romans 15:4). However, not all the Bible is to us or about us. All 66 Books of the Bible are inspired of God (2 Timothy 3:16), but, if we are to understand His present dealings with man, we must especially heed the inspired words the Lord Jesus Christ revealed to the Apostle Paul.

Knowledge of Jesus Christ

Monday, January 4, 2021

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23 KJV).

Friend, would you like to have knowledge of Jesus Christ?

Do you see the evil everywhere? The Bible calls it sin. A nasty word indeed, it is what it is. What will you do with your sin, all the evils you have committed? Are you worthy of eternal life, entrance into God’s presence? If you are honest, you will reply in the negative. No one is perfect. Romans 3:23 says: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

Thankfully, the Bible also tells us in 1 Timothy chapter 2: “[5] For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; [6] Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. [7] Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not; ) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.” Christ shed His blood to pay for our sins, to give His life as a payment.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Peter understood this in Acts chapter 4: “[10] Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole…. [12] Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

While sin destines us for Hell and the Lake of Fire, we can trust Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, and pass from eternal death to eternal life. Read these words of Paul: “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). Finally, “…Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:30,31).

Redeem the Year!

Friday, January 1, 2021

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:15-17 KJV).

What great advice for 2021!

Despite 2,000 years of Bible schools and seminaries, 2,000 years of a completed Bible canon, 2,000 years of Bible reading in churches, several decades of “Christian” television and radio, and just over a decade of widespread use of “Christian” websites, how sad that Bible ignorance is still quite extensive (it is as if God never gave His Word to start with!).

Frankly, the Church the Body of Christ needs to wake up! The verse previous to today’s Scripture says, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (verse 14). Paul, loosely quoting Isaiah 60:1, reminded us that the spiritual ignorance that gripped Israel in Isaiah’s day seized Christians in his day—and it still grips Christians 20 centuries later. Feel-good sermons, enjoyable “worship” services, and rites, rituals, and ceremonies will NOT solve this problem—they exacerbate it!

“[God] will have all men to be saved…” (1 Timothy 2:4a). Do you want this New Year to count for God’s glory? First, you need to get saved from sins and hell! You need to become a Christian by trusting in and relying on Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for your sins (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). That is only part of God’s will for you, for 1 Timothy 2:4b continues, “[God] will have all men… to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” Now, God’s will for your Christian life is daily, personal Bible study to renew your mind, so your faith in those verses can cause God to work in your life—it will be His life, thus making you “perfect [spiritually mature], throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16,17).

Today’s Scripture urges us to buy back the time Satan has robbed from God (time created for God’s glory). By faith, we need to make that time glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by applying His Word, particularly Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon, to our lives. Have a good year in Christ! 🙂

You can download our free “One-Year Bible Reading Schedule.”

See our archived Bible Q&A: “What Scriptural advice can you give me for the New Year?”