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63 results for “New life”
Clear searchC. 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 tr…
View recommendation →Michael J. Vlach · Biblical theology · 2023
I recommend The New Creation Model because it gave me a clear, sustained account of the resurrection body and the renewed creation as parts of one coherent purpose. Vlach is especially helpful in resisting…
View recommendation →Seeing God, bodily resurrection, and life in the renewed creation
Is the Beatific Vision the Whole Christian Hope? Seeing God, bodily resurrection, and life in the renewed creation The beatific vision is the Christian teaching that the redeemed will see God and find their perfect happiness in Him. It draws upon magnificent promises: “Blesse…
Read article →Not escape from the body, but its redemption
…ist. But even being with Christ in heaven is not the final chapter of Christian hope. The New Testament points towards the resurrection of the body and the renewal of creation. God does not discard His handiwork. He redeems it. The body which suffers weakness, ageing and death wi…
Read article →Israel's Messiah, Israel's Scriptures, and a gospel for the world
The New Testament Is a Very Jewish Story Israel's Messiah, Israel's Scriptures, and a gospel for the world To many Jewish people, Christianity appears thoroughly foreign. Its historic centres be…
Read article →Conditional blessing, irrevocable promise, and fulfilment in Christ
…er, were grounded in God's oath and carried forwards even through national judgement. The new covenant finally provides the cleansing and transformed heart which Israel could never produce under the law. The covenants are not competing plans. Together they reveal how a holy God j…
Read article →Jesus and the fountain of living water
…Pleasure can briefly numb it. Religion can cover it with activity. None of these can give life. On the last and greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus did not whisper to such people. He stood and cried: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believe…
Read article →Near-death experiences, neuroscience, and the authority of Christ
…nel, brilliant light, encounters with beings or deceased relatives, a panoramic review of life, and a boundary beyond which the person believes he cannot return. Not every account contains all these features. Some are confused or dreamlike. Some are frightening. Some contain imag…
Read article →Does John 6 teach the literal eating of Christ's body?
…Christ’s Body? “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life.” —John 6:47–48 An evangelical watches a confident Roman Catholic presentation of John 6. The argument appears straightforward. Jesus said that unless we eat Hi…
Read article →Labour, purpose, and faithfulness in a fallen world
…lace of God. Others speak as though work itself were an indignity—an interruption to real life which should be escaped as quickly as possible. Scripture presents labour differently. Work is not our god, and it is not the curse. It is part of the good order God gave humanity befor…
Read article →Regathering, national rebirth, and the spiritual renewal still to come
…he Restoration of the Nation of Israel Regathering, national rebirth, and the spiritual renewal still to come Israel's history contains both judgement and preservation. The Jewish people were conquered, exiled, dispersed across continents, denied sovereignty, and repeatedly perse…
Read article →What 'yea and Amen' in Christ means for Israel and the covenants
…all God's promises have transferred to the Church. Israel's land becomes a figure of the new creation, David's throne becomes Christ's present heavenly rule, and Israel's promised national restoration becomes the salvation of the multinational Church. The promises are not said t…
Read article →Why Israel's failure cannot make the word of God fail
…hen, whither ye went." —Ezekiel 36:22 The passage then promises regathering, cleansing, a new heart, and the indwelling Spirit (Ezekiel 36:24-28). Israel's condition explains why grace is necessary; God's holy name explains why the promise is certain. This also answers the sugges…
Read article →The LORD, Zion, and the meaning of Beulah in Isaiah 62:4–5
…he Gentiles will see her vindication, kings will behold her glory, and she will receive a new name from the mouth of the LORD. The geographical character of the prophecy is difficult to miss. Isaiah speaks about Zion, Jerusalem, her land, her walls, her watchmen, her grain, her w…
Read article →Spiritual ecstasy, altered states, and discerning what is from God
…rbed into a greater reality. Such experiences may be beautiful, terrifying, or apparently life-changing. They can feel more real than everyday life. Those who undergo them may be left convinced that they have encountered God, discovered their true nature, or gained knowledge unav…
Read article →The near was real. The far is still coming.
…would leave much of its language unexplained. The chapters speak of righteous kingship, renewed moral perception, the Spirit poured out from above, fruitful land, secure Zion, forgiven inhabitants, judgment upon the nations and the return of the redeemed. Their cumulative movemen…
Read article →R. V. Sellers · Theological biography and history of doctrine · 1928
…t the divine Word was not confined or circumscribed by the body He assumed: the incarnate life was truly local and human, yet the Word continued to act with the unrestricted power of God. Read this critically as an important but dated reconstruction. Eustathius survives largely t…
View recommendation →Eitan Bar · Biblical and historical polemic · 2019
…icient knowledge of their Jewish setting. His command of Hebrew, familiarity with Israeli life, and experience discussing Yeshua with Jewish people bring valuable context to questions about messianic prophecy, the New Testament, and rabbinic interpretation. The book is most usefu…
View recommendation →Marvin W. Meyer · Historical sourcebook · 1987
…hrough the ancient evidence. Use this book to understand the religious environment of the New Testament, not to assume that every resemblance proves dependence or borrowing. Shared words, rituals, or human concerns can conceal very different meanings. Distinguish each cult from t…
View recommendation →How the Lord knows His own—and how their lives bear His name
…to faith as decisive even when a person is content to deny Christ by the direction of his life. Paul gives us a better foundation and a more searching test: "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one…
Read article →What mercy, holiness and the cross reveal about God
…ercy towards creation from his special love for the faithful. He may argue that continued life, food, family, guidance and opportunity to repent are themselves expressions of mercy even towards those who are not presently loved. Surah 7:156 provides material for such a distinctio…
Read article →Isaiah, John, and the Divine Identity of Jesus Christ
…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 for a greater God behind the God who speaks. The One who comforts Jerusalem is…
Read article →The olive tree, the natural branches, and the limits of the metaphor
…herefore not most naturally reduced either to the modern State of Israel or simply to the New Testament Church. It represents a covenantal continuity which existed before the Gentile mission and through which God's saving mercy now reaches the nations. The Church participates in…
Read article →The incarnation, the limits of created perspective and the love philosophy could not imagine
…as made flesh. The One who made the world entered it, accepted the limitations of a human life, suffered at the hands of His creatures and died upon a cross. We confess these things because they are true. But we should not pretend that they are philosophically ordinary. To many a…
Read article →How the Law reaches its goal and appointed end in Christ
…hamed: "For the end of those things is death." —Romans 6:21 He then contrasts that former life with service to God, whose fruit is holiness and whose "end" is everlasting life (Romans 6:22). In both verses telos describes the result or final outcome of a course. Elsewhere Paul wr…
Read article →Ezekiel 20, child sacrifice, and the judgement of being given over
…egins before verse 25 Three times in Ezekiel 20, God describes His ordinances as bringing life to those who practise them: verses 11, 13, and 21. The chapter establishes their goodness repeatedly. It also distinguishes God’s commands from other statutes. In verses 18–19, God warn…
Read article →Why the Son assumed a complete human nature, not merely a body
…Suggested excerpt: The Son assumed not only the part of us that can bleed, but the human life that thinks, desires, grieves, chooses and obeys. Christ’s humanity was not a costume, a container or a body waiting for a divine occupant. Primary passages: Matthew 26:38–39; Luke 2:40…
Read article →The crucifixion in history, Scripture and the Qur'an
…identified victim hurried away without recognition. They place Jesus among followers who knew Him, opponents who had sought His death and Roman soldiers carrying out a public execution. The executioners confirmed His death The Gospel writers do not treat Jesus' death as an assump…
Read article →Eustathius of Antioch, the human soul of Christ and the pictures created by our words
…upying a human body, Christ’s humanity becomes an instrument rather than a complete human life. If it presents God joining Himself to an independently acting man, the one Christ begins to divide into two. Learning to speak carefully is not dry conformity to a council. It helps us…
Read article →Why apantēsis does not settle the timing of the rapture
…ld go out to meet an approaching dignitary and accompany him in a formal entry. Two other New Testament passages are frequently compared with 1 Thessalonians 4. In Matthew 25:6, the cry announces the bridegroom: "go ye out to meet him." In Acts 28:15, Roman believers travel to Ap…
Read article →Origen, Arius and the line between Creator and creation
…nd the line between Creator and creation Why this is useful to know: On your walk through life, you will encounter challenges to the deity of Christ from television shows and documentaries, Muslims, Latter-day Saints, Jehovah’s Witnesses—and, if you have children, they may encoun…
Read article →Circumcision of the heart and the identity of Paul's inward Jew
…n Israelite category Paul did not invent inward circumcision to provide the Church with a new ethnic name. Moses had already commanded Israel: "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked." —Deuteronomy 10:16 The same book promises a future divine…
Read article →What the Father's love for the Son reveals about God
…already named within the sentence: the Father gives, the Son is sent, and sinners receive life through Him. This does not mean that God became love when He sent Christ. The mission in history manifests what is eternally true of God. The cross does not manufacture divine love. It…
Read article →The man of sin, the last trumpet, the first resurrection, and the last day
…when they stand before the great white throne. The primary contrast is resurrection unto life versus resurrection unto condemnation. Paul had already described order within resurrection: "every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his…
Read article →History, heresy, and the temptation of private Christianity
…Gnostics, on his account, sought salvation in private illumination rather than the public life of a believing community. Modern Protestants likewise elevate the knowing self over the church, inward experience over sacrament, escape over pilgrimage, and an enlightened minority ove…
Read article →A history of interpretation, polemic, and forgotten tension
…sacrificial service. The Jerusalem council and priestly order no longer governed national life. A second revolt had ended in catastrophe, Jerusalem remained under foreign power, and Jewish people were dispersed through the empire. Meanwhile, churches confessing Israel's Messiah w…
Read article →Signs, expectancy, and the event the Church is told to await
…to await Imminency does not mean that Christ was required to return within the apostles' lifetime. It means that no revealed prophetic event must first occur before the Church may be gathered to Him. The distinction matters. An event can be certain and constantly expected withou…
Read article →A response to Hank Hanegraaff on resurrection, Daniel’s final week, and the Tribulation
…hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” —John 5:28–29 He says the “plain and literal sense” is one future moment in which the righteous and wicked are raised…
Read article →Testing Islam's evidence for divine revelation
…ic apologetics. Verses are said to anticipate embryology, cosmic expansion, the origin of life, the separation of waters and the stabilising function of mountains. These arguments should be distinguished from the classical literary case. Medieval Muslim interpreters certainly ref…
Read article →The covenant son and the sacrifice that points to Christ
…ter Hagar and Ishmael leave Abraham's household, God hears the boy's voice, preserves his life and promises to make him a great nation (Genesis 21:17–21). This matters morally and exegetically. Defending Isaac does not require Christians to speak as though God hated Ishmael. He s…
Read article →Two failures, two responses, and the difference between remorse and repentance
…en to accompany Jesus. Both heard His teaching, witnessed His miracles, and shared in the life of the disciples. Both were warned that they would fail Him. Both acted against light they had received. Neither man could claim ignorance of who Jesus was or what He had taught. Their…
Read article →A response to Michael Horton on the land promise, Amos 9, and the people of God
…international people of God in Christ. Several parts of this argument are sound. Israel's life in the land was conditioned upon covenant obedience. Gentiles are incorporated into the people of God without becoming Jewish proselytes. The Mosaic covenant and its Levitical order hav…
Read article →The peace Christ gives in a troubled world
…did not yet understand. Yet the One comforting them was not sheltered from suffering. He knew precisely what awaited Him. He would be betrayed, falsely accused, mocked, scourged and crucified. Nevertheless, He spoke of His peace. This was not the peace of a man who had avoided da…
Read article →The divine identity of Jesus across the Gospels
…us are not bare exhibitions of power. Their form often recalls the works by which Israel knew its God. Job says of God: "Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea" (Job 9:8). The Psalms describe God's path through the waters and His rule over t…
Read article →Why the Trinity is not polytheism—and why Christians confess one God
…ord and my God” (John 20:28), and Jesus receives rather than corrects his confession. The New Testament also gives the Son works and honours belonging to God. All things were created by Him (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16). He forgives sins, receives worship, gives life, and will judg…
Read article →Why the distinction matters when we speak about Jesus
…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 without sin. He said that He did not know the hour of His return, yet His disciples confessed that He knew all things. He suffered, bled and died, al…
Read article →Sources behind Qur’anic narratives
…ming many other signs. They do not record Him forming a bird from clay and bringing it to life. That story appears in the work now called the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Its narratives concern Jesus between approximately five and twelve years old. They include healings and displays…
Read article →Why a loaded label does not settle the question
…hrist Other passages describe a different movement. Paul writes: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” —Colossians 3:4 Zechariah says that the Lord will come and “all the saints” with Him (Zechariah 14:5). Jude likewise announc…
Read article →Creation, judgement, and the coming reign of Christ
…fallen humanity refuses the response creation ought to produce: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Romans 1:21) The descent begins not only with fal…
Read article →Which Gospel does the Qur'an affirm?
…for centuries before Muhammad, they find the Son who shares the Father's glory, gives His life as a ransom, is crucified under Pontius Pilate and rises bodily from the dead. Islam denies the decisive claims of that Gospel. The usual answer is that Christians no longer possess the…
Read article →The brothers of Jesus, the sons of Mary, and an argument of strong plausibility
…rtraits of the suffering Messiah in the Psalter. Its language repeatedly reappears in the New Testament’s account of Jesus: “They hate me without a cause” is applied to Jesus in John 15:25. “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” is applied to Jesus in John 2:17. “The reproach…
Read article →Two accounts of judgement, mercy, and the sinner's hope before God
…sus” (Romans 3:25–26). Second Corinthians 5:21 describes the great exchange: Christ, who knew no sin, was made sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Christians do not claim that one person's unwilling punishment can be transferred arbitrarily to ano…
Read article →Christianity, Islam and the verdict of the evidence
…g part of the evidence. But a theory is not superior merely because it explains less. The New Testament does not begin with an abstract philosophical puzzle and reason its way towards three Persons. It records the Father sending the Son, the Son speaking to the Father, the Father…
Read article →One Messiah, one gospel, and God's continuing purpose for Israel
…t God has not revoked His oath to Abraham, abandoned His covenant with David, emptied the new covenant of its named recipients, or converted Israel into a title which now excludes the people descended from Jacob. The Church's inheritance is gloriously real. Israel's future is cov…
Read article →The glory philosophy could not contain
…. (See Note 1.) In the third century, the Platonist philosopher Amelius read—or at least knew—a clear account of the opening of John’s Gospel. He recognised the eternal Word, the creation of all things through Him, His coming in flesh and His appearance as man. Yet at the decisiv…
Read article →Born, begotten and firstborn in the eternal identity and saving work of the Son
…cross and presented Him as the eternal Word who was already with God in the beginning. I knew those truths could not contradict one another, but I did not yet possess the theological distinction that would later help me considerably: the distinction between eternity and economy.…
Read article →The Gospel, Human Perception, and the Illuminating Work of the Holy Spirit
…ars a demand for conformity to a human organisation, reinforced by threats about the afterlife. For someone else, God means a powerful being who inhabits the universe and insists on obedience. The immediate question is understandable: Why should this being have authority over me?…
Read article →Election within Abraham's family, the believing remnant, and the future of the nation
…arises from the closing movement of Romans 8. Paul has declared that those whom God foreknew He also predestinated, called, justified, and glorified (Romans 8:28-30). He then celebrates the security of God's people: no accusation can overturn God's verdict, and nothing can separ…
Read article →Constantine, Arius, the Trinity, the biblical canon—and the myths that refuse to die
…modern reporters. Eusebius of Caesarea admired Constantine; Athanasius spent much of his life defending the Nicene settlement; Constantine had an imperial interest in presenting unity as his achievement. Their testimony must therefore be read critically. Yet we possess the creed…
Read article →Michael Brown, 2 Thessalonians 1, and the public vindication of the saints
…rone and are judged according to their works. Whoever is not found written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11–15). Second Thessalonians 1 does not pause to chart every interval in that sequence. Its purpose is to declare the certainty and righteou…
Read article →Trusting God when voices seek to weaken our confidence
…eir strength. He represented Hezekiah as a deceiver. He used knowledge of their religious life to cast doubt on their relationship with God. He even claimed divine authority for the Assyrian invasion. Then he offered the apparent comforts of surrender. There could be food, water,…
Read article →The positive argument of the whole series, brought together
…th God's revealed character and ways. The Church is directed to expect Christ Himself The New Testament repeatedly directs believers towards the Saviour, not first towards Antichrist, a covenant, a rebuilt temple, the abomination, or a numbered sequence of judgements. Believers l…
Read article →How Christians can think politically without surrendering conscience to a package deal
…the people who ought to be feared or condemned. Once the package has been accepted, every new event arrives with an interpretation already attached. Christians should be especially cautious about this. We already have a faith, a moral authority and a final allegiance. A political…
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