In this context, ‘divine, hard determinism’ means the people had no choice but to believe and be saved. God ‘appointed’ them to eternal life. In other words, are Calvinists right to use this verse as one of their most important prooftexts? (I updated this post.)
The only reason this verse has become controversial and complicated is because complementarians (those who restrict women’s full participation in ministry) have made it controversial and complicated. But Romans 16:7 is straightforward and clear and easily translated. (I updated this post yet again.)
Passage: John 5:1-18. Jesus issued a series of commands, and then the man got up because he was healed.
Who were the “sons of God” mentioned in Genesis 6 and elsewhere? I updated it yet again!
The big word literally means “all-knowing” or “all knowledge.” He absolutely and totally and exhaustively knows himself, his creation, and you. I also discuss middle knowledge (a.k.a. Molinism) and open theism. (I updated this post.)
Passage: Luke 17:11-19. Only the despised Samaritan returned to thank Jesus.
You must be born again. But what does that mean? Does anything result from rebirth? Or do we just stay the same? I also cover Romans 7:13-25. (I updated this post.)
How closely and often do Acts and Paul’s epistles agree? Fifteen tables, plus two bonus tables, in this post, laying out the parallels.
Is the book of Acts historically reliable, in comparison to its own Greco-Roman writing culture? Many tables are included, to answer the question.
Passages: Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:20-39. Jesus went out of his way to go into this region, just to minister to these two men. Yet he could not expel the demons immediately. Why not?
This is a biblical theology discussion. If you are fighting for your or someone else’s healing, I advise you to skip this post. Read it only when the outcome is final, and you have unanswered questions about what the Bible really teaches.
This is about God’s foreknowledge, election, predestination, and human freewill. If we have the right perspective, we can reach sensible conclusions. (I completely overhauled this post on August 16, 2025.)
Passages: Matthew 12:22-26 and Luke 11:14-20. Signs and wonders (really just demon expulsion and healing in this passage) is a sign that the kingdom of God has come.
What do those verses about being taken away and left behind really teach? The answer may shock many people who have been taught only one viewpoint. I also briefly look at Matthew’s version.
Passages Matthew 17:14-20; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43a. These three passages are full of lessons for us who believe in expelling demons. Let’s follow Jesus and learn from him on how to do ministry, as we read these passages together.
Here are biblical passages that show that people outside of ancient Israel and the law of Moses had a level of the knowledge of God, most likely because God revealed himself to them.
An odd teaching has been circulating around the church for a long time.
Passage: Matthew 9:32-34. Matthew is the only Gospel which has this story.
Passage: Mark 8:22-26. Two stages? What does this mean?
So begins a ten-part series. Though difficult to believe at first, our truly understanding the kingdom of God can just about clarify all of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. So then, what is the kingdom? Can we define it biblically, or is the topic just too complicated? What does it mean for us today?
The context says that “things” means “works.” Here are commentaries and my take on this issue.
Passage: Mark 7:31-37. What about us? Can we follow his method today?
The cultures surrounding Israel valued kings. Thus, monarchy worked its way into Israel’s government, but only with God’s permission. This post provides background material for the kingdom Jesus proclaimed.
Youtube critics daily, it seems, call for the blood of Christian prophets who are mistaken about some of their prophecies. The critics read Deuteronomy 13 and 18 and sarcastically demand the death penalty for their ministries. But what did Paul say about their mistakes? Let’s do a side-by-side comparison of the OT and the NT.
We are living in eternity right now. We just don’t see it yet, because the kingdom of God is not fully manifested—for now.
Passage: John 9:1-12. Should we use his unusual method for healing people today?
This difference is what Jesus established and the New Testament authors laid out in the Scriptures. It’s really very simple.
Yes, the kingdom is partly manifested right now, but it is seen with the eyes of faith and in visible signs like salvation of souls and bodily healings and demon expulsions and harmony in the household–all done by the power of the Spirit.
Do we ignore the Old Law so we can be free to live as we wish in the New Covenant? What about Christian Sabbath keeping? What does the Bible really say?
How much continuity and discontinuity is there between the New Covenant and the Sinai Covenant? This article is designed to answer the confusion between hyper-grace on the one side and legalism on the other.
The “already and not yet” is still a valid and wise statement about God’s kingdom, which unfolds in three stages.
Passages: Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-42. One of them was Bartimaeus.
This theory says that the reign of Christ is not a literal thousand years, but is expressed in the expanding kingdom of God, using the church to span the globe in the hearts of believers. I updated this post.
When we understand it, we can know how God is working across the planet today. And we can understand Christ’s parables that proclaim its mystery.
The reign of Christ is not literally for a thousand years. The number is a figure of speech for a long, unknown duration when God’s purposes are accomplished. He is reigning right now.
Eternal life and the kingdom of God belong together, and you can experience them right now.
We cannot answer all the questions in this overview, but we can exegete the Lord’s Supper in its original context in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This post also looks very briefly at 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 and 11:23-34 and John 6:35-59. Then, what do various churches teach about the Lord’s Supper (or Communion or Eucharist)? I am here to learn. I updated this post with information that startled me. I also learned something new from Exodus 12:14. Once more I updated this post!
Passage: Luke 14:1-6. This is another Sabbath confrontation. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath.
Let’s never overlook the Scriptural truth that righteousness (kingdom living) is important to the heart of God. Four passages in the Sermon on the Mount are discussed here.
It is a life-changing demand. Or perhaps I should say demands (plural) bundled together into one.
Passage: Matthew 9:27-31. This is not the same story of healing a blind man or men in Matt. 20:29-34 (two blind men) and Mark 10:46-52 (Bartimaeus) and Luke 18:35-43 (one blind man).
This Scriptural list will edify you.
Passages: Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11. Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath. Everyone saw the healing with their own eyes. The Pharisees were angry at him, however.
There is a teaching circulating through the American church, particularly in the prophetic community, that prophets (and others) can “exercise” the “seven spirits of God.” What about this?
Scriptures: Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26. When the crowds prevented the paralyzed man and his friends to reach Jesus, they dug a hole in the roof, to lower him down to him. Jesus saw that the men had great faith.
Scriptures: Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:21-30. It is possible to detect faith in someone. A wise teacher will bring it out of her.
Passage Luke 13:10-17. Jesus heals this “daughter of Abraham,” proclaiming she is loosed.
A teaching on Acts 2 has been circulating among certain (restrictive) Bible interpreters, which says that only the twelve apostles received the fullness or the baptism with the Spirit at Pentecost with the gift of speaking in Spirit-inspired languages (commonly called ‘tongues’). True?
Passages: Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:24b-34; Luke 8:42b-48. The power of God flowed from Jesus to the woman. Can we expect the same power to flow through us, as the Spirit distributes the gifts of healings (1 Cor. 12:4-11)?
This summary post covers sample verses from Jesus’s teaching on the end times, throughout the four Gospels (excluding Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 17 and 21, which are covered in separate posts). He simplified. End-time Bible prophecy teachers complicate.
The Church fathers quoted here lived in the second to third centuries. They are unanimous that Matthew wrote the first Gospel, and it was authoritative for them–so it should be for us too.
Passages: Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-15. What can we learn from this episode and apply it to our lives today, particularly those who pray regularly for healing?
This post looks at the major Scriptures about the atonement. It also asks whether the atonement is for everyone or for just the elect.
The Fathers quoted here lived in the second to third centuries. They are unanimous that Mark wrote the second Gospel, and it was authoritative for them–so it should be for us too.
This post has been thoroughly revised and updated. The verses we will look at describe male elders and overseers and pastors and elderly widows. Both men and women took care of the churches. Just like the men, the elderly women functioned as pastors, elders, and overseers throughout their redeemed lives, because they were those things. Scriptures: 1 Timothy 5:2, 9-10, 3:1-7, 11-13, 5:17; Titus 1:5-9; 2:3-5; 1 Peter 2:25, 5:1-5.
Matthew 5:28 has been misused over and over again. What does it mean in its textual and OT contexts? Update: radio host Dennis Prager says that in Judaism a man can watch a little porn because the Torah does not forbid it. Judaism is about behavior, not inner thoughts.
The Fathers quoted here lived in the second to third centuries. They are unanimous that Luke wrote the third Gospel, and it was authoritative for them–so it should be for us too.
It’s frustrating to look at old family photos, say, a hundred years old, and not know who the people were. They were important enough to be included in the old shoe box filled with known photos, but their names and relationships have been lost to us. Updated.
Passages: Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:30-31; Luke 4:38-39. We also look at Matthew 8:16-17, which says that the Messiah fulfills Isaiah 53:4, by taking their diseases and carrying their sicknesses.
I have added a Greek text + my slightly revised translation, and I answer the odd interpretation of Luke 1:35. Now, in my mind there is no doubt about the answer. Updated once again (December 11, 2024 and now October 31, 2025): more Scriptures!
The Fathers quoted here lived in the second to third centuries. They are unanimous that John wrote the fourth Gospel, and it was authoritative for them–so it should be for us too.
The moment you are saved, Christ becomes your sanctification. Now he works it out in you in slow, steady progress until the day you die and live again in heaven and then the new earth with your new body, when your sanctification will be completed.
Here begins a multipart series on every instance of healing and deliverance in the four Gospel and Acts, posted each Wednesday, for the rest of 2023.
In this post, Scriptures: Mark 1:21-28 and Luke 4:31-37. Let’s see how Jesus expelled the demons.
What does it mean to be a disciple? You better count the cost before becoming one!
Included in this post are the link to his video testimony, the transcript of the video, and my embedded comments.
These chapters are on Jesus’s discourse about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (AD 70) and then the Second Coming, which has not happened yet 2000 years later (and counting). Looking at the chapters side by side clarifies what he really taught. I updated this post.
Update: June 7, 2024. What does baptize literally mean? Can infants be baptized, biblically speaking? What about adults being baptized twice? Questions like these are answered point by point.
In its simplicity, it is “communication with God.” But what do the Scriptures say about it more fully? This post offers a thorough biblical teaching, with many references, on prayer generally.
An old-fashioned Bible study is offered here, countering a desperate misinterpretation from certain Bible interpreters who seek for more money.
God’s New Covenant plan is much better than an obsolete, national, theocratic tax designed to support an obsolete, national, religious system.
These names and titles and activities and metaphors reveal his character and outreach towards needy humans. Many tables and Scripture references are included.
Some Renewalists of the Word of Faith variety say your redeemed spirit is perfect, but not your redeemed soul. True?
This topic is really unpopular in the “wilder grace” and “freer grace” Renewal circles. But becoming like Christ is scriptural. Unavoidable. Necessary. And a blessing.
We all need to participate. But how exactly?
What are the Scriptures that reveal them? How are they relevant to my life today? Or have they ceased?
These are more commonly known as ‘tongues.’ Here some of the biblical basics.
It is important to distinguish law from the gospel. If we don’t, we’ll get confused about how to walk the walk.
Are we body and soul? Or are we body, soul, and spirit? It’s not as clear-cut as we may believe.
Let’s use the Q&A format for ease of understanding this major theme of New Testament, particularly the synoptic Gospels.
Some key points backed up by lots of Scripture.
An old-fashioned Bible study here. There is a lot of confusion in certain quarters of the global Renewal Movement about what revivals involve. How can we clear up the confusion? What did Paul really teach in 1 Corinthians 14? Are we willing to obey his teaching or just run roughshod over it?
This short post should help define the term. A simple five-step explanation of the Kingdom is included, as well.
What do their names mean? Why do the lists of the twelve in the New Testament have a slight variation? Can it be resolved?
Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes and tsunamis—natural disasters slam humankind every year. Did God do that? What does the Bible say? Two different covenants make all the difference—a progressive revelation.
God is loving and merciful, but how far do those attributes go at final judgment? Let’s explore this complex issue.
Grace means God’s unmerited, unearned favor. But once you have experienced it, you must show it.
You did something you regret. You said something that you want to take back. Good news! You’re a prime candidate for God the Redeemer to deliver you out of your troubles and buy you out of your self-inflicted prison.
Christ fulfilled or paid off your debt to the Law. It’s paid in full. He accomplishes this by fulfilling the holiness demand in the law and the fullest revelation of God’s character.
When the Old and New Testaments are interpreted carefully and rightly, using Scripture to interpret Scripture, this truth will emerge: Jesus Christ fulfills the old law, in many, many areas.
Does the verse allow violence to be done to Christians, without self-defense?
In the current confusion in society, we need clarity. The Bible still has wisdom to teach us, if we listen.
Don’t try this at home or elsewhere, unless called of God to take down an entire religious system!
In the book of Acts, they dropped dead. Why? To understand what happened, it is important to keep the Old Sinai Covenant and the New Covenant separate.
This is important for our walk with God. Don’t get them confused!
Does the Old Testament demand literal retaliation for a wrong? Should an eye or a tooth be gouged or knocked out—physically? What about the teaching of Jesus? Does he raise our vision to a higher calling? How do we forgive a tort or a physical injury? How do we get compensated for damages?
Let’s learn about these key Christological points together, in the Q & A format.
Let’s place his two natures side-by-side with verses from Scripture to see who he really is.
This topic is about Jesus Christ in his full personhood. Let’s use the Question and Answer format for clarity and conciseness.
This post answers a series of tough questions about this vital and indispensable doctrine.
Good question, and the answer is clear, based on one biblical truth. Other questions are included here, as well.
From the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451). English, Greek, and Latin are included; the post discusses how the definition opposes three deficient teachings about Christ and answers the objection that the fifth-century church just made it all up.
Two natures (deity and humanity) are united in one person—the person of Jesus Christ. Let’s use the Q & A format, for clarity and conciseness.
What are the theories? Are some better than others? Update: I added a long summary table of the theories.
Many claim that the birth narratives in the Gospels–here the third Gospel–were merely reshaped copies of Greco-Roman myths. True?
Some scholars say they are irreconcilable, while others say reconciling them is not so difficult. I favor plausible harmonization. It’s all in the family. Bonus: see the American family “the Roosevelts” in a chart for parallels.
Updated: Here are twenty-nine objections in a list that complementarians (restrictionists) raise. Replies are given to each one. Many important verses are discussed here, like Genesis 1-3, Galatians 2:28, Ephesians 5:22-24, 1 Timothy 2:11-15, 1 Peter 3:1-7, 1 Corinthians 7, 11:2-16, and Acts 6:5.
These verses on healing and deliverance are foundational for the entire Old Testament and for the entire Bible.
In Genesis healing is about fertility. It is God’s promise to those who live by his commands. It is his blessing. And this first book of the Bible teaches us that God can answer prayers for fertility, to remove the sadness of infertility.
How do biblical covenants bear on that extremely important question today? Do the Sinai Covenant or the New Covenant cancel the Abrahamic covenants? What does the remnant mean in the Bible?
What is it? Do they happen today? Can you experience one?
This post is an old-fashioned Bible study, offering a clear understanding of the church.
Yes, the first-person pronoun “I” is in that old biblical songbook (Psalms), but so is “God” without “me.” But when do we take “me” too far?
It is the key to the Christian life. What does the Bible say?
What should worship look like, biblically, in a church service? What are its component parts? Is the church today imbalanced by omitting some things? Included here is a teaching about prayer and intercession, based on the Lord’s Prayer.
Everybody seems to use the term. I’ve seen it in movie reviews. “The scene was ‘deconstructed’ nicely.” But what does it really mean?
This is so important to God. It should be to us too.
Liberalism, generally, favors a bigger government and higher taxes to pay for it, while conservatives advocate moving in the opposite direction: limited government and low taxes. What does the Bible say about this?
In a world filled with despair, we need this gift of God more than ever.
We live in a society that degrades humankind with cursing people, promiscuously sharing our bodies with various partners, doing drugs, and other dehumanizing things. God calls us to something higher.
Renewalists believe that Satan is real and attacks people, but in Christ they can have victory over the evil spirit being.
Renewalists have a robust and biblical pneumatology (doctrine of the Spirit). The church is a living organism, and the Spirit is guiding it. But the church is made up of individual believers. The Spirit works in them too.
Is America experiencing inevitable decline? A nervous breakdown?
Do you remember when you messed up? When you got drunk and went too far? What about the flirtation that went too far? What about saying stupid stuff at the job or Thanksgiving? When you lost your temper? What about your bad behavior generally? What about that abortion? Shoplifting?
This study looks at this attribute of God from a personal point of view. It is relevant to your life.
Start with this post, if you want the Bible basics. It will boil things down and clarify them. Key Hebrew and Greek words, too.
Prepare to get your hands dirty. This post attempts to dig up the roots of wild and crazy public policies.
All the verses are here. This post is good for your personal edification or for pastors and teachers who wish to build a Bible study or sermon series.
All the verses are here. They are great for your personal edification or for pastors and teachers who wish to build a Bible study or sermon series.
It’s about God’s love and favor, not yours for him. Great for a series of sermons or Bible studies or your personal edification.
Here are the verses where the words love and grace in their various forms appear in the biblical prophets. Great for a series of sermons and Bible studies or your personal edification.
This is for your Bible study and sermon series and personal edification. All the words for love and grace in these three books of the biblical Wisdom literature are found here. Great for your personal edification or a series in a Bible study or sermons.
Even though these verses have an ancient historical context, they are spoken to you today. Such verses are timeless and universal in that way, if we interpret them properly. Great for a sermon or Bible study series or your personal edification.
This chapter is full of information about church leaders. I look more carefully at the women leaders than the men, though everyone gets a comment.
The Torah is the first five books of the Bible. Yes, God’s love and grace can be found in this section of Scripture. It is not always and only wrath and judgment. Great for your personal edification or a series in a Bible study or sermons.
Yes, women really did function in Christ’s five gifts to his church, his temple, to build it up: apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors-teachers. Check out the evidence. (I updated this post.)
How can we proclaim it if we don’t know what it is? After a basic definition offered just below, the gospel also has multiple parts to it. Let’s see what they are. (I recently updated this post.)
One older commentator says the prohibition in those verses seems “absolute.” Yet how do we properly read them?
May she be welcomed into heaven because she put her faith in Christ! 1926-2022. Historians of the monarchs of Europe always include several genealogical tables. Here are some of them for your convenience. Further, each monarch massively influenced influenced the Western European church, and the church influenced them. Continue reading
This is the final chapter of the book of Acts, but not of the acts of God, which go on to this day. Paul gets bitten by a poisonous snake, shakes it off, is unharmed, and then God works healing through his hands. They finally reach Rome, where Paul is at liberty to live in his own rented quarters and preach the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This article is the conclusion to the series on postmodernism and the Bible. A good summary of the entire series.
The words “the truth” will shock postmodernists and deconstructionists. Good. But it asks: How do we study and interpret the Bible? How do we find truth which really is out there, around us? This post is a simple reply to claims of unsolvable ambiguities in the Bible.
Paul, Luke, and Aristarchus go through a storm and shipwreck. An angel stands before Paul and promised everyone safety. When they followed his directions, they safely reach an island.
It is now time to counter the extreme views spelled out in Part Five. Who was Jesus, really?
Paul delivers a speech before Agrippa and Festus, in Caesarea. Paul recounts his testimony on the road to Damascus. Festus reacts and calls him crazy. Does Paul want to convert him? Agrippa and Festus conclude that Paul is innocent, but he had appealed to Caesar, so the trials go on.
Paul defends himself before Festus, King Agrippa II, and his sister Bernice against the accusations of the Jerusalem establishment, who stood around Paul. He was calm and forceful in his defense. He appealed to “lord” Caesar.
Deconstruction overturns privileged hierarchy and meaning. Defenders promise us that they do not practice Anything Goes in their deconstruction of texts. Do they keep their promise? How do we verify it? Click on this link only if you have courage.
Paul defends himself before Felix at Caesarea. He is kept in custody, discussing with Felix, righteousness, self-control, and judgment to come. Felix is succeeded by Porcius Festus.
Paul appears before the Jewish High Council, a Roman commander rescues him, Jesus personally appears before Paul, a plot by assassins is foiled, and he is taken to Caesarea, where he had landed earlier.
Do you want to know what deconstruction really is? Read about it from its practitioners.
Paul delivers his defense (apologia) to the crowds who were demonstrating against him. It is a masterpiece.
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 