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Are There Levels of Sin?

...eading to death and others not - then is that not giving degrees to some sins over others? In John 19:11, Jesus even says that "[he] who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin" and in Matthew 5:19 Jesus talks about levels of reward in the Kingdom - so why wouldn't there be levels of sinfulness? Yes, once we pledge our lives to follow the Lord we are granted salvation and eternal life, yet there is still talk of greater or lesser rewards along with that. The parable in Luke 12:47-48 appears to teach degrees of punishment for different wrongs (and the same type of message about different degrees of punishment is also in: Matthew 10:15, Matthew 23:13-15...

Lent Day 39: Leo the Great: Sermon XLIX (On Lent XI)

...mourn his death as the disciples did, before we realise the reality of the resurrection which comes in a few short days. “Who is there who would not wish for additions to his virtue, or removal of his vice?” Leo asks rhetorically, referring to the benefits of the Lenten fast and discipline. “Blessed, therefore, is the mind that passes the time of its pilgrimage in chaste sobriety, and loiters not in the things through which it has to walk”. Leo refers this back to what Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 as a way of living in such a way that we don't get too caught up in this life and this world that we forget about the divine promise and the life we...

How many apostles are there in the New Testament?

...either in death or at The Resurrection, which makes complete sense if these five major roles are to “to equip the saints” and for “building up the body of Christ”. So if these five gifts are for the continued benefit of the whole Church body, then it makes sense that we should see others who possess them, and the apostolic gift is often the most controversial one (along with prophet). So let's see how many apostles there were in the pages of the New Testament: Acts 1:13 When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon th...

The Historic Practice of Abortion and How Ancient Christians Responded

...life and death of an unborn child, and not merely a religious or political talking point. Neither should it be viewed as an abstract “right” or “healthcare” in which women are given the OK to put an end to the life forming within them, as though it were nothing but a nondescript, featureless “clump of cells”. The foetus quickly develops from any kind of plain cells into something more human within weeks of conception. The brain is beginning to grow at only 16 days and develops more between 6–7 weeks onward when the heart kicks into action too. I am not so rigid to say there are no exceptions or cases where it truly would fall under the “healthc...

The Gospel of Jeffrey Dahmer

...geoned to death by another inmate November of that same year. But the point remains, which is the heart of the Gospel: God’s grace and mercy are far bigger than we can ever comprehend, as much as we might not like it, God can save whomever HE wills, not whoever WE prefer. Like the thief on the cross, who also faced the consequences of his crimes yet cried out to Jesus in his final moments, anyone can be saved, no matter their past. This is the Gospel in its simplest terms. Don’t get me wrong, Jeffrey Dahmer will face the judgement of God, just as we all will, for “it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgement” (Heb 9:27). Looki...

Rob Bell's “Love Wins” (Review)

....e. after death), but also that because of our freedom of will in this life we can, and do, create hell on earth through our actions and sins. Likewise, we can also create heaven on earth in the same way. This is what Jesus referred to when he prayed "Your will be done on earth as in heaven" – bringing the kingdom of God to the here and now. The book then continues on from what is explained in these chapters to explore the rest of our theology and doctrines on salvation, the cross and the hereafter, often taking our contemporary doctrines (which aren't always as scripturally based as we may think) to their sometimes extreme logical conclusions; which often s...