Category Faith

What was the cup which Christ came to drink?

Some say Christ’s cup was separation from God the Father, but Psalm 22 says the Father did not turn His face away from His Son on the cross, but withheld His hand until His afflicted Son spoke the word – “It is finished”.

Some say it was the cup of God’s wrath poured upon Christ for men’s sins, but when James and John asked to have the right and left-hand positions in Christ’s kingdom, answering that they were indeed prepared and able to drink of the same cup that Christ drank, Jesus affirmed that they would indeed drink of the cup that He drank. But no man bore the wrath of God for the sins of men other than Christ. No disciple bears God’s wrath for his own sin, much less for the sins of the world...

Luke 24:36 – 48 (45)

“And as they spoke this, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you.’

But being dismayed and becoming afraid, they supposed they were seeing a spirit.

And he said to them, ‘Why are you troubled and why do thoughts come into your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that I am Myself. Handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see I have.’

And saying this, He showed them His hands and His feet.

Because they still yet disbelieved for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, ‘Have you any food here?’

And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of honey from the comb, and taking it, He ate it in their sight.

And He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still together with ...

Sometimes people have trouble understanding that we are justified before God by faith, and not by how good we are. Some people are offended at the thought that God would justify everyone only on the basis of faith, and not on the basis of an inventory of their good works; they feel that ‘good people’ should be acceptable to God, and He should open wide the doors to His presence to all those who are ‘good’. These latter often raise the argument of the injustice of ‘horrible people’ who will get into heaven because they have faith, and therefore God is ‘unfair’. Most of this misunderstanding is rooted in the failure to understand  the key words “faith” and “justice”. 

The word ‘justice’ refers to receiving what is deserved by our actions...

John 3:3         Jesus … said unto [Nicodemus], “Truly, truly I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jn 3:16           For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Jn 3:18-21      “He that believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And this is the condemnation: that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed...

Jesus foretold wars and rumours of wars to a nation beleaguered for centuries by foreign occupation: Matthew 24:6

He told of famines, ‘pestilences’, and great earthquakes to a nation that had experienced obliteration, drought, a land razed by enemies, diseases like leprosy, and was no stranger to earthquakes: Mat 24:7; Zechariah 14:5

He told of fearful wonders and signs ‘in the heavens’ to men who knew the heavens were the exclusive jurisdiction of Almighty God: Joel 2:30

He even warned that many people would come claiming to be Christ, many claiming to speak for God, and many false teachers calling themselves spiritual leaders: Mat 24:5, 11, 24

He warned of increasing wickedness among men, and hatred, and division: Mat 12, 1 Tim 4:1, 2 Tim 3:1-9

And He told them that men would dismiss...

Polls show most people believe they will go to heaven when they die. But if you had to stand before God in judgement today, how would you do? 

The Bible says that anyone who breaks the Law in only one point is guilty of breaking the Law. God is a righteous judge; He must judge each person according to what they have done. Will you be innocent or guilty? 

God’s law is perfect; have you kept His perfect law? Have you loved God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind? Jesus said this was the greatest commandment in all the Law. Have you kept it? If not, you are guilty. 

God commanded that no other gods be set up besides Him. What do you worship? For what do you live? What masters your life? Will He judge you guilty or innocent of replacing Him with other “gods”? 

God’s name is holy;...

A Christian is someone who, coming to know God, and recognizing themselves to have rebelled against God, either by a lack of faith in God or by choices that oppose His perfect righteousness, rejects sin for its opposition against God, and exercises faith in God.

God Who, in the person of Jesus Christ has paid the penalty of our sin by Christ’s death on the cross, brings the transaction to completion by applying that payment to our account. We who turn from sin to God will by faith in Jesus Christ and His death for our sins, receive the benefit of it – our sentence commuted so we may have eternal life.

Upon God’s application of Christ’s death to the payment of our sentence, He also restores us to fellowship with Himself by providing the Holy Spirit, so that by His continual presence w...

How many of we who say we follow Christ despise His blood and count it a common thing? Do we not know that it was shed for our sin? Why then do we wallow in our sin any longer? We are not prisoners if He has set us free. Yet we yearn for the world and seek every opportunity to taste of its fruit and pleasure in its enticements. Do we not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Why do we who claim His blood make ourselves His enemies by pursuing those things that He has rejected?

Men of the cross, look up! Gaze upon Christ our Sacrifice and reject everything that beckons us turn our gaze. Only Jesus has the words of life and the keys of death and hell. He has opened the prison; let us flee!

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Do you have to get everything right to be a Christian? No, but there are some things you cannot get wrong and still be a Christian. For instance, you must believe in God in order to be a Christian. But you can’t believe in just any god. You must believe in the God Who has revealed Himself through His Word to men, through His prophets, through the Law, and through Jesus Christ. If you believe in a false god, you are not a Christian, no matter how sincere you are or how well you behave. [1]

Then there is the matter of Truth. You must believe that truth exists, and that it is knowable, because Jesus declared that the Father requires men to worship Him in spirit and in truth. If there is no truth, or it cannot be known, we are unable to obey God’s clear requirement for worship. [2]

A Chr...

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’

And He that sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said unto me, “Write: for these words are true and faithful...