Paul has been talking about requirements. We’re used to requirements, to apply for a job, get a driver’s license, a passport, a loan. To do just about anything there are…
Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, atheist, agnostic, Jew, Christian—“the whole world [is] held accountable to God” (3:19). It’s God’s world. Christians aren’t the only ones living on God’s earth nor the only…
“All under the power of sin” is not a place we want to begin. It isn’t very flattering. But we can’t buy our way out or even work our way…
Just by way of review, Paul has reminded us that we are more than servants—we who believe now belong to God, having been purchased by Christ and brought into God’s…
Most Bible translations soften what Paul says in the opening line of Romans: “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus” (1:1). That sounds okay. Jesus came to serve, and we like…
My mother-in-law grew up in The Bronx, attending, as I found out several years back, a Presbyterian church. In the same neighborhood were many Jews, observant Jews. “Did you know…
Oh, the disciples had seen miracles. The anticipation and excitement reach that point when, at the crest of the Mount of Olives, with Jerusalem and the Temple in full view—so…
Jesus is back from the wilderness, tested, steeled with the Spirit, with purpose, devotion, zeal, focus. People notice. People gather. So many bump through life wishy-washy, pale, bruised. Oh, why…
Though Luke is a Gentile, a Christian, and one of Paul’s key helpers, and, as such, probably not very concerned with the details of Jewish law, he nonetheless is careful…
Those who have spent a long time studying Mark bracket verses 9-20. The scholarly consensus is that Mark’s own original account ends with verse 8. At some later time—not necessarily…