“If God is good, He will turn a blind eye to my sins!” – Is that true? “As if God would punish me; He’s such a good God; He won’t take such a narrow view of what I’ve done!” The young man who said this had just told me that he had sinned many times….
These two Bible verses seem to contradict each other: Does God regret – or not? The verb “(to) repent” (Hebrew nacham) is the same in both cases. It has a whole range of different meanings: “to repent, to be sorry, to pity, to hurt, to avenge,” so that the context in which the word is…
The Lord Jesus gave His life as a ransom. The Bible says this in three places. If we take a closer look at these Bible verses, we notice a remarkable, instructive, and important difference. Three Bible verses in the New Testament show that Jesus Christ gave His life as a ransom [1]: “… just as…
In chapter four of the epistle to the Colossians, Paul names various people he sends greetings to or who have greetings for the Colossians. He, also names various characteristics that particularly distinguish these people, such as their faithfulness or dedication to the Lord. Today we want to think about a brother, Archippus, to whom a…
Anyone who comes to the Lord Jesus in faith and repentance will be saved. But for this to happen, people must first hear the gospel. “How will they hear without a preacher” (Romans 10:14)? – In the following, we will look at four points that motivate us to share the gospel. Motivation 1: The fear…
As a committed Christian, you don’t want to make a mistake, especially when it comes to the important question of choosing a spouse. There can be bad consequences if you treat the choice of a spouse lightly. This is demonstrated to us every day in the world. Love in marriage grows cold, and arguments arise…
When I read the above verse, I realized that this conflict is much more serious than we might think. It is not just about the individual’s conflict with Satan, but that the powers of darkness are commanded to resist the whole assembly on earth, “all the saints” of Ephesians 6:18. The Christian aware of this…
Introduction The message of the prophet Haggai is more than 2500 years old. And yet, it goes straight to the heart. It is topical and speaks directly to us. It wants to shake us up and wake us up. It wants to help us to make a personal and collective assessment of where we stand….
What does this verse mean practically? We imagine a crucifixion in ancient times. A condemned criminal is hanging on the cross, facing imminent death. It is obvious: he will not invite any of the bystanders to his home – and no one will invite him back. Why not? Because everything around him is already dead…
Job’s three friends believed that Job had to suffer because he had sinned grievously. To back this up, the friends spoke in general terms about the destruction of the wicked – which Job was of course supposed to apply to himself. Sometimes they also addressed him directly and made specific accusations. Eliphaz did this in…
The poor woman gave much less than the fine gentlemen. Only a fraction of what went from the rich man’s fat wallet into the treasury. So why does the Lord Jesus say here that she put in more? One brother expresses the reason for this as follows: “The crucial question is not how much we…
These questions concern the topic “The collection on Sunday morning.” Why is the collection part of the breaking of bread? If it is an offering, doesn’t it also include devotion and silence? Can the offering in the collection also be replaced by specific donations? What about tithing? Is that part of the collection? Should the…
Hardly any of us have had such terrible experiences as Job: the loss of all his possessions, the murder of his entire workforce, the terrible death of his own ten children, the onset of an agonizing, incurable illness, and then opposition from the last remaining person, his wife. Obviously, Job had doubts as to whether…
“You must have a more or less distinct impression of the terrible wrath of God and the terror of his judgment, or you will lack energy in the work and thus lack a fundamental condition for success.” (Charles H. Spurgeon, English preacher, 1834-1892) “I desire always to have both heaven and hell before my eyes.”…
The gardener of an Earl was observed diligently tidying and beautifying everything in the villa’s garden. The observer said in amazement: “You are working as if your master would be back tomorrow.” “No,” replied the gardener, “as if he was coming today!” Whether this story is true or not has yet to be discovered. But…
At the end of his life on this earth, the Lord Jesus said: “It is finished” (John 19:30). In the original manuscript, this is just one word: τετέλεσται “tetelestai.” This glorious word makes it clear: Christ has accomplished everything the Father gave Him. In this way, He laid the foundation for every divine blessing. Through…
Paul is (once again) in prison. Because the believers from Philippi are close to his heart, he writes them a letter. When we read it almost 2,000 years later, we can clearly sense how the Lord Jesus filled Paul’s heart, even (or especially) in this prison. Chapter 1: Christ – the purpose of life: “For…
The Gospel of John was probably written many years after the other three Gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In fact, it occupies a special position because it does not so much follow the life of Jesus on this earth but, above all, records the Lord’s conversations. His divine nature shines forth everywhere. At…
The lamentations live up to their name: it is probably Jeremiah who writes of the many troubles of his soul and his despair. For example, he laments: ”See, O Lord, that I am in distress; my soul is troubled” (Lam 1:20a). He writes of sighs, a sick heart, tears, a missing comforter. Truly depressing. But…
“He leads me beside the still waters” (Psalm 23). Our earthly tent “For we know that if our earthly tabernacle house be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). What happens to a believer at death? [1] In 2 Corinthians 5, the…