Jesus narrowed the most significant priorities of life to just two: Loving God–with all your heart, soul, and mind–and loving others, as you already do love yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). Contrary to a deluge of humanistic teachings, there is no third commandment to “love yourself” in this key passage of Scripture. Our inherent “love of self” does not need…
By Daniel B. Wallace, Th.M, Ph.D Matthew 22:39 This is one of several occasional essays on “Scripture Twisting.” The purpose of these very brief essays is to challenge certain popular interpretations of the Bible that really have little or no basis. Matthew 22:39 reads simply, A second [command] is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In…
Doing good works—often defined as being obedient to religious tenets and/or moral practices—is the most commonly supposed qualification for a person to go to heaven, or “to enjoy the afterlife” as some religions state. You may not know it, but Christianity is the only spiritual belief that says it is impossible to qualify for heaven…
What does Scripture teach with regard to “forgetting your sins”? Does God’s Word teach that a believer is “to forget these sins” with the meaning of “not having a remembrance of those sins”? One will look in vain to find biblical support for the necessity of “being unable to recall” or “to lose remembrance” of…
The possibility of sorrow lasting a lifetime may seem impossible, especially for followers of Christ. Sorrow, however, is part of life; and there are precipitating situations in which sorrow might fade from its initial intensity but never fully go away. For example: Other situations could be listed, but it should be evident that some circumstances…
Biblical Perspective in Everyday Life Biblical truth can be presented in a variety of ways . . . such as group Bible studies, sermons, and personal study of God’s Word. This presentation is an example of the freshness that characterizes biblical truth when it wraps itself around the various aspects of personal experiences. Sit back…
The church is composed of believers in Christ, all of whom are members of God’s family. These members are equipped to interact with one another in a way that fosters Christ-like growth and proclaims God’s glory. The New Testament describes this interactive dependence among members in various ways. Two images that emphasize the “up close…
The Love Test If you had to choose one character trait that is the most beneficial to yourself and others, what would it be? If you would choose “love,” you would agree with God’s perspective. Jesus addressed this subject in response to a lawyer’s question almost 2,000 years ago. Matthew 22:35-40, And one of them,…
Endurance Personified By Paul Borthwick In 1993, under the auspices of the World Evangelical Fellowship and the Myanmar Evangelical Fellowship, my wife and I traveled to Yangon, Myanmar (Rangoon, Burma) to speak to youth and youth workers. To connect our trip with missions history, we decided to re-read the biography of Adoniram Judson, pioneer to…
By Ryan Schmitz Abomination is a strong word. It is something extremely offensive, highly odious, and therefore hated with intensity. Part of Luke 16:15 says that what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to God. Luke 16:15, And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows…