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Slavery in the Bible – Does God Condone Slavery?

...the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness of their sin should be treated in the same way … with the same love and respect. What about Leviticus 25:44-46? It is true that God specifically made room for forced slavery, as seen in Lev. 25:44-46. However, this passage should not be seen in the same context as other passages we have considered when dealing with the moral implications of slavery. The reason being that this slavery was a form of judgement by Holy God on a paganistic, rebellious people. It was actually mercy that the Lord allowed them to live in slavery, rather than to be destroyed for their extreme rebellion against God in embracing false gods, liv...

BOOK REVIEW: Four Views on Hell 2nd edition

...and that Jesus here warns not of eternal punishing but of an eternal punishment, one described as death and destruction elsewhere in Scripture Matt 10:28; John 3:16; Rom 6:23). After all, when Hebrews 9:12 refers to our ‘eternal redemption’, it most probably doesn’t refer to a never-ending act of redeeming, but to the never-ending redemption that results from God’s saving work.”16 It is also worth recalling that Jesus here spells out two contrary, not comparable, destinies in antithetical or asymmetrical contrast – life versus its opposite – as proven many times in CI literature. Burk uses Mk 9 to foreground “the devouring worm (that never...

Where Hal Lindsey and Dispensationalism Went Wrong

...Further, Jesus limited the time of the trampling of Jerusalem to his own generation (Luke 21:20–22, 32). Interestingly, the final assault on Jerusalem by the Roman army under Titus lasted 42 months from February AD 67 to August AD 70. This is strong supporting evidence for the Great Tribulation being fulfilled at the Jewish-Roman War ending with the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.) Lindsey (p. 87, etc.) saw the existence of nuclear weapons as an important sign of the end times. However, Jesus taught that the so-called “end times” would be when God’s people would “fall by the edge of the sword” (Luke 21:24). Jesus’ prophecies were about ancient warfar...

The Temptations of Jesus: Complacency

...So now we are at the end of the temptations that Jesus endured in the desert, and I wanted to look at what happens at the end. So often I think this aspect is overlooked when we read of this time in Scripture. Let’s take a look at the text: Matthew 4:11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. Luke 4:13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. The two Gospel accounts both give us a varying perspective with different details. Afterwards, the devil leaves and angels “suddenly” come. This is almost a temptation in itself; one to think we are all good and safe now we've won the battl...

Great is the Mystery of Faith!

...ngs about Jesus and the Passion are so poetic it’s really quite moving. The way he contrasts the qualities of deity with what Jesus endured as a man in a human body really brings some perspective about just how big of a thing the Incarnation was and what Jesus gave up in coming down to us in that way. Have a read of this quote to see what I mean:  The earth shook, and its foundations trembled; the sun fled away, and the elements turned back, and the day was changed into night: for they could not endure the sight of their Lord hanging on a tree. The whole creation was amazed, marvelling and saying, "What new mystery, then, is this?" The Judge is judged, an...

Lent: Day 15 - Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 36-47

...ointed to Jesus – even those which showed that he would be crucified; and so the Jews hate the Christians who keep showing these things from the Scriptures. What follows is some really interesting interpretation of prophecy in the Old Testament which not only is used to prove the power of God, but also to show that the different ways prophecies are spoken demonstrates who inspired them; ie. some are from the Father, some Christ and others, the Spirit. This in itself is demonstrating a view of the Trinity within prophecy, too. The Father Quoting various passage from Isaiah, Justin makes the point that when a prophecy is spoken from a “thus saith the Lord...