How We Got Our Bible
HOW WE GOT OUR BIBLE: CANONICITY: Canonicity in general – Kanōn – (measuring) reed used to see what “measures up” The canon of Scripture is a collection of authoritative books rather than an authoritative collection of books – i.e., they are not canonical, because they are on the list; they are on the list, because …
Various Bible Translations
SOME GUIDELINES CONCERNING ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE There are basically three popular edited text of the Greek NT used by various translators: The Traditional, Majority Text of the Byzantine Church - The Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text edited by Zane Hodges and Arthur Farstad was published in 1985 using the Majority …
Jesus’ Parable of the Talants
Discipleship in Ministries: Jesus’ Parable of the Talants Matthew 24:14-31 A talant was equal to 6000 drachma or denarii which was day’s wage. It would thus be a lifetime of earnings. As Jesus describes these three servants and their response to their talants, the talant would then be “The Gospel & Ministry with the Gospel, …
Discerning and Using Your Spiritual Gift
THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Discerning and Using Your Spiritual Gift If each Christian properly understood his or her spiritual gift, it would not only motivate him or her to greater commitment and service, but it would also bring a whole new excitement to the Body of Christ. Spiritual Gifts in Ministry. Each Christian …
I am Coming Again and Will Receive You
Of all the various ways that the Bible describes salvation, the warmest, most beautiful, and most personal illustration that God uses for His wonderful salvation is that of Marriage - to be specific, The Marriage Covenant, and to be even more specific, The Traditional Jewish Betrothal-and-Marriage Covenant and the various procedures surrounding it. This is the …
Repentance, an Overlooked Part of the Gospel
Repentance is a fascinating word in the original language of the New Testament. It is normally used to translate the Greek word, metanoia. “Meta-” means something after or something that has changed, as in “metamorphosis” (literally, a change in form). “Noia” means the mind or the thinking, as in “paranoia” which has to do with …
Faith
Among the most important words to understand in the New Testament, “faith” would surely rank among the top five. A key to understanding the New Testament concept is that the focus of faith is upon Jesus Christ, as Lord. Faith is the translation of the word, pistis, in the original language of the New Testament …
Agape-Love
The New Testament describes a rather unique understanding of love with the Greek term, agape. It is particularly helpful to note some seven distinctives in contrast to the normal understanding of the English word, “love”. 1. Agape acts: In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, Paul described agape all in verbs in the original language, although most English …
Water Baptism
The most important issue in baptism is obedience to Christ by His commission in Mat. 28:19-20. Baptism is a visual, public testimony of one’s salvation. Believer’s baptism is the practice taught in the New Testament. As Adrian Rogers put it, “If you are baptized before you were saved, it is like having your funeral before …
Faith & Thanksgiving
Colossians 2:6-7 –“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, keep on walking in Him, having been rooted and continually being built up in him and being established in the faith, accordingly as you were taught, overflowing in it in thanksgiving.” God has an interesting, complementary balance between our understand of thanksgiving and faith in …