Biblical Studies

 "...who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father..." (Galatians 1:4) In commenting on this verse, Martin Luther wrote the following... "Human reason wants sin to have no greater power than we imagine it has. That is why hypocrites, being ignorant of Christ, feel the remorse of sin but think they can easily get rid of it by their good works and merits. Secretly, in their hearts, they wish that these words, who gave himself for our sins, were words of overstatement; they want their sins not to be true and real sins but light and small matters. In short, human reason wants to present to God not a real sinner but a pretend one, unafraid of anything, without any feeling of sin. It wants to bring to God one who is well, not one who needs a physician; and when it feels no sin, then it wants to believe that Christ was given for our sins… "True Christian wisdom regards these words of Paul as most true, ef...

Jesus replied, "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I AM!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him. (John 8:55-59 NIV) [This is a repost from 2009, giving the outline and quotes shared by Dr. David Kingston from his October 4 sermon that year. He stated that much of the outline came from John Stott's excellent little book, Basic Christianity (Eerdmans, 1999).] 1. The Importance of the Doctrine A. It is central to Christian faith. B. The fact that Jesus Christ is God distinguishes Christianity from other major religions C. If Jesus was not God, then His death had no special significance, and we are still the objects of God’s wrath. D. If Jesus was not God, then He is not coming back again to establish His kingdom. The Nicene Cree...