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82 results for “Jesus”
Clear searchThe crucifixion in history, Scripture and the Qur'an
Did Jesus Really Die? The crucifixion in history, Scripture and the Qur'an Christianity and Islam cannot both be correct about the death of Jesus. The Gospel declares that Jesus was crucified un…
Read article →Why the Son assumed a complete human nature, not merely a body
Did Jesus Have a Human Soul? Why the Son assumed a complete human nature, not merely a body Why this is useful to know: Christians rightly confess that Jesus is God manifest in the flesh. Yet if…
Read article →Seth D. Postell, Eitan Bar & Erez Soref · Messianic biblical theology · 2017
I recommend Reading Moses, Seeing Jesus because it treats the Torah neither as an embarrassing relic nor as a covenant code which the Church must simply re-enact. The authors read its narratives, patterns, promises, and comm…
View recommendation →The divine identity of Jesus across the Gospels
Not Just a Prophet The divine identity of Jesus across the Gospels Islam honours Jesus in ways which Christians should acknowledge accurately. The Qur'an calls Him the Messiah, describes Him as a word from God, affirms His virgin bi…
Read article →C. I. Scofield · Pastoral sermons · 1915
I value The New Life in Christ Jesus because Scofield combines genuine theological depth with direct, unpretentious language. The chapters build upon one another, adding layer after layer of biblical truth while speaking…
View recommendation →A sign of Israel's renewal, not Israel's disappearance
Why Did Jesus Choose Twelve Apostles? A sign of Israel's renewal, not Israel's disappearance Jesus did not choose twelve apostles because twelve happened to be a convenient number. He could have app…
Read article →Isaiah, John, and the Divine Identity of Jesus Christ
“I Am the First, and I Am the Last” Isaiah, John, and the Divine Identity of Jesus Christ If YHWH alone is Creator, Saviour and Lord of all, what are the New Testament writers saying when they place Jesus within that identity? Isaiah does not leave Israel searching f…
Read article →The brothers of Jesus, the sons of Mary, and an argument of strong plausibility
The Messiah and ‘My Mother’s Children’ in Psalm 69 The brothers of Jesus, the sons of Mary, and an argument of strong plausibility Psalm 69 is one of the clearest portraits of the suffering Messiah in the Psalter. Its language repeatedly reappears in the Ne…
Read article →Why the distinction matters when we speak about Jesus
One Person, Two Natures Why the distinction matters when we speak about Jesus Jesus slept in a boat because He was weary. Then He arose and commanded the wind and the sea, and they obeyed Him. He grew in wisdom, yet He knew what was in man. He was tempted, yet w…
Read article →Eitan Bar · Biblical and historical polemic · 2019
…s, and judge each argument upon its own evidence. Messianic prophecy Jewish objections to Jesus Rabbinic interpretation Hebrew Bible Yeshua New Testament Jewish evangelism
View recommendation →The Messiah cut off before the Temple fell
The Daniel Dilemma The Messiah cut off before the Temple fell Islam calls Jesus the Messiah. It also denies that He was crucified. Centuries before Muhammad, however, the book of Daniel described an anointed figure who would be “cut off”, followed by the destructi…
Read article →The incarnation, the limits of created perspective and the love philosophy could not imagine
…slam would reject this confession at precisely its most radical point. The Qur’an honours Jesus as Messiah and messenger while denying that God has a Son and warning Christians not to say “Three” (Qur’an 4:171). Islam is not simply Neoplatonism in religious clothing, and its obje…
Read article →Eustathius of Antioch, the human soul of Christ and the pictures created by our words
…d the pictures created by our words Why this is useful to know: The language we use about Jesus creates a picture in the mind. If that picture presents God merely occupying a human body, Christ’s humanity becomes an instrument rather than a complete human life. If it presents God…
Read article →Origen, Arius and the line between Creator and creation
…too, perhaps even through teachers or classmates. Understanding why Scripture identifies Jesus as the eternal Creator helps us preserve the faith, strengthen our trust in God, answer objections wisely and know Christ more truly. Suggested excerpt: Ambrose argued that Scripture s…
Read article →Which Gospel does the Qur'an affirm?
The Injeel Problem Which Gospel does the Qur'an affirm? Islam says that Allah gave Jesus the Injeel. It was a true revelation from God. It contained guidance and light. The Qur'an claims to confirm it. The People of the Gospel are told to judge by what God revealed within…
Read article →Israel's Messiah, Israel's Scriptures, and a gospel for the world
…Recovering this setting does more than add cultural colour. It changes how we understand Jesus, the apostles, the gospel, and the relationship between Israel and the Church. Jesus was born within Israel's covenant world Jesus was not a Gentile religious founder who arrived with…
Read article →Christianity, Islam and the verdict of the evidence
…rd. We have examined what Christians mean when they say that God is one. We have followed Jesus through the Gospels and asked whether He can be contained within the category of prophet. We have considered eternal love, the crucifixion, divine justice, forgiveness and assurance. W…
Read article →The glory philosophy could not contain
…uman nature, died in that nature, rose bodily, ascended bodily and remains the man Christ Jesus. Amelius recognised the words while reversing the story. He read John, but he did not allow John to correct the philosopher. John gives us something far greater. The Word did not tumbl…
Read article →Born, begotten and firstborn in the eternal identity and saving work of the Son
…e Son “This day have I begotten thee” appears to be applied to Christ’s resurrection. Did Jesus become the Son of God when He rose—or does Scripture distinguish His eternal Sonship from His resurrection, enthronement and saving work within history? --- More than twenty years ago,…
Read article →Jesus and the fountain of living water
If Any Man Thirst Jesus and the fountain of living water There is a thirst deeper than the body's need. It is the ache of the soul when the things we hoped would satisfy us have not done so. Success can distr…
Read article →The covenant son and the sacrifice that points to Christ
…t of Scripture traces the promise through Jacob, Israel, Judah and David until it reaches Jesus Christ. Islam presents a different Abrahamic framework. The Qur'an associates Abraham and Ishmael with the House at Mecca, while later Muslim tradition predominantly identifies Ishmael…
Read article →Near-death experiences, neuroscience, and the authority of Christ
…em merely because they arrived clothed in radiance. God has spoken decisively in His Son. Jesus Christ is not one witness among many The Christian case does not rest upon assembling enough modern accounts to make an afterlife seem probable. It rests upon Jesus Christ, crucified a…
Read article →The peace Christ gives in a troubled world
…rturn in minutes the security we spent years constructing. On the night before the cross, Jesus spoke to men whose circumstances were about to become terrifying. He did not promise to prevent their bewilderment or remove every approaching trial. He promised something the world co…
Read article →What mercy, holiness and the cross reveal about God
…evil? The Qur'an repeatedly identifies the kinds of people Allah loves and does not love. Jesus commands His disciples to love those who do not deserve it because the Father Himself is kind to the unthankful and evil. The apostles then point to the cross as the historical manifes…
Read article →Four popular claims tested in context
…ence? It is entirely possible for one person to resemble another in some respects. Moses, Jesus and Muhammad were all male religious leaders. Each opposed unbelief, gathered followers and profoundly affected history. If broad resemblances establish prophetic fulfilment, however,…
Read article →The wicked husbandmen, the fruit-bearing nation, and what Jesus said afterwards
…the Kingdom Taken from Israel? The wicked husbandmen, the fruit-bearing nation, and what Jesus said afterwards Few statements of Jesus appear to support supersessionism more directly than Matthew 21:43: "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and g…
Read article →Two failures, two responses, and the difference between remorse and repentance
…sents two sobering examples in Judas Iscariot and Simon Peter. Both men were disciples of Jesus. Both enjoyed extraordinary privileges. Both failed the Lord during the darkest hours surrounding His crucifixion. Both experienced intense sorrow afterward—and yet their stories moved…
Read article →What Jesus promised the apostles about Israel's future
Twelve Thrones and Twelve Tribes What Jesus promised the apostles about Israel's future Peter once asked the question which many faithful disciples have quietly wondered: what will those who sacrifice for Christ receive? Jesus a…
Read article →Why the Trinity is not polytheism—and why Christians confess one God
…ne God The Trinity is often rejected before it is accurately defined. “The Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God,” the objection runs. “That makes three gods.” It would—if Christians believed the Father, Son, and Spirit were three separate divine beings. Histori…
Read article →Sources behind Qur’anic narratives
…and Christian legends more closely than they resemble the earliest canonical Scriptures? Jesus animates birds made from clay. Young believers flee into a cave and awaken after a sleep lasting centuries. A two-horned ruler travels to the limits of the earth and constructs a metal…
Read article →Michael Brown, 2 Thessalonians 1, and the public vindication of the saints
…. Paul is writing to Christians enduring persecution. He promises them rest when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance upon the disobedient. Brown therefore concludes that the Church receives deliverance at Christ’s public return, not in a prior…
Read article →E. W. Bullinger · Sermons · 1892
Ten connected sermons tracing the Bible's testimony to the personal return of Jesus Christ, the prophetic hope woven through Scripture, and the events and purposes gathered around His appearing.
View recommendation →Christ the promised Seed, Gentile inheritance, and Paul's final blessing
…to inherit? Paul's answer is an emphatic no. They receive the blessing of Abraham through Jesus Christ by faith (Galatians 3:13-14). That context establishes genuine Gentile inheritance. It does not ask whether Israel retains promises of nationhood, land, Davidic rule, regatherin…
Read article →Unity in Christ and distinction in God's purpose
…is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." —Galatians 3:28 Ethnicity supplies no rank in Christ. Jewish believers do not approach God through Torah while Gentile believers approach through grace. Both are justified by faith a…
Read article →How an openly transmitted text survived copying, criticism, and centuries of examination
…manuscript record belongs in the light. Across the principal textual traditions, the same Jesus is presented: crucified, buried, risen, and Lord. The same gospel is proclaimed. The same apostolic teaching stands. Differences deserve honest study, but they have not produced compet…
Read article →How the Law reaches its goal and appointed end in Christ
…esurrection. The saving word is near: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." —Romans 10:9 This use of Moses is striking. Paul is not discarding the Old Testament in…
Read article →Why the final seven is unfinished, future, and centred upon Israel and Jerusalem
…evelation. It starts with a measured programme in Daniel concerning Israel and Jerusalem. Jesus takes Daniel's abomination of desolation and places it at the head of an unparalleled tribulation. Paul describes a lawless ruler who exalts himself in the sacred place and is destroye…
Read article →A quiet invitation to draw near to Christ
…account of ourselves. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). That does not mean there is nothing in our lives that needs correcting. There is plenty. But the believer comes to God as someone already received in Christ. We can conf…
Read article →Responding to five common criticisms without defending what Scripture does not require
…t of God's eternal purpose: "According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." —Ephesians 3:11 The mystery was hidden in earlier ages and revealed through the apostles, but hidden does not mean unplanned (Ephesians 3:3–10). Christ's death occurred acco…
Read article →What 'yea and Amen' in Christ means for Israel and the covenants
…eached: "But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea." —2 Corinthians 1:18-19 God's Son is not uncertain. God's mess…
Read article →Why apantēsis does not settle the timing of the rapture
…bly, or carry away. It is used of a wolf catching sheep (John 10:12), an attempt to seize Jesus by force (John 6:15), the Spirit carrying Philip away (Acts 8:39), Paul being caught up to the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2), and the male child being caught up unto God (Revelatio…
Read article →Abraham, Lot, divine wrath, and a pattern that must be used carefully
…as removed from the place of judgement. The forms differ; the moral distinction does not. Jesus uses the days of Lot Jesus compares the revealing of the Son of man with the days of Noah and Lot (Luke 17:26–30). Ordinary life continued until judgement arrived suddenly. In Lot's ca…
Read article →Matthew, the Hebrew word almah, and a sign whose meaning reaches beyond Ahaz
…d almah, and a sign whose meaning reaches beyond Ahaz Matthew says that the conception of Jesus by the Holy Ghost fulfilled Isaiah's words: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel." —Matthew 1:23 Critics often answ…
Read article →What Christ’s promise establishes—and what claims about infallible teaching still need to prove
…Church Infallibility? Few promises offer Christians greater assurance than these words of Jesus: “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” — Matthew 16:18 The Church belongs to Christ. He builds it, and the powers arrayed against it cannot secu…
Read article →The gathering of the elect, one taken and one left, and Paul's revealed mystery
…mystery Matthew 24 contains the most direct Gospel objection to a pretribulation rapture. Jesus describes Great Tribulation, cosmic disturbance, His coming in the clouds, and a gathering of the elect. The sequence appears plain: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days sh…
Read article →Circumcision of the heart and the identity of Paul's inward Jew
…ers: "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." —Philippians 3:3 He also speaks of a "circumcision made without hands" in union with Christ (Colossians 2:11). The inward reality is unquestionab…
Read article →Fulfilment in Christ, the inclusion of the Gentiles, and Israel's future mercy
…n Christ, Israel's promises, and Gentile blessing with unusual precision: "Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy." —Romans 15:8-9 Ch…
Read article →What the Father's love for the Son reveals about God
…ch makes every alternative logically impossible. The biblical case is stronger than that. Jesus does not leave us to speculate about whether love might have existed before creation. He speaks of love which was actually given and received: "For thou lovedst me before the foundatio…
Read article →The man of sin, the last trumpet, the first resurrection, and the last day
…fore our gathering? Paul writes: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him... Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revea…
Read article →Why Israel's failure cannot make the word of God fail
…ms rather than dissolves the promises Every Christian interpretation must be centred upon Jesus Christ. He is Abraham's Seed, David's Son, the mediator of the new covenant, and the only Saviour of Israel and the nations. No promise reaches fulfilment apart from Him. But the New T…
Read article →Conditional blessing, irrevocable promise, and fulfilment in Christ
…rce? The coming of Christ changed Israel's relationship to the Sinai covenant decisively. Jesus fulfilled the law; His sacrifice accomplished what the repeated offerings could never complete; and the new covenant rendered the former covenant old. Hebrews states: "In that he saith…
Read article →History, heresy, and the temptation of private Christianity
…e remaining inaccessible and unaccountable. It can speak continually of relationship with Jesus while possessing remarkably few durable relationships with his people. He is also right to challenge accounts of salvation that treat creation as disposable. Much evangelical speech mo…
Read article →Does John 6 teach the literal eating of Christ's body?
…a confident Roman Catholic presentation of John 6. The argument appears straightforward. Jesus said that unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we have no life in us. His hearers understood Him literally. Rather than correcting them, Jesus repeated the saying in still more…
Read article →A history of interpretation, polemic, and forgotten tension
…is neither simple nor flattering. Some early Christian writers defended essential truths: Jesus is Israel's Messiah, the law cannot justify, Gentiles are full heirs in Christ, and the Old Testament finds its goal in Him. Yet those truths were sometimes joined to a further conclus…
Read article →Faith, assurance, and the unseen reality of God
…larship that challenges Scripture or claims to explain away what Christians believe about Jesus. We should examine serious arguments honestly. Academic credentials do not make a conclusion automatically correct, and an unwelcome conclusion does not make its author automatically d…
Read article →Signs, expectancy, and the event the Church is told to await
…ooking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." —Titus 2:13 "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." —Philippians 3:20 The object of expectation is not first the…
Read article →The LORD, Zion, and the meaning of Beulah in Isaiah 62:4–5
…ance The New Testament reveals that the Abrahamic promises reach their fulfilment through Jesus Christ. He is the promised Seed, the Davidic King, Israel’s Messiah, and the mediator of the new covenant. Gentile believers are brought near through Him and become participants in the…
Read article →Seeing God, bodily resurrection, and life in the renewed creation
…our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21). Jesus' own resurrection was physical and recognisable: He could be touched, He bore the marks of crucifixion, and He ate with His disciples. Paul does call the resurrection body “spiritual”…
Read article →Divine judgement, the character of God, and the promise of escape
…h is not appointed to wrath is sometimes answered too quickly. Christians plainly suffer. Jesus promised tribulation in the world. The apostles endured imprisonment, violence, loss, and martyrdom. Across the world, believers still suffer precisely because they belong to Christ. P…
Read article →A response to Hank Hanegraaff on resurrection, Daniel’s final week, and the Tribulation
…efore not a dispensational punishment invented to make Jewish people suffer for rejecting Jesus. It is the final collision between human rebellion and divine rule, within which God judges the nations, defeats the final oppressor, brings Israel through purifying distress and fulfi…
Read article →Testing Islam's evidence for divine revelation
…tion Christians are frequently placed on the defensive. Has the Bible been corrupted? Did Jesus really claim to be God? Was He actually crucified? Has the doctrine of the Trinity compromised monotheism? Those questions deserve answers, and the preceding articles have supplied the…
Read article →The question reaches beyond prophecy to the faithfulness of God
…God's household. Every sinner is reconciled to God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The question is whether this unity in salvation removes the distinctions which Scripture continues to make between Israel, the Gentiles, and the Church. That question matters b…
Read article →A response to Michael Horton on the land promise, Amos 9, and the people of God
…Christ. It is whether fulfilment in Christ cancels Israel's promises or guarantees them. Jesus is Israel's Messiah and the promised Son of David. If He restores Israel, renews the nation, judges its enemies, establishes justice, and brings the nations to worship the Lord, those…
Read article →What God's faithfulness to Israel means for everyone who trusts His promises
…on where God promised restoration on the far side of discipline. What did Christ confirm? Jesus did not come to rescue God from promises which had become inconvenient. Paul says He came "to confirm the promises made unto the fathers" (Romans 15:8). Christ confirms them by bearing…
Read article →Why a loaded label does not settle the question
…from the wider context, not inserted into one noun. John 14 supplies that wider movement. Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to His Father's house to prepare a place for them, then promises: “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be…
Read article →An unrequited love for the historic Church
…the God of the gospel is the Creator of heaven and earth, that the body is not evil, that Jesus Christ truly suffered in the flesh, and that He rose bodily from the grave. I value ordered worship, accountable leadership, Christian discipline and fellowship that extends beyond the…
Read article →Spiritual ecstasy, altered states, and discerning what is from God
…careful consideration. A practice does not necessarily become Christian because the words Jesus, prayer, or Holy Spirit have been attached to it. Biblical meditation fills the mind with God’s truth: “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day a…
Read article →Creation, judgement, and the coming reign of Christ
…is world. Yet the final hope of creation lies beyond every human programme: the return of Jesus Christ, the redemption of the body, the revelation of the sons of God, and the reign of the last Adam over the earth. That reign will be the earth's great Sabbath. The creature and the…
Read article →How the Lord knows His own—and how their lives bear His name
…u: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." —1 Corinthians 6:11 He does not say that the Corinthians had never committed such sins, nor that they had already become flawless. His letters show the…
Read article →Not escape from the body, but its redemption
…glory. The resurrection is therefore not an abstract doctrine. Its pattern can be seen in Jesus. A real body, raised and transformed The risen Christ corrected His frightened disciples: "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not f…
Read article →The near was real. The far is still coming.
…r moral renewal. Their bodily character receives decisive confirmation in the ministry of Jesus. The land also receives healing: “For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.” — Isaiah 35:6 Parched ground becomes a pool. Thirsty land becomes springs. P…
Read article →Regathering, national rebirth, and the spiritual renewal still to come
…difference, and profound internal disagreement. The nation has not corporately recognised Jesus as Messiah. The promised universal cleansing, outpouring of the Spirit, secure peace, Davidic reign, and worldwide knowledge of the LORD have not arrived. This incompleteness is not ne…
Read article →Two accounts of judgement, mercy, and the sinner's hope before God
…is deeds” (Romans 2:6). The dead are judged according to their works in Revelation 20:12. Jesus speaks repeatedly of deeds revealing the true condition of the heart. Works matter as evidence, fruit, and the proper subject of judgement. They cannot justify the ungodly because the…
Read article →One Messiah, one gospel, and God's continuing purpose for Israel
…appear. After following the argument through the covenants, the prophets, the teaching of Jesus, Acts, Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, and the history of Christian interpretation, the cumulative answer is no. God has judged Israel severely. The nation remains largely in unbelief and…
Read article →The Gospel, Human Perception, and the Illuminating Work of the Holy Spirit
…s the sinner to recognise the living God, his own guilt, and the glory and sufficiency of Jesus Christ—and to believe on Him. The same words can carry different worlds Consider a short gospel explanation: God is holy. You are a sinner. Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose aga…
Read article →Defining the position before testing it
…l form argues that the promises were never meant to terminate upon ethnic Israel as such. Jesus is the true Israel, and all who are united to Him inherit the promises in their transformed and universal form. The Church does not steal Israel's promises; it receives them in the Mes…
Read article →Constantine, Arius, the Trinity, the biblical canon—and the myths that refuse to die
…every conspiracy about early Christianity is projected. Constantine invented the Trinity. Jesus was voted into deity. Paganism defeated biblical Christianity. The emperor chose the books of the Bible. Reincarnation was removed. Sunday worship was imposed. The bishops settled ever…
Read article →Governmental restraint, the final ten kings, and the preparation of the temple
…ontation Paul describes the adversary sitting in God’s temple and claiming divine status. Jesus connects Daniel’s abomination of desolation with the holy place and flight from Judaea. The final confrontation has a concrete setting in Israel, with a physical sanctuary. 2 Thessalon…
Read article →A forensic reading of Christ's Olivet Discourse
…etting is Judea The discourse begins at the temple. The disciples point to its buildings; Jesus foretells their destruction; and they ask about His coming and the end of the age (Matthew 24:1-3). His answer soon narrows to a particular land and crisis: "When ye therefore shall se…
Read article →The positive argument of the whole series, brought together
…ople to deliver, judge, and reign. Christ receives His people—and later appears with them Jesus promised His disciples: "I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." —John 14:3 The destination in this promise follows the direction of its…
Read article →Labour, purpose, and faithfulness in a fallen world
…a rhythm in which work stops, limits are acknowledged and provision is entrusted to Him. Jesus taught that the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath (Mark 2:27). Rest is not the enemy of useful work; it is one of the ways we confess that the world does not depend upo…
Read article →How Christians can think politically without surrendering conscience to a package deal
…is not a creed. Its leader is not a shepherd of our souls. Christian loyalty begins with Jesus Christ. Christians should therefore bring every party, leader, policy and political narrative under the judgement of God's Word. Scripture fixes moral ends—truth, justice, protection o…
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