Should we only worship in accordance with the instructions for worship and according to the examples given in Scripture? It seems the regulative principle of worship is actually too restrictive, should we have a similar principle of Scripture reading in church, and only read Scripture publicly in the worship service (that is what is commanded, […]
Jeremiah 31:37 This is what the Lord says: “Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the Lord. This is speaking of the rebellions of Israel, and thus not specifically […]
Does God experience time like we do, or is all of time “present” to God? Rev. 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” “Who is” is first, “I am!” Exodus 3:13-14 Then Moses said […]
JN 5:31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid.” Jesus here says that for his testimony to be valid in a court of law (his claims are on trial here in this chapter), he […]
One question about God’s foreknowledge is this: Is knowing how people will choose, forcing them to choose? Well, if God says in a prophecy, “a remnant will return” (Isa. 10:21), then since we now know this will happen, if God tells us some of his absolutely certain purposes, then is our foreknowledge of those events […]
“To be supremely loving, God must give us what will be best for us and delight us most; he must give us himself.” (John Piper) This certainly everyone would agree with… “God is the one Being in the entire universe for whom self-centeredness, or the pursuit of his own glory, is the ultimately loving act. […]
God has free will, as illustrated here: HOS 14:4 I will heal their waywardness and love them freely. 1CO 2:12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. EPH 1:6 … to the praise of his glorious […]
“[God’s] will of decree is not his will in the same sense as his will of command is. Therefore it is not difficult at all to suppose that the one may be otherwise than the other: his will in both senses is his inclination. But when we say he wills virtue, or loves virtue or […]
Are babies entirely innocent? And then they sin, and this is their first experience of sin? Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced… How is every mouth silenced, if some are not chargeable with sin? Romans […]
Genealogies were always reckoned through the father (Moses’ sons were Levites, though Zipporah was not from Israel), and Jesus considered himself descended from David (Mt. 22:43-45). Now the two genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and Luke are actually the same in various places, especially the early parts, and sometimes the genealogies only “hit the high spots,” […]